A SCI-FI TALE
by Ann Onymous
Loopy awoke and stretched, the sun peeped through a crack in the bed room curtains. This was the day! She jumped out of bed and hurriedly dressed. Today she, Loopy C. Allknowing, would begin creating perfect basenjis.
Now, September of 2025, was a great time to be alive. All the canine genes had been located, named, catalogued and the purpose of each was known. Loopy’s plan was to create perfect basenjis and she had no doubt that, with her very vast knowledge, she could do it. Who better? After all, she had the pedigree for it. Most of her family had been breeders of animals – her father, her grandfather, etc., etc. - not to mention friends she had worked for and with. Her siblings all had degrees and she had read everything on population genetics that had ever been printed. Yes, she was ready!
Loopy knew the project would take a lot of genes and a lot of work so she had recruited an interested young person, Newbie Wantabe, as an assistant. She drove to Newbie’s house and picked her up on the way to The Gene Center.
“Just think,” Loopy said to Newbie, “I can pick out the genes for the traits I want and not get the genes for Fanconi, PRA or any of the other inherited health problems!”
“That sounds great! Things sure are easier for breeders these days,” replied Newbie. “How many basenjis are you going to create?”
“Seven or eight at least. These will be my foundation dogs to breed from and I want to have plenty of diversity in them,” Loopy answered.
The Gene Center was located in a vast 15-acre complex. The entrance was flanked on each side by a big spiraling DNA helix. The sight of it made Loopy’s heart pound.
They pulled up in front of a small building labeled ‘Directory Information’. Once inside, they asked for directions to the Basenji Genes section. They were told to follow the road to the left and turn right at the Canine Genes sign and go to the Select-A-Gene Store on the left.
“Here, Newbie,” Loopy said handing her a notebook, “you can carry this and help me keep track of what to buy.”
The notebook had a long list of genes that Loopy wished to purchase and a long list of genes to avoid. Once inside the Select-A- Gene Store they were faced with long row after long row of pegboards with little plastic bags hanging on them.
“I had no idea it would be this big!” marveled Newbie.
“There are lots of genes,” Loopy said.
“May I help you?” asked the clerk behind the counter just inside the door.
“Where are the basenji genes?” asked Newbie.
“Isles #89 & #90,” replied the clerk, “Can I help you with any information?”
“No, I know exactly what I want, I’ve been breeding basenji for a very long time,” Loopy replied emphatically.
The clerk smiled knowingly. “I’ll be here if you need me.”
Loopy picked a bag off the rack in Isle #89. On the front it read – Basenji – Chromosome #33 - aba. She turned it over and on the back were listed the many genes contained in the chromosome package. Some were what Loopy wanted and some were ones that she would rather not have. She took the package to clerk at the front of the store.
“Excuse me,” she addressed the clerk, “I only want some of these genes, do you have some single genes somewhere that I can choose from or can we break up the package?”
“I’m sorry, Madam,” replied the clerk, “but genes only come grouped together in chromosomes. You must use the whole unit; actually, you need two unites of each. You will need another of the same chromosome so that you will end up with a pair. The instructions for assembling a canine follow the blueprint of natural inheritance the same as when you breed. That’s the only way it will work.”
Loopy returned to the isle. “This is going to take longer than I thought. Help me gather up sixteen of each of the chromosomes.”
“Sixteen of each!” echoed Newbie, “But that’s - - that’s – 620.”
“Well, just get eight of each, we’ll start by making four basenjis. Run back up front and get us one of those little baskets.”
Newbie obeyed. When she picked up the basket the clerk told her that there were tables in the back where they could work. She thanked him and returned to where Loopy, with furrowed brow, was studying the backs of the chromosome packets.
They carried the basket of chromosomes to a table and seated themselves. Loopy sorted through the packets and placed one carefully chosen chromosome for each of the numbers from 1 to 39 out in a straight line along the side of the table.
“Now,” she said to Newbie, “help me find a second chromosome for each of these. Try to get ones as different as possible and without any inherited defects.”
“Why do the chromosomes have different pairs of genes at each one of these locations?” asked Newbie.
“Each location is called a ‘locus’. Each locus has two genes. There can be any number of genes that can appear at a given locus; that’s why there are so many different types of the same chromosome. The genes that appear at the same locus are called alleles and are said to be allelic to each other because they affect the same trait in the dog, but in different ways. There can be only two genes at a time at each locus.”
