Have there ever been 'cool' mutations?

[Kurdt Kobain]

Also, beneficial ones.

I don't mean stuff like growing horns on your head, or gettting a 6th finger.

Have people ever been resistant to heat more so than a normal human, had eyesight better than any other person or animal, or that sort of stuff?

I hear about people getting extra fingers or 3 functioncal arms, stuff like that. Nothing cool.

An example of the sort of stuff I mean would be that fellow who can eat metal, although I don't know if it's a mutation or not.

[Patty O'Furniture]

Since I like to swim, I think webbed fingers would be great. Don't know how common it is, tho.

[Akatsukami]

Hemoglobin C has a greater oxygen-carrying capacity than the hemoglobin A normally found in humans. Whether that is cool I leave to the judgment of the Teeming Thousands.

[Fox Paws]

My wife says the fact that I don't have nipples is cool. It's not all that useful, but it does keep me from getting "runners' nipple." And my wife says I look much more manly because of it.

[Rusalka]

How about resistance to malaria, does that count as "cool"?

The sickle cell anemia gene is found most often in populations in Africa, India and places where malaria is common. When the potential malaria infectee is heterozygous (carries a sickle cell and a normal gene) it changes the shape of their red blood cells ever so slightly, which rebuffs the malaria parasite. Otherwise their blood functions normally. These are the people that survive malaria epidemics.

When someone has a sickle cell gene from both parents, however, they will suffer from sickle cell anemia which is a serious illness.

More people have the immunity than the illness, thus, the gene survives.

[Z_Al]

Looking for X-Men sort of mutations?

[Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor]

How about a mutation that makes you immune to the Blacik Plague...and maybe HIV, too?

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/secrets/case_plague/clues.html

Cool enough?

[Gyrate]

My spouse was born without tonsils or an appendix, thus mystifying doctors in two countries. If nothing else, it's saved on the cost of two surgeries.

[Kurdt Kobain]

Originally posted by Z_Al
Looking for X-Men sort of mutations?

Not really.

[TJdude825]

Originally posted by Kurdt Kobain
... had eyesight better than any other person or animal, or that sort of stuff? ...

Well, there's farsightedness. (I believe the technical term is hyperopia.) You can see things really far away in great detail, but you can't see things close to you very well at all. Not incredibly useful, but arguably cool. And I'm pretty sure it's (at least partially) genetic.

[Petter]

What, three functional arms wouldn't be cool?

[netscape 6]

just to be a kill joy, anyone can eat metal if the pieces are bite sized. The man who ate a bike had to saw the bike down first. The acid in the stomach can digest metal. now if someone could eat metal and be nourished by it is a different story.

[Abdominal Snowman]

Hmmm, let's see...

(In the words of the immortal Dave Barry, I swear I am not making this up. I did my UG in Genetics.)

In Newfoundland, there is a cohort of people who do not feel pain, although this is unlikely to be helpful, as most die very early of massive infections stemming from wounds they did not know they had.

[Joey P]

Originally posted by Gyrate
My spouse was born without tonsils or an appendix, thus mystifying doctors in two countries. If nothing else, it's saved on the cost of two surgeries.

Out of curiosity, how did the doctors know that she didn't have an appendix?

[Enola Straight]

I've heard once somewhere that since the colors blue and violet were not mentioned anywhere in any languange until only a few thouzand years ago, the ability to percieve that region of the EM spectrum was a mutation, an evolutionary advantage which quickly superseded decendants of the Infrachromatic Ancestors.

If true, cool.

[scr4]

Originally posted by Enola Straight
I've heard once somewhere that since the colors blue and violet were not mentioned anywhere in any languange until only a few thouzand years ago, the ability to percieve that region of the EM spectrum was a mutation, an evolutionary advantage which quickly superseded decendants of the Infrachromatic Ancestors.
According to the Master (http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_168b.html):
... in general anthropologists came to accept the view that physiological differences did not explain the variations in color vocabulary among cultures. ... Berlin and Kay also found that the number of basic color terms tends to increase with the complexity of the civilization. They speculated that this explains the relative poverty of color terminology among the ancients--e.g., the Greeks had terms only for black, white, yellow, and red because theirs was a relatively uncomplicated culture, at least from a technological standpoint.

[Punoqllads]

Most people have three types of color receptors, but some women have a mutation on one of their X chromosomes (which hold the long and medium color receptor genes) giving them a fouth. This means they can distinguish two colors that look exactly the same to us, much as we can see the difference between two colors that a red-green colorblind person sees as the same shade.

I guess it's theoretically possible for women to have a fifth color receptor, but I've never heard of anyone with such a mutation; in any case it would be incredibly rare.

In fact, you could even say that (most) people today have a really cool mutation, of being able to distinguish red and green shades from each other. The long and medium color receptor genes used to be just one gene, but they at some point got copied in certain individuals.

This in and of itself didn't make much difference --- some color receptors were generated from one gene, and others from its copy. But when a mutation happened in one of them to alter the spectra absorbtion of one of them, those individuals could somewhat distinguish reds and greens from each other, though possibly less than we can today. That ability was selected for, and individuals with better color perception were selected moreso, probably for better food aquisition abilities.

[raizok]

Hmmm.. cool mutations.. I did read Charles Berlitz's "Tales of the Awesome" (I think thats what it was called) and there was an apparently factual account of an autopsy performed where they did not find a brain. The guy was healthy and of normal IQ when he died, but for some reason all they found was water and yet he was able to function normally up till then.

I also read a story about a girl that could see with her nose, despite being blind.

[cromulent]

I think pretty much every gene that differentiates me from a bacterium is a "cool" mutation :D

I mean all our genes were mutations at some point, right?

