Declare your mutation! Perhaps you could help save the world!

Short time reader, first time post.

I was reading that ivory tower of all things geek (slashdot)when I came across a thread called "Science: Mutant Tetrachromat Females Found ". It turns out this was an exaggeration as the thread dealt with the POSSIBILITY of a tetrachromat* being significantly high but none had been found yet. Within the thread someone mentioned that this would be a bona fide mutation but that “I’m sure if you looked closely enough, most of us have some sort of genetic mutation in our DNA, but they just aren’t significant enough to manifest themselves in any noticeable way.”

*tetrachromat - go look it up; I don’t understand them big science words.

This got me thinking, what UNNOTICED mutations are there out there? How many mutants walk among us, right now? What percentage of the population has to have a traight before it enters the ‘mainstream’? Something like tetrachromatic vision would be for the most part invisible but the archtypal third hand would probably stand out.

If possible gentle 'dopers could you share your mutation with the rest of this humble online community? The anonymous nature of the forum would likely protect you from persecution. I’ll start myself:

My mutation relates to the nervous system; according to my personal physician I have “thicker myellin sheathing” around my nerves (medical gobblygook half-remembered on the fly as it was irrelevant to the real problem). The upshot is that I’m extremely resistant to pain, especially in nerve centres such as the base of the throat, wrist, etc. The down side is noticeable temperature insensitivity (I’ve burned/frostbit myself many a time without noticing) and diminished tactile response. I’m not too sure if this is a nature/nurture sort of thing (or if it is in fact a real mutation) but it was the best thing I could think of L:)

Anyway, feel free to relate your own bizarre genetic characteristics. It would help if you listed the advantages and disadvantages like I’ve done and if possible the SECRET ORIGIN of your mutation.

PS-While disgusting freaks like those who are left handed, have lobeless ears, cannot roll their tongues, etc. are probably mutants we’ve seen enough exploitative freakshows on the topic to probably sour any academic use that relating these mutations might provide. I’m looking for REAL mutations that people don’t usually consider when they think of the term, much like the tetrachromatic example above.

PPS-This post better work as it’s the 3rd time I’ve tried writing something on these @#@# forums.

Before I move this to General Questions, could you please explain the last sentence of your post? Specifically, why did you not succeed in posting on our %##^% forums before?

Whoops - I guess I didn’t guage the subject matter of the forums properly. Head hanging will now commence.

The previous two experiences with the lovely ubb product were ambiguous. The first was likely a client problem in that the entire OS cratered when I pressed the submit button (though it was in a suspicious manner… my people are still looking into it). This was a few months ago.

The second was a network timeout which seemed perverse in that the only thing on the network I COULDN’T hit was the web site. I could ping, tracert, nslookup, whatever else you can name any address I could think of including boards.straightdope.com but for whatever reason that particular thread timed out and the reply never appeared (I wasn’t about to try to ‘multi-post’ it in some misguided attempt to look cool). This was trying to respond to a threat earlier in the month.

Anyway, please don’t send the teeming millions to my house to wreak horrible vengeance on my crippled body. I didn’t mean anything uncomplimentary about the forums themselves. My madcap punctuation swearing choice was more influenced by my transient frustration than any real discernable “beef”.

OK, off to General Questions it is then.

Should you have any previous screen names (which I think your story and current sign-up date indicate), please report them to our administrator Tubadiva at Tubadiva@aol.com, as multiple identities are not allowed on the Straight Dope.

Having finished the formalities, allow me to wish you a pleasant stay here!

Um, off topic, but did you get your screen name from the kid’s story, “Six Dinner Sid?”

Well, back on-topic, the second and third toes on both of my feet are webbed together. I don’t mean webbing like everyone has, I mean most of the way up the toes. One Christmas my mom actually forgot and bought me a pair of those little “toe socks.” She ended up having to cut them apart and darn the second and third toes together so I could wear them.

And no, I can’t swim any better than anyone else. And yes, I’ve been asked that question approximately 50,000,000 times.

I have extreamly sensitive hearing abilities.

I can hear a wider range of higher and lower frequency sounds.

Really comes in handy when the cat tries to sneak up on me. =)

{drumroll} I have SIX (count’em) nipples! {/drumroll}

I was born with them. When I’m chilled or thrilled they become erect. Four on the left, two on the right.

Is it TMI yet?

