Genetics, the One Power, and Six-toed cats

..it is pretty self evident. Recall the Aes Sedai conversations about how the relentless hunting down of male channelers could be to blame for the diminishing number of new novices...."culling" the ability as it were.


Da Mook





"You're not cute, you're a silver-fox sex god is what you are." LiterateDog to me, of course

"snoop elsewhere" -Pevara

Rand's not from the Two Rivers so he wouldn't have gotten his strength from the isolated gene pool that Nynaeve and Egwene did.


Egwene Sedai
The Badass Amyrlin

Rand recieved his powers because HE IS the Dragon Reborn, and not being from the two rivers or being an aielman has nothing to do with that aspect.

Since RJ talks about the theory (through many Aes Sedai) about strength in the power diminishing due to the male half being killed off everywhere, I do think that this theory holds water.

One of the Chosen talked about these people that only let men who can channel live to 21 and only breed with other channelers (book 4?). Now RJ mentions them again in WH, so I believe that they will be included in the next book of the series and I am interested in seeing if they will be very strong in the power.

But... it is not bad genetics, but good genetics. If you have something that is higher up on the evolutionary ladder mate with something else that is up there too, then you get a product that is stronger than either of the parents. A la Alien 4 where Ripley helps spawn a new breed of Alien.


I got my Broken Crown at Wal Mart
Women are crazy, maybe Rand understands them
"It's going to be a trilogy." -Robert Jordan(circa 1989)

"Only RJ knows"

PerrinAybaraPSK.onIm

My question is if the Two Rivers has such a high percentage of female channelers, what about the men? I think that was the "thorny bush" that Taim referred to, but why havn't men been going insane in the Rivers for the past 1000 years?

A woman who is born to touch the source could live a quiet (if exceptionally lucky) life, like Nynaeve. A man born to touch the source would die in a rather messy manner. Why havn't we heard of this more often?

here is a pic of him: http://www.vigenconstruction.com/cbv/manhands.jpg

I am going to go try to form the flame in the void now...




"Why on earth would anybody want to kidnap a groundhog?"

"I can think of a few reasons, the pervert!"

This might be the same thing as having it be genetic, but I always thought that whether or not anyone in your family could channel, you would still have a chance that you would have the ability. Having a blood relative that coudl channel just raised the odds by a bit. I could be wrong.

As for six-toed cats...my sister has one! *lol*


By now the whole of her life has been traded like a pawn
That's why she knows the price...of living with the safety on

In Biology we've been studying the Theory of Evolution and this fits in well. Two River folk are notorious for being stubborn, maybe the ability to channel causes this. In artificial selection certain adaptions sooner or later come to dominate when people without those adaptions. Another reason could be that no one ever leaves the place so people who normally would become aes sedai don't and they get married. You have to look at the male side as well, aes sedai don't come to the two rivers to hunt down male channelers though there are probably tons with the ability.


DARTH DRAGON

"Truth begins as heresy."

i agree with the inter-breeding thought but rand has no blood connection to the two-rivers. He was a child of an aiel man. The reason Rand is the strongest man is due to the fact that he is the dragon...

It says in the guide that chanelling is recessive genetic! there's no debate!

And Rand, Mat and Perin haven't been ta'veren all their lives. Obviously. If they had been that would have meant that three of the most poweful ta'veren ever would have been in one village for almost 2 decades...the amoutn of ridiculous events that would have occured would have been mentioned. After all, look what happened when the three ta'veren turned up in Tear at the same time.

It's one of those 'dumb-guy' things that as soon as I heard of it, it was blatantly obvious, but I'd never thought of it before....

The three ta'veren have not been together since Tear, have they? And that was pretty darn wild. Forsaken fighting Rand, Forsaken fighting each other, Forsaken protecting Rand (!), the legendary Stone falling, the revelation of the Aiel, the fulfilling of a prophecy and the winning of Callandor.

Pretty boring stuff!

Plus, the time before that saw the sounding of the Horn of Valere (apparently not for the first time, but no other time speaks of it), the revealing of the Dragon Reborn, and the slaying of Ishamael (Naeblis). Not to mention perhaps the first ever Return to the Light by a damned person (Ingtar). But that's purely speculation.

