White Bengal Tigers Research Paper

What if the United States made it legal for mothers and fathers to marry their sons and daughters, or even let siblings get married? It could be assured that there would immediately be an uproar around the world. However, when it comes to breeding animals this practice is overlooked. One of the most controversial subjects on this issue is the inbreeding of white Bengal tigers. While they may be considered one of the beautiful creatures of the wild, the truth is that white Bengal tigers are not found in the wild anymore. Therefore, all white Bengal tigers have been bred with each other for decades just because of their color. The white coloring of Bengal tigers is a result of a genetic deformity, prompting the breeding of them by zoos for the

First, scientists looked to their physical aspects to determine what they need to look for. The main aspect in this case would be the coloring of their fur, which is known to be cause my melanin. “Melanin is the pigment determining skin, hair, and eye color and has two major types: pheomelanin produces red to yellow colors, and eumelanin produces black to brown. Repression of either of these pigments influences specific color formation (Xu et al.).” Since the scientists could see a physical representation of the mutation by looking at the lack of melanin, they knew at what point they should start their search in the genetic code. A Punnett square, comprised of one box divided into four boxes that use the pairing of alleles, shows a basic relationship to the two parents. While scientists have used the Punnett square for years to show the basics of genetics, technology has made it increasingly easier to see inside the code itself. More often than not, scientists will still use both when studying genes. “We refer to the white tiger-determining gene as a distinct “white locus” with two alleles: W, the wild-type, is dominant over w, the recessive mutant. We recruited a Ww × ww captive tiger pedigree including seven white and nine wild-type tigers. We performed whole-genome sequencing in the three parents at 30× genome coverage each and restriction-site-associated DNA

“White tigers are greatly cherished by the public, making them valuable to zoos and breeders. Unfortunately, a number of health issues have occasionally surfaced within some of the white tiger population such as neurological and facial defects (Carney).” These defects do not necessarily inhibit their lives to the point where they need to be destroyed, but they sometimes need special care. More often than not breeders knowingly breed siblings with each other to try to get the white coloring, which hurts the offspring’s genetic code even further. This happened when cubs were born at a small zoo in North Dakota, and “[o]f the twelve live cubs born to the Siberian male and Bengal female at that small zoo, one of the private individuals purchased a litter of two cubs, a brother and sister, and the other individual purchased another litter of five cubs, brothers and sisters, through an animal dealer. Both individuals inbred their brothers and sisters and spontaneously had white tiger cubs born (Laughlin).” While breeding Bengal tigers with the white coloring are still detrimental to their genetic code, breeding direct siblings together hurts more than just their coloring. Just as in humans, certain mental disabilities such as Down syndrome are often seen when