The only superpower that they endow me with is the ability to make people go “Ewwwwwww!” at parties.

p.s. My sister has those toes like Hamadryad. It’s a family trait–our Grandmother had them too.

Ewwwwwww!

Ever watch Red Dwarf?

Cat: “Oh, I’m so excited, all six of my nipples are tinglin’”

Osip was born with pointed ears.
they were trimed before Osip could protest.
There is still some extra on the right ear where they did not cut it correctly.

Osip

Uh…

There’s a possibility that I make slightly unusually high levels of hemoglobin with somewhat low affinity for carbon monoxide. Or not. That’s the kind of stuff we’re talking about when we say that everyone has some mutations. Usually, there’s just some minor enzyme with a slightly altered function.

Oh, and then there are the horns, but that’s boring.

I can project a patronizing attitude to anyone I encounter. This has not enhanced my career path in any appreciable way.

Like Doubleclick, I have extremely sensitive hearing. As an example, one time as a kid when playing a game with my brother, I tracked him throughout the room with my eyes closed, pointing directly to him the entire time. The downside is that I frequently forget to actually have eye contact with people when I talk to them, which is often considered rude.

I also have a heart condition, Mitral valve prolapse, which occasionally causes palpitations. Quite fun to freak out my med-school friends. The docs say that people with this condition live longer on average. Perhaps as a side effect, I’ve learned to consciously control my heartbeat somewhat. I can’t induce palpitations, but I can momentarily stop my pulse. bum-bum-bum--------BUM-bum-bum-bum.

Abnormally keen sense of smell. {“Bosda smells?” No. Bosda smells real keen! Beat that joke! :wink: }
On the down side, abnormally high cholesteral levels & a predisposition to clinical depression, both inherited. :frowning:

I am double jointed in my thumbs. My dad is to, but my bro is not. I guess it falls under “things that will become very useful in one facet of your life”. I am very good at thumb wrestling, because I can bring my thumb farther than perpendicular to my wrist only by popping the joint. I don’t even have to move it with another hand. Very cool.

i’m missing 2 teeth in my upper jaw (canines i think?). and i guess it’s fairly common. everyone i know on my mom’s side of the family is missing them. genetically, not because of fighting, rasseling, or hockey. but maybe inbreeding…

I have a compulsive desire to classify things as really belonging in IMHO even though I have no moderator power.
Oh, and knobbly joints that make my fingers kinda bamboo like and the wedding ring loose. I hear that may mean arthritis later?
Are we talking beneficial mutations? 'Cause I’m not too certain about that one - and for all I know it was really caused by years of piano/typing.

Oh, and in one area I’m a throwback, my four wisdom teeth came in perfectly, the gaps between my teeth filled in nicely. No need to yang anything out or get braces. Yet I don’t have one those Arnold Schwarzeneggar type jaws, so I’m not certain if I’m a complete throwback.
Anyone here actually missing their wisdom teeth?

Both my parents are right-handed.

I am left-handed, as is my sister. Scientists think I have a mutated gene.

Beyond that . . . um, I can twist my tongue a lot.

In addition to my third leg, I gotta Darwin’s Ear Point on on the top of my right ear… a little mini-Spock knobby thing. I used to put a saftey pin through it. Punk Rock.

I can hear frequencies outside of the normal human range of hearing, up to 35,000Hz, but that isn’t a mutation, the doctor explained it as a side-effect of my having asthma as a child (not entirely sure how that works). I also have very sensitive hearing in all frequency ranges, which may be related.

I wonder if the fact I move extremely silently is a mutation, as it doesn’t appear to be a learned trait. I didn’t notice this until I was 15 and walking (stoned) with a friend down a gravel road late at night - I realized that I could only hear one set of footsteps, my friend’s. After that I payed attention and realized that the only time I could hear myself walk was when I tread upon something that was unusually noisey, and I didn’t have to try. I said something to my Mom about it and her and my Dad both said that I had always been very quiet, they could always keep track of my older siblings by hearing them thump around but never me. When I thought about it I then recalled a time when I was a kid and was trying to make footstep sounds when ‘sneaking’ up on my nephew and how awkward it felt. I still have to consciously change my gait to make noise (and I am 6’5" and 280 lbs).

This is funny that this topic came up when it did. I knew a guy in middle school who had cat eyes (vertical slit pupils) and three nipples. Recently he moved in next door to my parents, about 30 miles from where we lived back then (15 years ago). My Mom recalled me talking about him and asked me his name, I could only remember his last but that was apparently him.