Heh...what's gonna happen the next time? I'm guessing it'll be the Battle of (and for) Tar Valon, with Masema's madness thrown in, plus some White Cloaks as well, and of course, Forsaken zipping about like flies.

I agree with your theory except that Rand was born on Dragonmount; therefore his parents were not in the Two Rivers genepool.


Gena Sedai

I know Rand himself is not Two Rivers born, but where did Tam pick up Kari? She died young, and I don't recall an explanation, could she have been a wilder too? One of the unfortunate majority that die before they know they can channel? Are there any other referenced to other women in the two rivers dying for no reason? This information would only be backup for this theory. Though I kinda understand that Tam is of the Two Rivers, and he picked up Kari in his wanderings.


"Why on earth would anybody want to kidnap a groundhog?"

"I can think of a few reasons, the pervert!"

Windsor, I'm afraid Kari isn't his mother either. Rand's biological father was Janduin, an Aiel clan chief. His mother was... someone else - I don't think I should tell you exactly who if you don't know. Tam found Rand lying on the Dragonmount, and Kari was his wife whom he picked up while adventuring outside the Two Rivers. When Tam returned people saw an outlander wife and a baby boy, and assumed the obvious.

Great theory BTW Xoe. Definite thumbs up to that one. Despite what Burr said, I don't think the alternative makes sense. Could 3 ta'veren in one little village make every single cat embryo in their part of the country grow an extra toe? Wouldn't the adults have noticed if cats sudddenly started having six toes instead of five since about twenty years ago? If that had happened, you can bet Cenn Buie and the Coplins/Congars would be raving about the "work of the Dragon" or something (and being ironically right). Especially seeing as there's a strong argument that they weren't ta'veren all their lives, seeing as nothing really odd happened in Emond's Field compared to what Rand did in the villages on the way to Tear. And in reply to whoever said about men dying in nasty ways, how do we know they didn't? Remember how rare the spark is. One or two in the collective memory (which, face it, isn't going to be that long in a backward place like that) might have gone a bit mad before dying; so what? Perhaps they never survived to rot, throwing themselves of cliffs or something in their madness.

Also, I believe someone in WoTworld is missing something when they talk about the Red Ajah culling the ability to channel out of mankind. I mean, how many people do they gentle? Five a year? Some of whom must already have children before they die. Surely the issue is about Aes Sedai being so haughty and not having children themselves. Obvious as this seems, to someone in WoTworld that is, only Verin seems to have noticed this (tGH). When she mentioned it in the Tower, more than a few feathers were severely ruffled. Aiel wise ones get married and have children, and they've got plenty of dreamwalkers, whereas the Tower haven't had a Dreamer in 500 years until Egwene. This must also mean that Talents are genetic too.

Yours, .


You must chop down the tallest tree in the forest with... a herring!


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Fadingoutandnowgone

about talents being genetic also. Makes sense when you look at it.

... because if Rand's village people were full of "channeling genes" then there would have been traces of a lot of men able to channel in the Two Rivers since three thousand years.
I think that the ability to channel is random, and that the presence of three Ta'veren changes the odds.
By the way, who said that genetics exists in Randland? In the books, the soul predominates on the body.

There -is- a 'channeling' gene, and it appears to be recessive. Cool. Next point...

... far as everyone is going on about Rand not being born in the Two Rivers... uh... so what? The Aiel, like the Sea Folk, have strong numbers in terms of channelers as well.

In terms of the men not channeling so much, it could be (somewhat) explained away by the fact that there are two types of channelers. The people who will do so no matter what (wilder-types), and the people who can learn. There's probably a truckload of people who can learn from the Two Rivers (as seen in Winter's Heart, where they talk about all the boys picked up from the Two Rivers...)

All the lunatics who are male wilders in the Two Rivers area, probably go to Taren Ferry, or head into the Mountains of the Mist or something. Though I don't have anything to prove that...


