Poetry Fishbowl Open!

I've just started watching Stan Lee's Superhumans, in which a contortionist (the "world's most flexible man") seeks out people with superhuman abilities and does some TV-value testing on them, and the term "genetic mutation" comes up often. So I'm thinking maybe something about what kind of genetic anomalies cross that line from "normal human range" to "something else entirely", that sort of thing.

Some months ago, I got involved in a surprisingly bitter debate about the merit of genetically altering certain species of mosquito so they were more resistant to malaria. As such, they would be less likely to carry it and, in theory, would spread this resistance throughout that mosquito gene pool.

The relevant post is here: http://community.livejournal.com/wtf_nature/476978.html

Given the track record of disasters involving introduced species (and, YES, I'm AWARE that this is not an 'introduced species' but still one so substantially modified that the difference is a matter of semantics) AND that we're dealing with a critical vector for not only malaria, but other diseases, some perhaps even unknown AND that the modifications could possibly alter the range of this disease vector for the worse, naturally I argued against the idea, and was shouted down for a 'knee jerk' response and refusing to trust the scientists who have more scientific training than I (like scientist don't ever frack up anything).

So anyways, yeah, tinkering with the mosquito and the possible results is the idea I'm putting forward.

The Torn World gene for time sensitivity comes to mind. :P

How would people evolve to suit space travel?

Suggested Prompt; "the silent genes speak"
[N.B silent genes are those archaic codes sequences no longer expressed.]

http://community.livejournal.com/otherkin/541197.html -- What nutritional needs would an engineered (or alien) body have, and could we supply them properly (in matter and spirit) without building a whole evolutionary sequence from scratch?

And http://scitechstory.com/2010/02/17/code-4-letter-codons/

This (number of codon letters) figures heavily in my own understanding of non-Earthly biology; 2 letters is not enough aminos for life via DNA and standard aminos, while 6 is so complex and hard to get going that it almost never happens (7 is not quite "right out" but you're approaching infinity the higher you go). So 3 letters is usually humanoid/Earth-similar (took a while to evolve, lots of compromises, minimum necessary limbs, usually harder to extract energy from the environment), 4 letters is usually draconoid/Zergite (if not winged then usually more limbs and more senses, easier to extract energy from environment and thus fewer evolutionary compromises, a variety of "more interesting" cellular and bodily properties), while 5 letters is generally tentacloid/Cthulhoid (lots of limbs, non-standard design which may not necessarily be vertebrate, either lots of energy or great variety and supply of resources). These also reflect how early sapient life is likely to evolve on a world (fewer letters means later evolution due to needs for life-generated resource/energy/amino buildup).

A favorite topic. I trade you art for art!


Gene Angel

We all have an appendix. It does not seem to do anything. We can remove it and be fine (indeed, it occasionally tries to explode). But we needed one once, and have evolved beyond it. I can't recall what scientists think it does, but one wonders if they are right, and if we really need it after all.

Gene therapy -- where do you draw the line? When does it become gengineering?

All cells carry all the same DNA, but each cell in the body is somehow triggered into becoming what it is. Except for stem cells, which can be anything.

Cloning -- if you do a bit of genetic manipulation to change the sex, is it still the same person?

It this still open? :-) Years ago I wrote an article for EMGzine about the history of color red, there were some folk-sayings and traditions about red-haired people (mostly about them being somewhat 'different' or 'dangerous', even the sayings from Ireland) and the fairly recent news that, analizing a few different Neanderthal remains scientists had discoveed that those individuals were red-haired.

And so I wonder: what if red hair entered our gene pool from Neanderthal ancestors and as such, they *are* in fact a marker for someone 'different'?