Reproduction in 4d

Ideas about how a world with more than three spatial dimensions would work - what laws of physics would be needed, how things would be built, how people would do things and so on.

Reproduction in 4d

Postby anderscolingustafson » Tue Dec 21, 2010 4:41 am

Considering that life on a 4d planet would have more space to live in it might reproduce at a faster rate. Cells in 4d might divide into three cells when splitting as one way to speed up reproduction. They might also have a triple helix instead of a double helix of a DNA analog in order for this to happen.

Also in 4d organisms that would use sexual reproduction to reproduce would probably need to join together in groups of three or even four in order to reproduce. Some would probably have three or four chromosome pears and so cross over of genes might involve three or four chromosomes. A zygote might split into nine or twelve gametes.

Some species would probably also have three or four genders. For three gendered species they could potentially have every gender completely unique or have one gender a complete mixture of the other two or have one a mixture of the other two but with its own traits as well. For species with four genders there might be so to speak two dimensions of gender. They might have the malemale, malefemale femalmale, and the femalefemale for example with each gender having two sets of gender related traits. I wander though what might be some of the ways a 4d organisms gender would be determined if 4d species were to have more than two genders.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
anderscolingustafson
Tetronian
 
Posts: 316
Joined: Mon Mar 22, 2010 6:39 pm

Re: Reproduction in 4d

Postby Keiji » Tue Dec 21, 2010 11:27 am

I've often thought of the possibility of a three-gendered system in 3D, which would eliminate the problem of genetic diseases and carriers, because there'd be no dominant/recessive system: either all three parents' genes are the same, or they're a 2:1 split in which case majority rules.

I don't see why a 4D world shouldn't have two-gendered reproduction though.
User avatar
Keiji
Administrator
 
Posts: 1984
Joined: Mon Nov 10, 2003 6:33 pm
Location: Torquay, England

Re: Reproduction in 4d

Postby anderscolingustafson » Tue Dec 21, 2010 8:41 pm

The reason I think a 4d species that would reproduce sexually would be more likely to have three genders than two is because they would have larger populations so it would take longer for their genes to spread threw the population. Three genders would be more practical as it would allow an organisms genes to spread through the population faster than they could with two genders.

Also in addition to all three parents having the same genes and the 2:1 split there would be the possibility of each parent having its own genes so that there is a 1:1:1 ratio as some traits have more than two alleles. A three gender system would not necessarily eliminate genetic diseases and disorders as if an organism were to inherit two diseased genes and one healthy gene than the majority of its genes would be diseased so that it would have the disorder. Also there would be the possibility of an organism having all three of its genes diseased so that it would also have the disorder. Having the absence of a distinction between dominant and recessive traits would not necessarily mean an absence of genetic diseases and disorders.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
anderscolingustafson
Tetronian
 
Posts: 316
Joined: Mon Mar 22, 2010 6:39 pm

Re: Reproduction in 4d

Postby PWrong » Wed Dec 22, 2010 8:58 am

It's hard enough to find a girlfriend just looking east-west and north-south. How are you going to find a girlfriend and a trirlfriend if you have to search east-west, north-south and marp-garp?
User avatar
PWrong
Pentonian
 
Posts: 1599
Joined: Fri Jan 30, 2004 8:21 am
Location: Perth, Australia

Re: Reproduction in 4d

Postby PWrong » Wed Dec 22, 2010 9:11 am

anderscolingustafson wrote:They might have the malemale, malefemale femalmale, and the femalefemale for example with each gender having two sets of gender related traits.


We already have X and Y sex chromosomes. XX = female, XY = YX = male. As far as I know you can't have YY, but it is possible to be born with XYY, XXY and XXX. Anyway we're talking about sex, not gender. Gender is a social thing that doesn't always correlate with sex.
User avatar
PWrong
Pentonian
 
Posts: 1599
Joined: Fri Jan 30, 2004 8:21 am
Location: Perth, Australia

Re: Reproduction in 4d

Postby anderscolingustafson » Mon Mar 14, 2011 6:34 pm

Also for most organisms that reproduce using two individuals it takes about 30 individuals to avoid inbreeding and 30 is close to 32 or 25. As genes in an species that would require the mating of 3 or 4 individuals to produce an offspring would spread more rapidly through the population a species requiring 3 or 4 individuals to reproduce would probably require more individuals in a population to avoid inbreeding. A species going by the 3 gendered system would probably require about 243 or 35 individuals to avoid inbreeding and a species requiring 4 individuals to reproduce would probably require a population of about 1024 or 45 to avoid inbreeding. So a tetronian population would probably require at least about 243 individuals to be successful assuming that tetronians would go by the three gender system.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
anderscolingustafson
Tetronian
 
Posts: 316
Joined: Mon Mar 22, 2010 6:39 pm


Return to Higher Spatial Dimensions

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 9 guests