*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The Detective: Rand
He Who Comes Without Sleep
Looking for RPers to join Tarmon Gaidon @ ER
- the definite Wheel of Time RPG online!

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Is there any mention about two channeling persons having children who are _not_ able to channel?

*basic genetics*


Seita

Just because you're paranoid does not mean they are not out to get you!

Doh! *Smacks forehead with palm*

I completely forgot that Rand wasn't from the Two Rivers when I wrote this. Sorry. The theory still stands.

Also, in the vein of why there would be no mad male channelers in the Two Rivers...

Maybe Tavereness works outside of time. Maybe the fact that there were going to be three taverens in the little village caused none of the male cahnnelers to go mad. (Maybe). This would fit with the theory that taveren are like large objects in space with high gravitational pull. They actually bend light, slowing it, and therefore bend time. This is kinda out there though.

Another idea is that maybe it's just the females in the Two Rivers that are strong. Maybe they totally lack the male channeling gene at all.

And about the taveren...

Maybe tavereness doesn't manifest until a certain age (like channeling).

Another idea is that all their tavereness went into bending the pattern in a way that would allow Moiraine to find them.

I'm just throwing up ideas here, so don't flame...

Xoe


:: I am the speaker at the dawn of the age
:: and I stand at the door to the west.

~X~

Yeah I knew Kari wasn't Rand's real mom, but I was just wondering where she was from, she did die young and for no reason really given in the books, wilder maybe? I was just kinda thinking outloud. I asked somebody in chat and they said she was from Andor. I wonder if we will ever find out why she died.


"Why on earth would anybody want to kidnap a groundhog?"

"I can think of a few reasons, the pervert!"

First, I not only agree with the theory, but had accepted it as a given for some time.
As for the subject of other males in the 2rivers, I first want to point out one detail. With channelers, some have the ability inborn (it will manifest no matter what) and some can be tought: I believe it has been stated that this is true for both men and women. Only males with the spark inborn will go insane unless they try to teach themselves to channel without even knowing that it's possible (which I find very unlikely, at least pre-Black Tower). As for why we haven't seen any crazies from 2rivers, keep in mind how few women with the spark inborn Nynaeve remembered from home (back when Moiraine confronted her regarding the truth of her abilities in tEotW): I believe it was only two or three that she'd ever HEARD of. So if the number of men with the spark inborn is about the same--and I don't see why it would be otherwise--we've only got two or three male channelers to explain about. Add to this the fact that madness isn't always--or even usually--instantaneous, but that trying to touch the power without training kills I believe it was 75%--and it seems likely that the 2rivers probably had a couple of men who died suddenly of mysterious illnesses, which although not an everyday occurance is nonetheless ordinary enough to have escaped comment by any of the characters.

I may have forgotten or maybe I never seen it. But can someone please tell me where in the series it says Kari is not his real mother. As far as I can remember the Aiel were calling him the son of Kari or something like maybe I got my characters confused. And as far as channeling being that strong by genetics, wouldn't they all have mental malfunction if they were interbreeding that much. And the Aes Sedai saying they feel the power strong in certain people is worthless knowledge. Saying as how Moraine was stuck on Egwene until Nynaeve showed up. She was sure that Egwene was the strongest ever. Rand I believe is strong for two reasons. 1) He's the Dragon Reborn, Caromoor, et cetera.
But all Dragon Reborn is only a name so the people may have hope, like Mesiah(did I spell that right)(ohh well)
2) Rand has been pushing himself beyond his limit sense the beginning, always trying to do things he couldn't do. I believe someone wrote a theory about this. He only learned how to use the power cause he needed it most then. Eye of the World. And when he fights the forsaken he struggles at first but need and fear kick in and whala he wins(plus ta'veren) Genetics may be the reason for strength. But what of Perrin, is it also then genetic for Wolfbrothers to be born. I doubt sense there are so few. Sorry kinda got carried away there.


Life and Death is all one elaborate story. Read it, enjoy it, and don't give up too early.

Channeling is without a doubt recessive genetic (it says it in the guide damnit!), but how it's recessive genetic exactly is unknown. It could be as simple as eye colour (which actually isn't all that simple) or it could be more like height.

