Huh, I seem to have done a write-up only on the first paper in this series and not the second. How time flies...
https://plus.google.com/u/0/+RhysTaylorRhysy/posts/eQY6ws8jiD7
Anyway the bottom line is that this is a paper looking at the minimum (starting) number of inhabitants a world ship requires for long-term genetic stability. The answer is about 100. Of course, that doesn't mean you'll have an entirely natural breeding situation but you don't have to have a crazy eugenics program going on to stop inbreeding either. Also, as I pointed out to Frederic (and it's mentioned in the first paper, can't remember about this one), you could also take along frozen genetic material so the minimum number could be considerably smaller. It's still interesting to establish the minimum size of a semi-naturally breeding population though.
Irritatingly the article claims the credit for the image below is from "silodrome.co", which turns out to be a website without the m. Well, it's not from them, it's a very old one of mine. So old that I don't even keep this version on my website any more.
https://www.universetoday.com/139456/whats-the-minimum-number-of-people-you-should-send-in-a-generational-ship-to-proxima-centauri/
So was the author hired to write about a multigenerational space ship or Dr. (M)(a)(r)(i)(n) ?
ReplyDelete(parentheses used so as to not give him even more exposure than the author)
I blame the author of the UT article. Frederic is my former housemate and a very nice guy.
ReplyDeleteThey have not considered reproductive technologies such as embryo preservation and artificial wombs. You do not have to reproduce naturally. One can potentially increase genetic diversity by carrying fertilized embryos and sperms.
ReplyDeleteAble Lawrence See the description in the post. I pointed this out to the lead author (we're collaborators) and it's explicitly mentioned in the first paper in the series.
ReplyDeleteYou don't want to send organic matter in a colonial ship. Put genetic sequences on thumb drives & synthesize later.
ReplyDelete