Mutations

[5614]

ive been reading about all sorts of mutation,

from radioactivity, and other stuff,

but i was wondering, is it possible to have a mutation which is good?

i mean, not to sound babyish, but like a superhero, they all had mutations, that ended up them saving the world!!!

dont get me wrong, i dont want to mutate myself and get super powers or anything...

but is it possible for humans to force some kind of mutation upon themselves which would benefit them?

i dont mean like replacing cancer cells with healthy cells, but more like a mutation which would differ you from other humans, but in a good way?

is it possible?

why hasnt it ever been done before?

or has it been tried? im not sure,

 

thnx

[Sayonara]

"Mutation" is an example of a word that has been abused by the media and entertainment industries.

 

Cells mutate. Over many generations the cumulated effects of mutations may result in descendants having a selective advantage in their habitat.

 

Making sudden and macroscopic changes to a single grown individual is not likely to end well, because it will create a good deal of systemic stress.

[5614]

but with genetic engineering, couldnt you change a cell in a younger person, and then as they grow, the cell will clone itself [mitosis] and surely the individual would get used to, so theres no systemic stress, and surely because of the fact that scientist 'modified' the gene themsleves it would be safe and beneficial for the person

[Sayonara]

We can do that in theory, but there's not a lot we can do yet that is terribly useful in practical terms for the purposes you are discussing (ignoring medical gene therapies). Plus the whole "laws against that sort of thing" situation gets in the way.

 

We can make flourescent chickens, fruit flys with eyes on their legs etc, so theoretically we can manipulate ourselves as well. However we need to know a lot more about interactions between genes before we go meddling with such a complex system in humans.

 

What kind of changes would you consider to be advantageous? Extra arms, faster oxygen processing, that sort of thing?

[5614]

yeah, i didnt have anything particular in mind, i just wondered about the theory of it

 

so basically you said, it is possible in theory once we understand human DNA and genes more.

 

shame about all the laws, coz without them we could have experimented, but then theres all the human rights things anyway, i know they are for the best, but the human race as a whole could benefit greatly if they werent there!

oh well!

[daisy]

Until we understand how each and very gene interacts with each other (and we are a very long way from that scenario) there's not much we could do to interfere. And even if we could.....would we want to? Survival of the fittest seems right and proper to me....it's served the planet OK up till now. I think that if the human race can survive it will....if not then too bad, let the insects have a go.

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

Mutation over a really long time, the good ones surviving, is evolution.

 

So yes, mutation can be good or bad.