Anyway, from my understanding, if it was like eye colour then Rand's children with Elayne and with Aviendha would pretty much have to be able to channel (of course I don't know how the spark effects this). With Min, one of 2 things will happen. Either none of her children will have the ability (this will happen if she passes on the dominant gene) or roughly half of them will.

PLEASE correct me if I'm wrong. Of course, I don't think it's likely to be like eye colour (more genes are involved no doubt), because if it was then being able to channel would be similar to having blue eyes. Only 2-3% of the population could channel during the AoL and while I don't have any figures, I find it hard to believe that only 2-3% of the world have blue eyes.

Oh and on ta'veren, we've heard at numerous times throught the series that people aren't ta'veren for life, they are only ta'veren while the pattern needs them to be.

As for men not going mad that often in the Two Rivers, you just need to look at the numbers. In the AoL where they found all those who could channel, only 2-3% of the population could channel. Now take into acount that it has been culled out of mankind (even in the Two Rivers to some extent, compared to the AoL at least) then we're definitely no higher than 2%. After that you need to consider the fact that only those with the spark inborn would either go mad or die suddenly. I dunno if there are any numbers available (if there are shout them out), but it's pretty rare to have the spark, let's say 1 in 30 channelers have it (the odds might be worst than that, but the number serves). Then we have only 0.0666% of men born in the Two rivers with the spark. Thinking of the limited population of the Two Rivers, it is hardly surprising that very few men go through this and it appears to simply be an unexplained sickness.

Maisac,

As someone above said, Janduin was Rand's biological father. He was the Aiel chief who led the Aiel when they crossed the Dragonwall to kill Laman.

His mother is the interesting story. The Aiel Wise Ones first reveal it to Rand just after Rhuidean in TSR. His mother was an outlander woman who was found wandering the waste. The woman only called herself Shaiel and talked of a child left behind and a husband she didn't love. She also said that Gitara Moroso (the Aes Sedai who told Moiraine and Siuan Sanche that the Dragon had been Reborn) had told her to cross the Spine or the world would fall under the shadow. She became a Maiden, crossed the Dragonwall, became Janduin's lover (apparently), and died just after giving birth on the slope of the Dragonwall.

If you'd been piecing together the seemingly meaningless history of Andor at this point, you'd already have it figured out. But it was spelled out in no uncertain terms a couple books later in LoC (pretty sure that was when it was). Tigraine was the Daughter-Heir of Andor, she was the sister of Lord Luc (slayer), and married to Taringail Damodred (the husband she didn't love), and the mother of Galadedrid Damodrid (the son she didn't love). Taringail later married Morgase and fathered Gawyn and Elayne.

Random characters had been telling Rand ever since EotW that he looked both like Tigraine and an Aielman.

So to sum up, Janduin is Rand's father, Tigraine/Shaiel is his mother, and Galad is Rand's half-brother. Elayne and Gawyn would be some sort of weird non-relation. (Step-Siblings once removed?!!?)

Which brings me to an interesting question... Why is Galad's last name Damodred but Gawyn and Elayne are Trakands?

elayne and gawyn are trakand cos taringail married into House Trakand, rather then morgase marrying into House Damodred. given the way andorans are, it's likely that marrying into Damodred would've given morgase political problems (i seem to remember reading that Trakand was not a major House before morgase became queen) and may have even been enough to keep her from the throne.

if taringail also married into tigraine's house, then galad should have her house name, rather than damodred.


Lí blauf Búj is Lúvhaufí, lhei kaimei lheic Brauc.
(On a wild ride to oblivion, I lost my mind.)

There is a mention of mle madness in the Two Rivers, and it may or may not have to do with channelling.
When Perrin was with the Prophet, he was thinking about how Massema(sp?) was crazy, and remembered a guy who went crazy when Perrin was a kid. The guy refused to eat because he thought people were trying to poison him. He died before he had a chance to start rotting. I think this was in the same chapter as the six-toed-cats remark.

PS- Re: Rand's mommy spoilers....
"she left behind a child she did love, and a husband she did not." That's a quote from an Aiel Wise One.


