Scientists Find One Gene Responsible For All White Tigers
White tigers in Chimelong Safari Park in China Chimelong Safari Park And it's our fault that they're super inbred. Science may not be totally sure how the tiger got its stripes, but at least they've got this figured out. One team of biologists says it has uncovered the genetic mutation responsible for white tigers. White tigers have black or brown stripes, white fur, blue eyes, pink noses and pink paw pads. They're not albino, as they have black-brown pigment in their eyes and in their fur. Scientists knew before that their coloring was recessive-"little a" instead of "big A," for anyone who remembers high school genetics-but little else about how it was inherited. The new research pinpoints a change in just one place in one gene as the cause of tigers' white stripes. To find the gene, the biologists examined a family of tigers living in the Chimelong Safari Park in southern...