Warning - It is a lot to read. I have a problem for my Business class and wanted to get some outside information. Without explaining everything, there are 15 people in space, a meteor is about to destroy/kill all civilization on Earth. There will be a large layer of smoke and dust surrounding the planet for 6 months. Due to food and oxygen, only 6 of the 15 people can survive on the ship for 6 months. Which 6 should be allowed to survive and return to Earth to continue mankind? Why should they be allowed to survive? 1. Michelle is 42, married, and the mother of 17 year old twins. She is an avid runner and the daughter of a famous Chinese scientist. She is also a breast cancer survivor and the author of more than 40 articles in her field of molecular biology. 2. Caroline is 31 and single. She has no children. She was the co-pilot on the space shuttle that is docked to the space station. She was one of the first people to receive an experimental laser treatment to correct severe near sightedness—something she had to do to qualify for the space program. She is the daughter of a coal miner from West Virginia. 3. Sumiyo is a 48 year old physician who came to the space station to carry out medical experiments on the crew. She is the divorced mother of one 24 year old son. She is in excellent health, but her father died from a heart attack when he was 54. She is the first Japanese woman to serve on the space station. 4. Natasha, age 27, is the youngest person on the space station. She is divorced and has no children (though she had one miscarriage when she was 23). She is a computer expert and her primary role is to oversee the technical aspects of the 300 separate experiments that are currently being conducted on the space station. She is from Moscow. 5. Addrienne is the first woman from sub-Saharan Africa to voyage to the space station (she is from Zimbabwe). She is 34 and married. She is the mother of two young boys. She is a botanist, studying how a variety of plant species respond to micro-gravity. 6. Alexandra is 51, single, and has no children. She is the Captain of the crew that last arrived on the space station. She is a veteran of more than 12 shuttle missions and has served as both pilot and navigator of previous shuttle flights. Her mother is a US Senator and her father, now deceased, was a World War Two fighter pilot. She is in excellent health and was raised in Washington DC. 7. Sergei is 44 and serves as a payload specialist on the crew. He is married and has no children. He is a former Olympic hockey player from Russia. At 6’ 4” and 220lbs., he is in excellent physical condition. His father died from the effects of alcoholism, but his mother is still doing well at age 74. 8. Max is a 32 year old physician and the divorced father of six children. He is the flight surgeon for the crew. He is from Australia. He is a serious runner, but hyper-tension runs on both sides of his family and he takes medication to control his blood pressure. He also takes medicine to control his allergies to molds, dust, and pollen. 9. Hiro is a 41 year old Japanese businessman and the father of two children. He is the owner of a vast exporting company and is fulfilling his life-long dream to go into space. Through his donation of $15 million, he is responsible for funding more than 100 experiments on the space station. He is slightly over-weight, and with exception of poor vision, he is in generally good health. 10. Rahim is the first Iranian to visit the space station. He is 38 and is the most decorated pilot in the Iranian airforce. He is the father of five children. He was the pilot of the original shuttle to the space station, and has been on board the station for five months. Though very slender, he is in good health. 11. Kerry is 57 and has spent more time in space than any other astronaut. This is his 17th mission. He is married and has three grown children. He was looking forward to retiring from NASA at the conclusion of the mission, returning to California, and pursuing his hobbies of gardening and wood working. He is also contemplating a post-retirement return to school to become a minister. He is the highest ranking member of the crew and serves as the chief administrator of the space station. He is slightly overweight, but is in generally good health. 12. Steven is 41 and is from Nigeria. He is single and has no children. He is an exercise physiologist, a former professional soccer player, and is studying the effects of weightlessness on muscle density. He has developed a series of exercise machines for the crew and works out for more than three hours every day. He was adopted as a child and has no information about his biological parents. 13. Jorge is a 29 year old astrophysicist from Mexico City. He is the father of one two year old daughter. He is studying deep space quasars using the station’s powerful telescope. He is not athletic and dislikes exercise, but is in generally good physical condition. He is widely-regarded as one of world’s most brilliant young astronomers. 14. Dimitri is the 32 year old son of the president of Greece. His mother is the former Miss Universe. He is single and has no children. He was a professional model in his early 20s, and then decided to pursue a career in graphic design. He developed a three dimensional graphics program that allows the computers on board the station to map the surfaces of any object with incredible precision. Other than wearing contact lenses to correct severe myopia, he is in excellent health. 15. Angelo is 43 and single. He has no children. He is an Italian cartographer who is working on developing the most comprehensive map of deep space ever created. He is the son of poor farmers and grew up raising all of the food he ate. His parents –now in their 70s-- are both still living on their family farm. He has a slight limp from an accident as a child, but otherwise has no health problems. It's a lot to go over, even if there are one or two that stand out to you, mention them and why you think they stand out. Thanks for your input. Pugs
I was going to say the same. Probably the youngest man, and the youngest women. Or a younger man with the least health complications and in great physical health.