"Those the gods wish to destroy, they first make mad"
"I would not mind you in my head, if you were not so clearly mad. -Lews Therin Telamon"

A fair amount of page space seems to be devoted to how the Two Rivers people are stubborn, resilient, etc. I think this could be a factor in the number of channelers with the spark inborn that survive. If Two Rivers folk tend to be tougher than your average Tairen, it seems that they'd have a better chance of surviving One Power induced "growing pains". They then become a normal part of society - a wilder without knowledge of their abilities. Like how Nynaeve would have ended up, had she had the opportunity to live out her days in the Two Rivers.

Of course, if there were a fair number of surviving wilders, you would think we'd have heard something about a past wisdom that lived for a couple hundred years. Maybe it takes regular & consistent use of the power to develop the whole longevity thing.

Another possibility I've been thinking about . . . is that the percentage of male channelers with the spark inborn is less than the female portion with the spark. Just another difference between the sexes & how they go about accessing the One Power. And to balance that out, there are more men than women who are capable of learning how to channel. That might explain the ease that the Black Tower has had in recruiting, as well as the lack of targets for the Red Ajah over the years.

Just a few thoughts.

Rand is NOT from the two rivers, his blood is that of the royal line and the aiel. he was adopted by a two river's man...



"This may hurt a little
But it's something you'll get used to."

Unless there were only strong channelers to begin with in emond's field then there would also be a bunch of weak channelers who would dilute the gene pool and make the channelers weaker. Unless they just got really lucky and only bred strong to strong then the two sides would cancel each other out.

Interesting theory though. . .

Logain mentions that the Black Tower has recruited men out of the Two Rivers (either on his or Taim's orders). This is in WH.

So it's not just the females there.

I liked the comment on how it might be that male channelers are more likely to need to learn the ability rather then having the inborn spark. This would indeed explain the number of men who have come to the black tower to be taught how to channel. It makes a big difference in the two powers Saidin and Saidar, if Saidin needs to be taught to most rather then being a natural occurance and Saidar is something more commonly found.

It could really explain the difference in how they are accessed, With Saidar your supposed to surrender your self to it, much like what would happen if it was inborn in you, you would eventually have to surrender to the notion that you can channel, where as Saidin needs to be controlled, wrestled ina way to do as you bid it, Sounds much like forcing it to do something, like being taught to do it.

As for the Two Rivers producing large amounts of channelers, well i think that genetics are in favour of the situation, Like the Aiel and the Sea Folk the genetic lines would only reach so far. Thus it would produce slightly stronger lines of channelers. Rand is Aiel, so that would explain his strength, well that and he's the Dragon Reborn. And as for the lack of men going insane and what not, perhaps it is more likely to be needed to be taught to the men in that area, as a result of the genetics involved in channelers in that area. there are some cases of male wilders in the two Rivers, I mean the man who went insane and died mysteriously HAD to be an example of how sometimes the men were born with the spark and then died before anyone really knew what caused it. Also there is always the possibility that the wisdom at the time could have concealed anything strange so as not to cause panic, simple sociology, cover up what you don't society to see, and try as hard as possible to keep it from the children, (which Perrin, Mat, Rand and most of the others from there would have been in any occurences of this...

so ya thats what I think...

In WH it was remarked that it was unheard of to have three generations of channelers in the same family(as happened with some Windfinders, for those who don't remember)but it isn't really surprising when you think about it.
I mean, Aes Sedai seldom marry and I'm positive MCs aren't likely to have kids often.
The Two Rivers is just about the only place where people with channeling potential have families.


Reading: The Woodlanders - Thomas Hardy

The 6 toed cats?????

<(-_-)>
("_("


___________________
Evilmonkey

"Madness waits for some. It creeps up on others."
-Lews Therin Telamon

it states without a doubt in the first hundred pages of the first book that kari was not his mother. when tam is in a fevor after trollocs attack the barn (along with narg, the great lord of the dark), he goes on about finding rand on dragonmount. he says something about seeing a dead aiel woman aka his mother aka tigraine laying nearby or possibly even holding him and "kari, i always knew you wanted a child" (not a direct quote).

