# Have there ever been 'cool' mutations? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 21, 2003, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-there-ever-been-cool-mutations/220374 "2003-12-21T22:02:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kurdt\_Kobain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/258eb7/32.png) [@Kurdt\_Kobain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kurdt_Kobain)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-there-ever-been-cool-mutations/220374/1 "2003-12-21T22:02:29Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-there-ever-been-cool-mutations/220374/2 "2003-12-21T22:10:03Z")
Since I like to swim, I think webbed fingers would be great. Don’t know how common it is, tho. ---
**Author:** ![Akatsukami](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea666f/32.png) [@Akatsukami](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akatsukami)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-there-ever-been-cool-mutations/220374/3 "2003-12-21T22:18:26Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Fox\_Paws](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/85e7bf/32.png) [@Fox\_Paws](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fox_Paws)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-there-ever-been-cool-mutations/220374/4 "2003-12-21T22:28:56Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Rusalka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecd19e/32.png) [@Rusalka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rusalka)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-there-ever-been-cool-mutations/220374/5 "2003-12-21T22:42:54Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Z\_Al](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/41988e/32.png) [@Z\_Al](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Z_Al)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-there-ever-been-cool-mutations/220374/6 "2003-12-21T22:48:03Z")
Looking for X-Men sort of mutations? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-there-ever-been-cool-mutations/220374/7 "2003-12-21T23:02:23Z")
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](http://www.pbs.org/wnet/secrets/case_plague/clues.html) Cool enough? ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-there-ever-been-cool-mutations/220374/8 "2003-12-21T23:07:41Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Kurdt\_Kobain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/258eb7/32.png) [@Kurdt\_Kobain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kurdt_Kobain)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-there-ever-been-cool-mutations/220374/9 "2003-12-21T23:14:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Z\_Al \* > \*\*Looking for X-Men sort of mutations? \*\* Not really. ---
**Author:** ![TJdude825](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@TJdude825](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TJdude825)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2003, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-there-ever-been-cool-mutations/220374/10 "2003-12-22T00:20:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*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. ---
**Author:** ![Petter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/dbc845/32.png) [@Petter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Petter)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2003, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-there-ever-been-cool-mutations/220374/11 "2003-12-22T00:25:14Z")
What, three functional arms wouldn’t be cool? ---
**Author:** ![netscape\_6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/8c91f0/32.png) [@netscape\_6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/netscape_6)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2003, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-there-ever-been-cool-mutations/220374/12 "2003-12-22T01:05:06Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Abdominal\_Snowman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f04885/32.png) [@Abdominal\_Snowman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abdominal_Snowman)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2003, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-there-ever-been-cool-mutations/220374/13 "2003-12-22T01:44:09Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2003, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-there-ever-been-cool-mutations/220374/14 "2003-12-22T01:51:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*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? ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2003, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-there-ever-been-cool-mutations/220374/15 "2003-12-22T02:10:26Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2003, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-there-ever-been-cool-mutations/220374/16 "2003-12-22T02:35:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*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. ---
**Author:** ![Punoqllads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2003, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-there-ever-been-cool-mutations/220374/17 "2003-12-22T05:14:15Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![raizok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4491bb/32.png) [@raizok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raizok)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2003, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-there-ever-been-cool-mutations/220374/18 "2003-12-22T05:39:13Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![cromulent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b4bc9f/32.png) [@cromulent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cromulent)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2003, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-there-ever-been-cool-mutations/220374/19 "2003-12-22T05:59:12Z")
I think pretty much every gene that differentiates me from a bacterium is a “cool” mutation 😃 I mean all our genes were mutations at some point, right? ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2003, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-there-ever-been-cool-mutations/220374/20 "2003-12-22T06:00:52Z")
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. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-there-ever-been-cool-mutations/220374.md?page=2)