Hmm, good point, I didn't even think about that, I was thinking 3 men and 3 women, but yours makes a lot more sense. I look forward to hearing what else you have to say. Thanks for posting. Pugs
Do you think their professions should play a role in it? Also, there has to be someone to pilot the ship back to Earth. That just dawned on me. Pugs
Caroline, Natasha and Addrienne can go. The older ones are at too high of a risk for making r****d babies. As for the men, the obvious ones are Dimitri, Jorge, Rahim, and Max. They are the youngest and in good health. Sorry, but if you're looking at repopulating the earth, these are the most important factors. Max is the odd one out on this, as his allergies could be a serious issue upon reentry into this new world. Sorry, but when 6 are left, youth and good health trumps intelligence.
Two men, four women. You want each man to father children with only two of the women, therefore keeping two distinct bloodlines moving. Michelle and Alexandra strike out due to health problems/age. You need the women to have long time horizons before they aren't able to produce any more children. As for the males, take Jorge and Rahim. Jorge is the youngest male and has no medical problems. Rahim will have to pilot the space station and is in good health. I'd consider Dmitri due to age, but myopia may be genetic I'm not sure. Edit: I forgot about a pilot.
I'm no geneticist, but I'd think that with only one man, you'd probably get into some serious genetic defects down the road. You might also want to consider including males that has had at least one child. If one of the goals is to start repopulating the planet it might be tough if you were to find out later that the guy was shooting blanks.
I disagree, sir. You gotta have AT LEAST two men. If that ONE MAN in your scenario were you, would you have your kids do each other later in life? I don't think so, sir. With TWO men, you at least have good gene and chromosome mixes. This is only my opinion. I wouldn't care about the coal miner's daughter.
Maybe 2 men and 4 women you got to diversify the genes or pretty soon they will all be deformed in a few generations. Or maybe get 5 women pregnant as soon as possible then send the men to heaven. lol. Also what if the one men dies? Two 4 seems most ideal.
Already said that good sir! I don't know a whole lot about genetics, but I think the way I lay out it, you pair two women up with man and have them pop out babies routinely. Keep the offspring of each man separated and raised as family. They in turn mate with the children of the other bloodline as much as possible. Eventually you get far enough down that it is irrelevant.
Max, Rahim, the 4 youngest women. 1. You know Max and Rahim are fertile, they have bunches of kids. 2. Max is a physician, which would be needed in a population of 6. Also, it would be a good idea for all the females that are returning to mate with guys other than Max and Rahim before returning. If the first new kids are from different fathers than the rest, it would mitigate many of the next generation's genetic issues.
1 female - chinese, no professional reason little old, but mother. 3 female - japanase, little old, but doctor and mother 4 female - russian, miscarriage, but youngest 5 female - african, mother, botanist 8 male - australian, father doctor, but does have hypertension 10 male - iranian, father, PILOT Diversified genes, all have good vision, all but 1 is a father or mother, although hypertension and cancer are a risk, if we're repopulating the world, long life expectancy isn't a major concern for me.
You should, because she's probably the toughest. My daddy worked all night in the Van Lear coal mine All day long in the field hoeing corn Mama rocked the baby at night Read the Bible by a coal oil light And everything would start all over come break of morn Daddy loved and raised eight kids on a coal miner's pay Mama scrubbed our clothes on a washboard every day I've seen her fingers bleed To complain there was no need She'd smile in Mama's understanding way In the summertime we didn't have shoes to wear But in the wintertime we'd all get a brand new pair From a mail-order catalogue, money made by selling a hog Daddy always seemed to get the money somewhere I'm proud to be a coal miner's daughter I remember well, the well where I drew water The work we done was hard At night we'd sleep, cause we were tired I never thought I'd ever leave Butcher Holler
One of Caroline, Alexandra, and Rahim have to survive. Somebody needs to pilot the ship back to earth. Alexandra seems like she shouldn't make it. Other than being a pilot, she doesn't seem to have any skills that would be useful back on earth. And she's to old to be used for fertility purposes. Max should probably live. We know he's not shooting blanks and he's a doctor and surgeon which should prove useful back on earth.
Well there are only 3 women below the age 40. Wouldn't you take into factor of birth complications if you took 5 women? Also how much genetic diversity would be ideal to start off. Probably take the 3 women below 40, and 3 men (Max, Rahim, Steven) Max to deliver births, Rahim to fly the ship back to earth, and Steven so they can actually walk after landing. Each will have to take turns procreating with a different mate to maximize genetic diversity.
I haven't done the math but don't you run into a problem with inbreeding if you only bring one male? Cause then the first earth generation is invariably boning their half-sibling just one generation in.
I avoided biology after high school, but as I understand it, inbreeding issues tend to be cumulative. So children of half-siblings don't usually have many problems, especially with as much diversity as this group. If cousins reproduce for several generations, that's when the problems show up.
