DNA testing

[Rmorse]

Hey,

So, I was talking to my girlfriend yesterday about all the different morphs available, and was bringing up the stuff like 50% het, etc. She, currently going for her masters in Genetic Counseling, asked why don't people just test the genes to see what they're working with, instead of spending all the time waiting for babies.

I think she has a valid point, but I also think she (we) are missing something. What are we missing? Why don't people just do simple blood tests?

[mr.spooky]

I think that theres just no need for it.. when you but a 50% or 65% het, you buy it as a known gamble.. these snakes are less expensive because they are gambles,,, so why would you spend HUNDREDS of dollars on a $50 snake? I can see where it might come in handy with hybrids, but again im asuming that the cost of dna testing would probabaly out weigh any benifits of knowing.. plus, in order to get positive DNA, you would also need a "control" and im pretty sure that theres no ball python DNA data base at this point,,,,, so now, your gona need to get DNA test on 2 (or more) animals for a positive control....
botom line, for the average joe, its just not feesable..
just my thoughts though.
spooky

[kitedemon]

I believe it isn't a cost issue house color testing is cheap 25$ or so a test. The issue to my understanding is that the genes have never been mapped. You would have to map the DNA to find what does what and why before you can have a reliable test of morphology. This is likely to take a full lab years, that is very expensive. Someone needs to believe they can re-coup that cost before you will ever see it. You should check this is my base understanding of how the dna testing works with out knowing where to look for the correct pairs there are too many to check.

[Serpent_Nirvana]

I believe it isn't a cost issue house color testing is cheap 25$ or so a test.

... For a good solid several seconds I really thought you meant "house color testing," and I was trying to figure out what that had to do with anything ...

[RandyRemington]

Back when het pieds where $12,500 and possible het pieds where around $1,000 there was someone interested in identifying where the piebald mutation was so that a probe could be developed to turn the possible hets into known hets. However the development costs to figure that out where apparently pretty high and then you had issues like the pied breeder who told me he mixed up the sheds he sent this person just to see if he know what he was doing (basically sabotaging the data he needed to figure it out). Before too many more years the het pied belly markers became known and even without those het pieds are probably no longer valuable enough to justify developing a test.

Something that might have more long lasting application because it’s not tied to the life cycle of a specific morph would be a paternity test. With the possibility of sperm retention and parthenogenesis it would be nice to be able to certify recessive hets as coming from the male you think they came from.

[Blue Apple Herps]

You first would have to know which gene was responsible for what trait in order to do any sort of testing. AFAIK, there's no effort to try to map the mutations to genes. That sort of research, while becoming easier and cheaper, is still $$$ and not financially viable for bps.

[kitedemon]

... For a good solid several seconds I really thought you meant "house color testing," and I was trying to figure out what that had to do with anything ...

I had a very mean reletive whom was 100% color blind one year he painted his house pink... I guess he PO the hardware store clerk once too often... Nobody told him for ages... (afraid) He could have used the house color test!