if fry is his grampa how was he born looking like himself then when his dad didn' loo

[on:]

man this is bothering me

[Reply #1 on:]

Okay, you might want to correct that. Does this make sense to you?

if fry is his grampa how was he born looking like himself then when his dad didn' loo

I don't understand completely.

[Reply #2 on:]

I believe the question is if Fry is his own grandfather then why doesn't his father look like him?
I always thought that Enos got Mildred pregnant before he died. But, the Nibblonians confirmed that Fry was indeed the one in 410. So this doesn't really make sense. Also that Enos' name isn't Yancy, which Fry's father claimed to be.

[Reply #3 on:]

Okay. I haven't seen this episode in a while. But Yancy looks very much like Fry- Just because they don't have quite the same hair doesn't mean their resemblance is diminished. I hate to rationalize something so absurd.. But in the continuity, Fry's parentage is entirely plausible. I haven't heard anything that totally refutes it.

[Reply #4 on:]

it was just somthing i typed ignore it

[Reply #5 on:]

Does anyone remember his grandma? All of Fry's dad and Yancy's trait didn't all come from Fry. half Grandma/half Fry.

[Reply #6 on:]

 

Originally posted by Shadowstar:

Also that Enos' name isn't Yancy, which Fry's father claimed to be.

Actually Fry's dad told Fry's brother "Son, your name is Yancy, just like me, and my grandfather, and so on, all the way back to minute-man Yancy Fry, who blasted Commies in the American Revolution."  He doesn't mention his own father (Fry's grandfather).

[Reply #7 on:]

if fry is his grandpa, than how is he related to enos?

[Reply #8 on:]

If Fry's his own grandfather, then technically he's not related to Enos at all.

But maybe his grandmother claimed that Enos was the real father, as in the 1950s it'd be easier to say "The father died whilst in the army" than say "I got pregnant off a one-night stand".

[Reply #9 on:]

Oh WOW! That just blew right by me! Yancy Sr. didn't mention his father! I am now put in my place.

[Reply #10 on:]

But Yancy Sr. was only talking about ancestors with the name "yancy". not Enos. I admit there might be connection, but im not totally sure.

[Reply #11 on:]

Either way, Fry's dad never said Fry's grandad's name was Yancy.  It's not an important point, just one of those little subtleties that made Futurama so great.

[Reply #12 on:]

The real question is if Fry is his father's father. Then why is it his mother who has ginger/orange hair? Is it possible he somehow contaminated both genetic lines or is it merely coincedence?

[Reply #13 on:]

Coincidence.  If you'll notice, Mildred did have the same color hair as Yancy Sr.

[Reply #14 on:]

Yancy and his wife would have equal genetic bearing on what their son would look like even if that son were also the father's father. I think.

[Reply #15 on:]

I believe it was established that red hair is recessive and brown hair is dominant. This means that the grandmother's genes for brown hair will show over Fry's genes for red hair. However Fry himself had a much better chance of getting red hair. With each child born, the possibilities become greater for a kid who shows recessive traits/

[Reply #16 on:]

But doesn't his dad have brown hair and his mom has red. He would of gotten tht from his mom, considering her jean side of the family.

[Reply #17 on:]

If Mildred had an unexpressed recessive gene for red hair, and Fry is his own grandfather, it's conceivable that Fry could have been born with red hair.  Also point mutations can affect hair color, but they're relatively rare.  What I want to know is if anyone has been able to really figure out where Fry's genome comes from, as they describe on the DVD commentary.  There definitely is a way to figure it out, it's just beyond my puny genetics skills. 

[Reply #18 on:]

Wait, is Fry his paternal or maternal grandfather? Are we assuming paternal?

[Reply #19 on:]

Paternal, because Fry yells, "Hang in there, Dad!" or something similar, at Enos' crotch.

[Reply #20 on:]

Ah, so he does.

[Reply #21 on:]

Mildred Fry's father's name was Yancy. I'm pretty sure Enos' last name is never mentioned, and since Yancy Sr. was born out of wedlock, he would have taken his mother's last name.

Fry has red hair because his father has the traits for both brown hair, and red hair; as someone mentioned eariler, red is recesive. Yancy Jr. passed on the gene for brown hair to Yancy Jr. While Yancy Jr. got the gene for red hair from his mother it gets cancelled out due to the fact that its recesive to brown hair, therefore Yancy jr. has brown hair. Philip Fry just happened to get the gene for red hair form his fater and mother, giving him red hair. I know it's hard to understand, so I made this nifty diagram.

The lines indicate which hair color trait was passed on, the circles indicate genes for hair color, and the people's names are written in their hair color. Hopefully this helps clear things up.

[Reply #22 on:]

Interesting to note - my uncle and aunt have brown hair. They have three children, two with red hair, one with blond.

[Reply #23 on:]

This is deeply confusing.
I was scratching my head when they said it on the audio commentary.

[Reply #24 on:]

 

Originally posted by MrsBender: What I want to know is if anyone has been able to really figure out where Fry's genome comes from, as they describe on the DVD commentary.  There definitely is a way to figure it out, it's just beyond my puny genetics skills. 

