50/500 rule is based on assumption of some deleterious genes (genetic load) in every organism + a varied/challenging environment
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Thus requiring natural variation/evolution for viability
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Cut down on those factors and you have more leeway, like if humans are "domesticated" in a controlled environment
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And if founding population has "optimized" genes
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Like how all pet Syrian hamsters in the Western world were descended from a single litter
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I mean, this gets squicky but viability partly is based on assumption that you need X% of healthy offspring per generation to survive
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Even in animals with big litters you can't waste that much energy on nonviable babies (and humans have small litters)
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But in lab conditions w unlimited food we can get viable populations out of hyper-inbred animals
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That's what we do with lab mice and fruit flies and things to ensure genetic uniformity
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Bc you can just keep breeding tons of them and throwing away the specimens that have the genetic disease until the gene is bred out
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Imagining doing this w humans is kind of nightmarish but appropriate for a dystopian SF setting
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