this post was submitted on 09 Jul 2026
327 points (97.7% liked)

Science Memes

20720 readers
1847 users here now

Welcome to c/science_memes @ Mander.xyz!

A place for majestic STEMLORD peacocking, as well as memes about the realities of working in a lab.



Rules

  1. Don't throw mud. Behave like an intellectual and remember the human.
  2. Keep it rooted (on topic).
  3. No spam.
  4. Infographics welcome, get schooled.


Research Committee

Other Mander Communities

Science and Research

Biology and Life Sciences

Physical Sciences

Humanities and Social Sciences

Practical and Applied Sciences

Memes

Miscellaneous

founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
 
all 20 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] cupcakezealot@piefed.blahaj.zone 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

its wrong cause they're all dead i ate them.

[–] beebarfbadger@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago

Tried to verify, but my stupid gummibears make like pandas and refuse to breed.

[–] quediuspayu@lemmy.dbzer0.com 64 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

Royal houses: if we avoid the green and the orange eventually we'll get the first two back.

[–] atomicbocks@sh.itjust.works 33 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Yeah, but that’s when you also get the weird gummy bear that melted into the bottom of the bag.

[–] wyldrstallyns@lemmy.dbzer0.com 12 points 6 days ago

Ripe for office, then, historically speaking. 🤌🏼

[–] Signtist@bookwyr.me 35 points 6 days ago (1 children)

It gets the point across well enough, but there are some issues if you get deeper with it.

First, the colors would swap back and forth much more often, blurring together into a single color at this scale, much like how small alternating black and white dots can be used to make us see a gray color. We can get around that issue by assuming that they're just organized into groups by parent of origin, rather than being actual representation of the exact DNA order, though.

Next, the proportion of colors is off, especially in the last generation. You'll get different amounts of DNA from one progenitor to another, but it's always pretty close to an equal split halved by generation, so the first 2 bears in the 3rd generation would be much closer to the proportions seen in the 3rd than they really are, and the bears in the 4th generation would all be 1/2 orange, 1/4 green, and 1/8 each of red and yellow.

Finally, the first 2 bears of the 3rd generation seem to have been given the "missing" DNA from their red/yellow parent, with one having mostly red and a little yellow, and the other having mostly yellow with a little red. While this is technically possible, it's no more likely than any other of the near-infinite variations 2 separate siblings could have instead. Someone using this as a way to understand inheritance may get the incorrect notion that one sibling inherits what DNA the previous sibling didn't, when it's instead completely random each time.

Ultimately, this is a good way to introduce the concept of genetics and inheritance to someone who may be having trouble picturing it in their mind, but more information would need to be provided for them to truly understand it.

[–] wyldrstallyns@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

Luckily enough, I had multiple siblings to reference when this came up in school (<'00), so I only went along with it as "close enough for homework", but knew deep down that it was crayon-box BS. 🤪

[–] hypnicjerk@piefed.social 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

sorry, what do you mean by this?

Only that their resemblance to one side of the extended family and mine to the other was enough proof of the gummy bear example to make the concept stick in my mind, accurate or no😉.

[–] Illogicalbit@lemmy.world 28 points 6 days ago

I’ll need a larger sample set… uh… for science.

[–] Mac@mander.xyz 13 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Genetics isn't basic math.

[–] justme@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 5 days ago

nop. it's a bit more advanced math

[–] Andonyx@lemmy.world 17 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Not geneticist, but this appears to be a metaphor for "punnet squares". These are the box diagrams that purport to show the percentages of different genetic traits based on mixes of dominant and recessive genes.

Again, not a scientist, but this is the stuff we learned in the 80s in science class, before the human genome project was even undertaken. The reality now, I'm fairly certain, is that even something as simple as eye color actually has a lot more complexity behind it than these simple boxes. And the expression of genes and the proteins they code for depend on the interaction of a lot of processes, many of which we don't have a complete picture of yet.

You sure sound like a scientist! 🤩🖖🏼

[–] Nima@leminal.space 11 points 6 days ago (1 children)

these genetics are delicious.

[–] I_am_10_squirrels@beehaw.org 1 points 2 days ago

But are they infectious?

[–] NM_Gringo@lemmy.world 8 points 6 days ago

Sorry, best I can do is pea pods.

[–] hOrni@lemmy.world 5 points 6 days ago

This does not explain anything.

[–] square@lemmy.zip 3 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

If this is a whole genome thing, and not just looking at a small group of alleles, it is incredibly unlikely that two of the great-grandchildren would have no contribution from the white great-grandparent. It's so unlikely that I wouldn't be surprised to learn that it's unlikely to have ever happened throughout all of human history.