[Smeghead]

I wish I could remember the details, but in one of my genetics classes, we saw pictures of a guy back in the 30s or 40s or so who was born covered in hair. Not just regular hair, but hair that clumped together into spine-like structures that rattled when he moved. All over his whole body. I seem to recall that they called him porcupine man or hedgehog man or something like that, but so far, Google has proven fruitless. Anyhoo, he ended up marrying and having children (!), and two of his sons had the same condition. They both died childless, though, so apparently the mutation died out with them.

[Ranchoth]

As I remember, there was an athelete suspected of "blood doping" (http://www.physioroom.com/research/blood_doping_2.shtml) awhile back, but it was later determined that he just had a genetic condition that caused his body to produce much higher levels of red blood cells than most humans.

[Measure for Measure]

--- I did read Charles Berlitz's "Tales of the Awesome" (I think thats what it was called) and there was an apparently factual account of an autopsy performed where they did not find a brain.

This may say more about Charles Berlitz, author of such gems as The Bermuda Triangle, The Philadelphia Experiment - Project Invisibility, and The Roswell Incident, than it does about mutations.

[raygirvan]

an apparently factual account of an autopsy performed where they did not find a brain.

I don't know of the Berltiz account, but this is more or less true. Some cases of hydrocephalus produce a fully-functioning thin skin of brain tissue lining the inside the skull. See:
Is a brain really necessary? (http://www.rense.com/general42/brain.htm)

[Gyrate]

Originally posted by Joey P
Out of curiosity, how did the doctors know that she didn't have an appendix? Ultrasounds (they were checking her ovaries, and became puzzled at the absence of the appendix). Either it's not there at all, or it's very well hidden.

[Exapno Mapcase]

A simple mutation to one gene on chromosome 2 prevents the shutting off of the manufacture of lactase enzyme at weaning.

This allows children and adults to digest the milk sugar lactose all their lives.

Unless you're a militant vegan, this is not only pretty "cool" but arguably the most noticeable and important mutation to occur during modern human history.

[Really Not All That Bright]

Originally posted by netscape 6
just to be a kill joy, anyone can eat metal if the pieces are bite sized. The man who ate a bike had to saw the bike down first. The acid in the stomach can digest metal. now if someone could eat metal and be nourished by it is a different story.

Well, you can.

The 100% RDA of iron that you see on breakfast cereal containers is provided in the form of actual small iron flakes. They're small enough that you'll never notice them, but not microscopic.

[First Amongst Daves]

Originally posted by Gyrate
Ultrasounds (they were checking her ovaries, and became puzzled at the absence of the appendix). Either it's not there at all, or it's very well hidden.

By way of anecdote, my appendix was hidden entirely by my bladder and did not show up on an ultra sound, but it was definitely there when it burst 4 months ago. The doctors were convinced it was my appendix, even though they couldn't find it, because the rest of my organs were intact and my white bloodcell count was very very high.



an apparently factual account of an autopsy performed where they did not find a brain.

I don't know of the Berltiz account, but this is more or less true. Some cases of hydrocephalus produce a fully-functioning thin skin of brain tissue lining the inside the skull. See:
Is a brain really necessary?

That is the most revolting thing I've read this week.

[Gyrate]

Originally posted by The God of Muesli Bars
By way of anecdote, my appendix was hidden entirely by my bladder and did not show up on an ultra sound, but it was definitely there when it burst 4 months ago. The doctors were convinced it was my appendix, even though they couldn't find it, because the rest of my organs were intact and my white bloodcell count was very very high. IANAD and I haven't seen the scans (and wouldn't necessarily know what I was looking at even if I had). All I can say is that two different sets of doctors have insisted that my wife's appendix is not there, and that tapes of her ultrasounds are being used by the University of Nebraska Medical Center and the University of London for instructional purposes. If it's there but hidden behind something else, I will be very disappointed indeed in the medical profession, as you'd think they might have conisdered that option.

However, the tonsils are definitely not there. Lucky her.

These "mutations" are likely due to her brief in-utero exposure to DES. Let us be thankful it wasn't Thalidomide.

[Starbury]

Having blue skin might be cool: http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a980724.html

[First Amongst Daves]

Originally posted by Gyrate
...tapes of her ultrasounds are being used by the University of Nebraska Medical Center and the University of London for instructional purposes...

Well, that sounds pretty thorough!

Back to the OP: my wife's sister's boyfriend has a weird fingernail, which is hereditary amongst men in his family. It grows sideways from his index finger, pointing down like a knife's edge, and is very hard (he uses it to open beer bottles).

Not quite retractable claws like Wolverine in the X-men, but he thinks its cool.

[Diceman]

That is cool. Built-in bottle cap opener! :)

Those no-brain guys, however, are beyond wierd. Can you imagine going to the doctor one day, and having him tell you that your brain is a millimeter-thick coating on the inside of your skull, and the rest of your head is just a big ball of fluid :eek:

[obfusciatrist]

Both my wife's pinkies are bent about 45 degrees inward at the last knuckle.

You wouldn't think this would be useful, but then you probably never pick your nose.

[Guinastasia]

Um, I think that the Jeff Rense site is pretty out there. It's all about UFOs and crap like that, so I'd take it with a grain of salt.

[Bryan Ekers]

Originally posted by Petter
What, three functional arms wouldn't be cool?

I already have three arms.

The third is baby-sized, though. I use it to hold apples.

[Achilles]

Originally posted by obfusciatrist
Both my wife's pinkies are bent about 45 degrees inward at the last knuckle.

You wouldn't think this would be useful, but then you probably never pick your nose.

My wife has the same thing. Thankfully I've never seen them "in use".

[culov]

You guys might like this book.


http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0670031100/qid=1072257658/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/102-6711052-2542554

[hlanelee]

Opposable thumbs are pretty cool.