>Joe Carson queried:
>
>>Given the Bibical story of man's creation, can there be more than four
> gene
>>options
>>for any human characteristic? My armchair observation is that there
> seem to
>>be no more than four types of eye, skin, and hair color, four blood typ
>es,
>>four basic shapes of heads, etc.
>>
>
>Many human traits are coded for by large gene complexes. For example,
> human blood group is coded for by at least twelve genes (F.B.
>Christiansen & M.W. Feldman. 1986. Population Genetics. Blackwell
>Scientific. pp. 42-43.). Most of these are comprised of only 2-4
>alleles, but one (Rhesus) is comprised of at least 10 alleles worldwide.
>I'm afraid I don't feel very qualified to respond to the second half of
>your question, but perhaps someone else can pick it up from here.
Some of the MHC (major histocompatibility genes) have up to 59 alleles.
See Klein, Takahata, and Ayala,"MHC Polymorphism and Human Origins"
Scientific American Dec. 1993 p. 78.
This is a real problem for those who want a recent, anthropologically
universal flood.
glenn
Foundation,Fall and Flood
http://members.gnn.com/GRMorton/dmd.htm