Ball Python DNA mapping

Be very careful who you get samples from. Years ago (like when het pieds where $12,000 and we didn't know about the markers) someone asked for samples to try to find the pied gene. I talked to a breeder who had pieds at the time and sent samples but he said he "mixed them up to see if he knew what he was doing". With help like that you would never get anywhere.

I personally could have used a simple paternity test as recently as last year. Sure actual gene tests would be better but a basic paternity test could answer a lot of questions and wouldn't become obsolete. I did see a post by a guy on kingsnake indicating he was looking into that so maybe that one will be covered.

most snakes aren't expensive enough to warrant people paying to make sure that it's a het however there are a few reccessives that do cost a lot clowns, candys, and toffees come to mind but not many people are buying those due to the cost.

One phrase will cover it all:
"Possible Het for Ultramel"

Yes, there will be some demand for this service. :D
I would LOVE to be able to sort out my poss hets, and sell them as guaranteed hets. It just has to be affordable.
Even if it's only worth doing for very high-end poss hets at first, if the price can be brought down over time, I can certainly see becoming common.

In cattle, similar genetics tests cost only around $25. If you can accomplish that for ball pythons, I'm on board. That's worth it, even for poss het albinos.
I'd definitely pay for this service.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BPSP

I will be performing all of the work and analysis myself. I am going to start by building a library of samples to compare to. Then move on to comparative work for individuals seeking genetic confirmation or variation analysis.

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Interesting... but you know the turnaround for something like that is gonna be years if you're doing it all yourself? I have quite a bit of experience with gel electrophoresis, but my real area of expertise is denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis, which is a quick way to actually visualize DNA variation down to (theoretically) the single base pair level... though you have to have targeted sequence first.

I know the cost and time required for whole genome sequencing has dropped drastically recently - I attended a fascinating seminar about Sanger sequencing a couple years ago too.

Anyway, I think the project is VERY interesting. Because of my background, I actually have spent a lot of time considering the genetics behind various ball python traits. Have you considered focusing some of your attention on determining the cause for detrimental traits, such as "wobbler" spiders, infertile desert balls or various lethal sable and yellow belly crosses? I'd be very interested in the wobbler info, since I own a spider myself, and if the cause could be determined then selective breeding might be able to reduce or eliminate such a problem.