It's not so much knowledge of genetics that is tested here but rather your assumptions about what actually happens with the whole time-travel paradox. Fry's genetic make-up consists of 25% Fry's mother's mother, 25% Fry's mother's father, 25% Mildred and 25% Fry.

One explanation is that the final 25% (From himself) is somehow created out of time (Possibly by wizards). Another is that there is a sort of infinite loop and you eventually get that Fry's DNA consists of 1/3 from each of his non-Philip J. Fry grandparents. Finally, you could assume that originally Enos was the father and hence that the final 25% comes from him, this however does not fit in with the claim that his genetic defect comes from the fact that he is his own grandfather.

Unless someone is willing to travel back in time, impregnate their own grandmother and subject themselves to genetic tests we will never be able to get a full answer to this question.

[Reply #25 on:]

I always thought Fry/Enos and Mildred's offspring was Fry's Mother, not his father.

[Reply #26 on:]

That last 25% of Fry's dna comes from past-Fry's dna, which is made up 75% by the DNA of his other grandparents with the last 25% in turn also being made up 75% by the DNA of his other grandparents with that last 25% again being made up 75% from the dna of his other, perfectly normal grandparents.

Basically, you can continue it on forever untill the actual amount of unaccounted for genetic material is so minute as to almost not exist, but you can never get rid of it completely. I know very little about genetics, but is it possible that that tiny missing piece of DNA could be the gene responsible for producing the Delta brainwave?

[Reply #27 on:]

i agree with KiKiX that Fry and Mildreds offspring was Fry's mum not Fry's dad. Either that or wizards.

[Reply #28 on:]

It's easy to assume that, but as proven here, it does seem to indeed be that Fry and Mildred had Fry's father, Yancy...  DONT IGNORE THE FACTS!!!

[Reply #29 on:]

 

Originally posted by boxie:
Interesting to note - my uncle and aunt have brown hair. They have three children, two with red hair, one with blond.

That just raises further questions!

[Reply #30 on:]

Good God This Is A Confusing Topic!

[Reply #31 on:]

I had a theory, but I blinked and it squeezed out of my brain...

[Reply #32 on:]

 

Originally posted by boxie:
I had a theory, but I blinked and it squeezed out of my brain...

Fry: "Wait a second! I'm getting an idea! Ye, no, false alarm, no, yeah, no, yeah, no, wait, no, yeah, yeah, no, no....YES!"

[Reply #33 on:]

Its one of those things.. you know... a headache with pictures!

[Reply #34 on:]

Actually at www.tvtome.com  , in the "Goof's" guide of futurama there is a long explanation about this. If anyone wanted to know. I read some of it and than my brain began to hurt. ow!

[Reply #35 on:]

I ain't readin' that. 

But the way I always looked at it, for Fry to be his own grandfather, he gives himself 25% of his genetic material.  So for that to work, the remaining 75% that he gets from other relatives (Mildred, his mom) must be coincidentally identical to the genes he didn't pass on to himself.  This is statistically possible, just phenomenally unlikely.  But if it happened, it stands to reason that Mildred and Fry's mother would look like Fry.

[Reply #36 on:]

Here's what the artical says for those too lazy...

 

Even assuming time travel were possible, a person becoming his or her own ancestor would be very unlikely, although not impossible. For sexual reproduction to work, a person's chromosomes are split into two sets. In women, these are stored in eggs; in men, sperm. The two halves are joined during conception to create the genetic template for the new individual. For someone to become their own ancestor, the exact same set of chromosomes must be passed down through the generations. In Fry's case, for example, the sperm that conceived his father would have contained all the genes Fry already received from his father. Then, when Fry's father mated with Fry's mother, the sperm that conceived Fry would have had the identical genetic makeup as the one that conceived Fry's father. The odds against this are staggering. And for each generation removed, it becomes more unlikely, because the exact same genetic code must be passed down through the generations or the ultimate result, in this case Fry, will not be genetically identical to himself, creating a paradox. But since Fry is his own grandfather, his sperm beat the odds twice. Imagine if Fry went back to the middle ages or Roman times to conceive an ancient ancestor. The same sperm variation would have to be passed down 100 times, and that just doesn't happen, considering complexity of our genetic material.

Basically, what you said, canned eggs.

Note the use of mated.
Made me laugh anyway...

[Reply #37 on:]

This is one of those weird time loop scenarios that confuses the heck out of me! It’s just like the time loop that makes Lister his own father in 'Red Dwarf'.
Hypothetically, if Fry was not his own Grandfather and his grandfather was someone else, the change of his grandson having the same physically features as him would be insignificantly small, wouldn't it? So how can Fry give himself his own genes? Oh, I hate temporal loops!
   

Oh, I think that boxie's quote answers my question. Didn't see that before.

[Reply #38 on:]

Yeah, I'm always tripping over those damn things...

[Reply #39 on:]

What bothered me about the "Don't worry dad!" line was that I always thought Enos looked more like Fry's mom.