Galra Genetics and Breeding
This week on Voltron Unsolved, we’ll be discussing the mystery of Galra breeding and genetics. Many have wondered or posed the question as to how Keith can look human when all the half-Galra we’ve seen thus far have looked similar to the full-blooded Galra that we’ve seen thus far. We’ll be going to go into scientific detail about how this might be possible, along with some theories on how breeding might work between the Galra and different species.
To start, by looking at how the other half-Galra present, it’s safe to assume that, when dealing with other races, Galra genes are recessive when speaking in terms of dominance. If they were dominant traits, then we wouldn't get half-Galra like Ezor where almost no part of them looks Galra. The only Galra trait she has is the yellow eyes, and because we haven't seen her species of origin, we have no idea if this is a trait that is common among her people. This would explain why half-Galra tend to look more their original species with only a select few traits presenting, as those might, also, present as recessive in their species or have incomplete dominance over the Galra traits.
To further explain and tie this back to Keith, if human traits, despite having their own recessive and dominant traits, always have complete dominance over Galra traits Papa Keith's Mendelian inheritance code would be ‘HH’ while Mama Keith's code would be ‘gg’. The capital ‘H’ represents the dominant human gene while the lowercase ‘g’ represents the recessive Galra gene. So, all their children would have codes that looked like ‘Hg’, which would mean that they carry the Galra traits, but don't visibly show signs of it, like how I carry the trait for green eyes yet mine are brown. Which means, that Keith might not look Galra because of how dominant Keith's human genes are. However, if Keith were to breed with someone else who was Galra or carried recessive Galra genes then his children would more likely be the ones to show Galra traits than him showing the Galra traits himself.
If his future spouse or donor had ‘Hg’ as well then, their children would look like:
If his future spouse or donor had ‘gg’ as well then, their children would look like:
However, that brings us into a different set of the complications, which is breeding. In order to breed and have offspring that can breed, each parent has to have the exact same number of chromosomes. While if they’re similar, they can produce offspring, but that offspring will be infertile and unable to breed itself due to the mismatch. (See the mule and hinny) This might also even prevent conception, as the material needed to create life would be incompatible.
That brings us to the complication, and why breeding between alien species is next to impossible. First, it is highly unlikely that all sentient species across the galaxy share the same number of chromosomes, and even more unlikely that they evolved from carbon as we did, as different planets have different elemental structures. For the Galra to mate with other species then these conditions would have to be met or the union would result in no offspring or offspring that couldn’t produce children of their own.
Now that we’ve discussed the basics, let’s get into the theories.
Theory 1: Selective Biological Reproduction
The most likely out of the three, the selective biological reproduction theory is that Galra can only breed biologically with those who have the same number of chromosomes and base element as them. It could be why we haven’t seen any Galra that are half-Taujeerians, because it’s just not possible. Thus far, we have only seen half-Galra that are bipedal humanoids without variations in the number of limbs with tails being the exception. If we consider that half-Galra might not be able to breed as stated above, then it might, also, be why full-blooded Galra might look down upon those who are only half, because as a society, they might tie a person’s worth into breeding and reproduction. It could, also, be why we tend to see less of them, because it is difficult to find species who are a match for Galra DNA. The only problem is with this theory is that statistically, it’s very unlikely that any varying species would be a match for Galra DNA, especially ones that would provide viable offspring.
Theory 2: Artificial Reproduction
As shown in the show, the Galra are a very advanced race, not only in technology, but also, in biology from what we’ve seen from their experiments on Shiro and the Robeasts. It’s possible that the Galra have developed beyond the need of biological reproduction and now rely solely on artificial means to have children. If this was the case, the Galra wouldn’t need to be concerned with who they reproduced with, since they could artificially splice the DNA to match their partner’s, as needed. However, there are drawbacks to this theory. The first is that it is likely that this much genetic manipulation might create deformities in the DNA structures and it might be hard for RNA to make copies because of this. Also, this level of genetic manipulation is expensive and wouldn’t be feasible on a mass scale. On top of that, births would have to be planned since these children wouldn’t be able to be produced outside a lab, so unplanned or secret children like Keith would be nigh impossible to produce.
Theory 3: “Asari” Reproduction
While the least likely of all three theories, this one isn’t without its merit. Like the Asari from Mass Effect, the Galra could reproduce through a method called melding, in which is they synchronize their nervous system to that of their partner’s so that they can effectively take the genetic code of any species to create offspring. The Galra then use the genetic code of their partner’s as the base for their offspring, which would explain why half-Galra look more like their non-Galra parents. This theory falls apart, though, when you consider the fact that there have been female Galra shown throughout the series. While it is possible that they evolved into a gender-neutral race over the past ten thousand years, this is highly unlikely due to the fact that there wouldn’t be a need or desire for the Galra to begin favoring this form of reproduction over biological breeding.
Those are the three theories on Galra breeding. And until the writers give us confirmation, this Voltron mystery will remain... unsolved.
Next week on Voltron Unsolved, why Keith would pass a blood test but not a DNA test while theorizing how that may have allowed him into the Garrison undetected.