Ive not read all the comments, but I'm gonna post this anyway.

Yes the two rivers are geographic isolated, but does it matter? People from the two rivers are strong in the power, but why would natural selection favor channeler rather than "normal" people? Most of the channeler in the Two Rivers don't even know that they have the ability and the few who can, do it without knowing it. So they have not got any control of the power.

Maybe I've missed something, but I just can't see why natural selection would favor channelers. I even bet that if the Aes Sedais looked really hard would they found other places with just as many high-level channelers. The only reason that Aes Sedais are focusing on the Two Rivers is because of Rand, Perrin, Mat, Egwene ect. Without them, the Two River's channelers would never have been known.


May the Vikings unite and bring terror to the world once again

Rand first used the Power in the Two Rivers while he and Co. were fleeing the Trollocs and Myddrall, not in the Eye of the World. He healed Bela's weariness.

i like the theory, except for the little problem that Rand isn't actually from the two rivers, he doesn't really even have any two rivers blood in him....

but where is the six toed cat remark?

All my cats have 7 at least... heheheheh

No, really.
But anyways, I don't think interbreeding works too well with humans, and since the ratio of channelers:non channelers should be about the same in the two rivers as everywhere else, then it wouldn't really matter. One more point is, my cats aren't really inbred, we get fresh blood every year or so, but damned if those multidigited cats don't keep showing up... which brings to light another point, perhaps sometime in the past a couple of very powerful channelers settled down in the two rivers (with their six toed cats) and started making babies.... which would result, through one of those dominant traits, with powerful channelers and their pet multitoed cats.


-Rillion

"Freemasons run the country"
-Germs on Smithers' face

I like the genetic theory as well. It just makes good sense.

As to why there is a good concentration in the Two Rivers, well, look at it from this point. Emond's Field is very isolated, now and I'm guessing in the past it was as well. It's just a bunch of tabac and wool farmers--nothing there to draw people in. There hasn't been a big influx of people (until after Perrin Goldeneyes) since Hawkwing's time or even before. Since they all intermarry (limited pool of mates) any recessive gene is bound to come to the fore. This would be especially true if there were a large number of people with the potential back in the beginning. I also like the part about stubbornness and channeling. I think that probably comes from a cultural standpoint, though, not genetics (i.e. the Aiel and the Atha'an Miere), though isolation of a culture is likely to strengthen a person's belief in their culture as the best one/only way.

Now, on to the Aiel. Basically the same argument about the numbers of channelers. They were quite isolated. From before the time of the Age of Legends, they had been a distinct race of people. They almost never allow outsiders to become a part of their society. Add several hundred years of interbreeding in, and you have a very limited gene pool. Now think about this: the Aiel catch *every* woman with the spark inborn. Doesn't it make sense that they would catch a large number of those who can learn as well? As far as men with the spark, they always go off to kill the Dark One or else throw themselves off a cliff. But what about those who can learn? Both the men and women who can learn are out there leading regular lives, getting married, having kids with the potential, who do the same. The recessive gene will definitely come out on top.

I could say much the same about the Windfinders of the Atha'an Miere, but I don't need to, and you see the pattern yourself.

limited gene pool+lack of outsiders=large number of sparkers and/or potential channelers.

What I'm curious to know is this: Is there a difference in sparkers and potentials? Sort of like a carrier for a disease and a person with it . . . Being that channeling is recessive, it doesn't seem as if my analogy would work, but I still wonder. If anyone has any idea, please feel free to jump in.

this doesnt work though, well not for rand. for nyneave and egwene, yes but not rand. i actually like the theory, agree with it but, rand wasnt born in the two rivers...he was born on dragonmount. just something to think about i guess







amanda

I realize I’m a latecomer to the issue, but I just couldn’t help myself.

How the channeling gene is passed on depends a great deal on several variables. I’ll give an example of a real genetic trait, give some explanation of how works, and how it’s passed.