Newbie thought about this for a while and then asked, “But if we combine two chromosomes then there will be four genes, won’t there?”
Loopy got a blank expression on her face as if this had not occurred to her.
“No,” came a male voice from behind them. The clerk had walked down to see how they were progressing. “When you recombine two chromosomes only ½ of each will bond with ½ of the other chromosome. Just like ‘meiosis’ in nature. Like I said, to assemble your dog you must follow the blueprint of natural inheritance.”
“OK, but how do I choose which half I want to use?” inquired Loopy.
“You don’t get to choose, this is decided randomly just like in nature.”
The clerk walked back to his station at the front of the store. Loopy and Newbie sat looking at each other in silence for a few minutes. Knowing where each gene was and what it did was not much help when the way they lined up was controlled by a higher power.
Loopy got back to sorting through the chromosomes. “Here is a good match for chromosome #1. Come look, Newbie.”
Newbie came around the table and looked over Loopy’s shoulder. There weren’t any of the undesirable genes in either of the chromosomes. “See how the genes are nearly all different? This is the way we want to match them up. You start at the other end with #39 and we’ll work toward the middle. Let me know when you find a good match and I’ll come check it out.”
Newbie thought she had a good match and Loopy went to look. There were no undesirable genes but many of the genes were the same.
“I’d like more variety,” said Loopy.
“Here is my second choice, it has different genes at almost every locus but I don’t like this gene. It says that it predisposes to epilepsy. We don’t want that do we? Wouldn’t it be better to go with the more similar package?”
“I’ll go back and get some more #39 chromosomes – I’m sure we can find a better match,” said Loopy. “It’s getting near lunch time, why don’t you run into town and get us some lunch and I’ll keep working?”
After lunch things went well for a while and they matched up several chromosome pairs that they were willing to take a chance with on the recombining although they were having trouble getting away from genes that contributed to hip dysplasia.
Loopy had picked out several chromosomes with genes that would provide good balanced structure that would allow for reach and drive in the side movement (something they are still looking for in the ring). Now to find mates for them.
Newbie found some more good movement genes and asked hesitantly, “Do we want to use these like genes for good movement? They are not very different.”
“Well, maybe it’s ok to use like genes for a good trait,” Loopy admitted reluctantly.
They were just getting together many of the desired traits when they ran into more problems. There were genes for Fanconi and/or PRA on one or both loci of the chromosomes that they would have liked to use. So more sorting was done through the chromosomes from the racks.
“Here are several good ones without problems, except that they all have a similar gene sequence. I think we should use them,” said Newbie but quickly added, “unless you think they are not diverse enough.”
“I don’t know, Newbie, this is not as easy as I thought it would be. We’ll be lucky if we can get one good basenji assembled today. We’ll work till six,” said Loopy glancing at her watch, “and come back tomorrow.”
They toiled on becoming more frustrated as every time they found a chromosome they liked it had one or both genes for an inherited defect that they didn’t want. When one gene was good the other at that locus was bad; it would a gamble as to which one would be passed on. They found that many of the chromosomes that had genes for Fanconi syndrome also had at least one gene for PRA. They certainly didn’t want to use these chromosomes. The chromosomes that had neither problem had many like genes.
The clerk said they could leave their work on the table till tomorrow and if they would put the chromosomes they didn’t want in a basket the stock people would return them to their appropriate places on the racks. Loopy and Newbie left their nearly finished creation and headed for home.
The drive seemed endless and finally Newbie broke the silence, “You do know all that stuff don’t you?”
“Of course,” Loopy answered rather indignantly and added after a pause, “but maybe I don’t understand it all.”
“Maybe, years ago, they should have followed through with the pedigree research idea to reduce Fanconi.” Loopy didn’t answer so Newbie continued, “I’ve heard there are some lines that have little or no Fanconi.”
“Well, that’s what they say!” said Loopy rather skeptically.
“But the few people who said they knew where it was inherited from and kept track of pedigrees have had Fanconi-free and PRA-free line bred basenjis for years now. Maybe that would have been easier than what we are trying to do now.”
Loopy drove on and as darkness fell silence engulfed them. The next day Loopy C. Allknowing returned to her project alone more determined than ever to prove that she was right.
