Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!osu-eddie!bgsuvax!gagen
From: gagen@bgsuvax.UUCP
Newsgroups: sci.research,sci.med,talk.rumors,misc.headlines
Subject: Re: Life imitates art?
Message-ID: <1093@bgsuvax.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 29-May-87 11:25:04 EDT
Article-I.D.: bgsuvax.1093
Posted: Fri May 29 11:25:04 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 30-May-87 12:02:08 EDT
References: <6693@allegra.UUCP> <1664@tekcrl.TEK.COM> <1084@aecom.YU.EDU>
Organization: Bowling Green State University B.G., Oh.
Lines: 31
Xref: utgpu sci.research:119 sci.med:1951 talk.rumors:731 misc.headlines:583
Summary: can hybrids be produced by crossing two organisms with different chromosome numbers?

In article <1084@aecom.YU.EDU>, werner@aecom.YU.EDU (Craig Werner) writes:
> In article <1664@tekcrl.TEK.COM>, terryl@tekcrl.TEK.COM writes:
> > In article <6693@allegra.UUCP> atd@allegra.UUCP (Anton Dahbura) writes:
> > >
> > >      ITALIAN SCIENTISTS CONFIRM APEMAN CAN BE CREATED
> 
> 	This ignores the fact that Apes have 48 chromosomes and
> humans have 46, and sounds more like somebody's idea of a hoax,
> or a typical article from the National Enquirer.

Although I have doubts about the possibillity (not to mention advabillity)
of a humn-ape hybrid, I would like to point out that differences in chromosome
number do not preclude the production of hybrids in mammals.  I offer the
following recollections as examples:

(1) The horse and the donkey have different chromosome numbers.  A cross between
    a female horse and a male donkey produces a mule. The sterillity of the
    mule is believed to be due to the inabillity of the mule to produce viable
    gametes because problems of chromosome pairing and disjunction in the
    first meiotic division.

(2) Hybrids can be produced between different species of horse having different
    chromosome number.

(3) In nature, there are species of sheep that differ in there chromosome
    number.  Naturally occuring hybrids have been documented.

I would like to point out that this past Sunday's Chicago Tribune admitted
that the article had no foundation in fact.

Kathi Gagen