There’s a real genetic defect called “X-linked Hypophosphotemia” or XLH, also sometimes referred to as “Vitamin D resistant rickets”. Before you try understanding it, you might need a little brush up on human anatomy and physiology. With some indulgence on you’re part, I’ll explain – if anyone has a strong medical background, please forgive some of the oversimplifications I might have to use for those without the tech talk training.

The human skeleton is made up primarily of calcium (chemical symbol “Ca” ) with a fair amount of phosphorous (chemical symbol “P” ) thrown in. But, contrary to common belief, the bones are not static; they are being broken down and built back up all the time; a perpetual internal remodeling project. When making bone material the body takes the CA and P, mixes in some vitamin D (as a catalyst) and voila! we have bone. During the breakdown process the Ca and P are both released into the bloodstream. Mechanisms exist within the body to re-capture both for reuse for more bone making. In the case of P, that mechanism is a specific enzyme in the kidneys. It traps the P and recycles it back into the bloodstream so it isn’t eliminated.

With XLH, this enzyme is missing: the P doesn’t get recycled. As a result the body becomes dangerously low on P and the mechanism of bone construction is badly affected. Sufferers exhibit several symptoms similar to rickets (a dietary deficiency) including:

Stunted growth (rarely exceeding 5 feet in height), brittle bones (easily broken and slow to heal), bowed legs (major weight-bearing bones sag under the pressure), abnormal curvature of the spine (they don’t usually look like hunchbacks, the resemblance is more like a really old woman with that unnatural curve to her back from osteoporosis).

In addition, XLH sufferers frequently exhibit,

Unusually uneven length of arms and legs – body weight stunts leg length in addition to the bowing, aggravating the short stature and causing a far greater than normal disparity in the ratio between leg and arm lengths. With this added to the bowed legs, sufferers are sometimes confused with tallish (4-foot to 4.5-foot midgets or dwarfs (look them up to see the difference).

Early onset of arthritis – the body does not process the recycled Ca well and deposits it in the joints. Significant arthritis onset can be identified in major joints (elbows and especially knees) as early as age 12; lesser joints like fingers and spine as early as age 20.
Early onsets of other bone-related maladies like spinal stenosis (look it up for detail), both of which rapidly become seriously debilitating. These problems usually begin requiring surgical corrective measures by age 35-40. Without these measures an individual can have their entire spinal column fuse solid by age 55.

Additionally, males suffer more harshly from this condition; the various effects hit them at younger ages, hit them harder (often profoundly), and debilitate them earlier.

Without getting further in-depth (and further off course), I’ll explain why I even mention this condition: it is a real genetic defect. It is passed to offspring in a specific pattern (no pun intended).

In XLH, the defect is X-linked. Those of us who remember our biology understand this means its carried by the X chromosome (associated with females), not the Y (for males). During procreation the mother provides half the genetic makeup of the child, the other half comes from the father. The embryo always gets an X from the mother. If it gets an X from the father, it becomes female. If it gets a Y from the father it becomes male.

A male who has the trait, then, cannot pass it to a son: he’s passing a non-involved Y. He has a 50% chance of passing an involved X. A father who had all sons would pass it to none of them, and all the sons could procreate without worry of passing on the recessive.

A female who has the trait, has a 50% chance of passing it to offspring of either gender. Unfortunately, even if a child does not manifest the defect, they may still have it and pass it to their own children in their turn. Surprise! Any child which does manifest the defect is then in the position of a parent described above.

The “Channeling Gene” may work in a similar manner. This would explain the comparative rarity: For XLH it is < 1 in 200,000. Also, it would explain why an unpredictable number of siblings and/or other family members might or might not manifest it. It’s a genetic crap shoot; it took decades for our modern genetic science to figure it out, how would the “primitives” living in a rough equivalent of 17th century Europe see any pattern? Some get it, some don’t.

It might, however, explain a little bit about the prevalence ratios we seem to see concerning “sparks” and “learners”. The WT has a lot of Spark types while the BT is mostly filled with “Learners”. If the genetic trait for Sparks is more prevalent in females and the “Learners” is more prevalent in males, we have our answer. Tracing transmissibility to offspring I’ll leave to the rest of you.