Theoretically, is it possible to repopulate the Earth with a male and a female?

[SSSnail]

Discuss! D:

 

[MikeMike]

you will have some weird problems with a lot, but the sex would be constant, and then your kids would have sex, or you with your kids... just kill the ones that don't work, eat them in fact since food wont be easy... and then continue on generation to generation fucking, giving birth, letting the strongest survive... after about 250 years, the gene pool would be pretty diverse... figuring every person would slowly go form other groups...

 

[FallenHero]

Yes. Will the genepool be so small as to produce a huge amount of abnormalities and birth defects? Also yes.

 

[disappoint]

Verily I say unto thee: Not enough genetic variation with only 2 people. Although that can be mitigated some by natural genetic mutation, it's evident that whomsoever seeded Earth's life to begin with did so with much more than just 2 genetic samples.

 

[Malak]

You would probably want a minimum of 6 each.

 

[illusion88]

you will have some weird problems with a lot, but the sex would be constant, and then your kids would have sex, or you with your kids... just kill the ones that don't work, eat them in fact since food wont be easy... and then continue on generation to generation fucking, giving birth, letting the strongest survive... after about 250 years, the gene pool would be pretty diverse... figuring every person would slowly go form other groups...

Actually, that's not how that works. Turns out, the offspring you have with your children, and your childrens children will still only be trading genes with genes they already have.

 

[Schadenfroh]

I do not want to even imagine the birth defects, eww..

Anyway, the human race was down to about 1K breeding pairs at one point.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toba_catastrophe_theory

Speaking of which, I believe a volcano in Sumatra is going off right now.

 

[Itchrelief]

So, then breed like jackrabbits and hope no catastrophe occurs until a sufficient population is built up... then guzzle mutagens like crazy?

 

[Iron Woode]

I do not want to even imagine the birth defects, eww..

Anyway, the human race was down to about 1K breeding pairs at one point.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toba_catastrophe_theory

Speaking of which, I believe a volcano in Sumatra is going off right now.

I was reading about that last month.

Seems that there is contradicting evidence in this theory.

 

[Gigantopithecus]

You would probably want a minimum of 6 each.

There's a method in population biology called population viability analysis, and the quick and dirty rule of thumb for conservation of a population is the 50/500 rule. That is, an effective population size of 50 is needed to avoid inbreeding depression and 500 to mostly avoid the effects of genetic drift. Note, however, that 'effective population size' is an abstract population genetics concept that does not equal census population size. For example, though there are over 7,000,000,000 humans alive now, the effective size of the human population is about 10,000...

I do not want to even imagine the birth defects, eww..

Anyway, the human race was down to about 1K breeding pairs at one point.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toba_catastrophe_theory

Speaking of which, I believe a volcano in Sumatra is going off right now.

...The Toba eruption's impact on human populations was always very speculative and is now mostly discarded by researchers (http://johnhawks.net/weblog/reviews/archaeology/middle/petraglia_toba_india_continuity_2007.html). It is exceedingly unlikely that there were ever as few as 1,000 breeding pairs of humans at any point in our past.

 

[Malak]

It is exceedingly unlikely that there were ever as few as 1,000 breeding pairs of humans at any point in our past.

I thought I read a report a while back where they reduced everyone to 6-8 ancestors.

 

[M0oG0oGaiPan]

you wouldn't even need a man. just hit up a sperm bank

 

[Acanthus]

Actually, that's not how that works. Turns out, the offspring you have with your children, and your childrens children will still only be trading genes with genes they already have.

There's still various forms of mutation.

It is theorized that our constant exposure to various forms of radiation from the sun and isotopes that exist in the environment cause very slight mutations that add up over thousands of years of reproduction.

You would have diversity with only one male and one female down the road quite a ways.