Nightscrawlers

Thanks! I didn't see it mentioned before. I thought that Hank taught and was a doctor for the students. But, I'd think that anyone on a team would have the time.

(And my HS went through several drama teaches too).

Hey, I like Prodigy - shame they're getting rid of him. I also liked the old team of writers and thought it was a real shame that they didn't get to finish what they set up for all of their characters

Originally posted by chicory
Nice scan! What issue is that from? I'm guessing that was Prodigy's little sister he was touring around - is she a mutant too?

Her non-mutantness was a critical plot point.

Since mutants are born that way but only "show" at puberty, would they be able to test a child and see if it was a mutant? I can't remember if this has ever been addressed or not.

Technically speaking, the X-gene would be present in a mutant since conception, and only "activate" on puberty. Therefore, genetic testing would be viable.

*However*, logically, there would be members of the populace who, though they posess the X-gene, would never have had it activated. These latent mutants would, up until their tests proved positive, have lived their lives as perfectly ordinary human beings.

And that's precisely where genetic testing would fall over. Posession of the X-gene alone would not automatically make one a mutant. It's the activation at puberty that makes a mutant a *Mutant*.

Anti-mutant activists would argue that the X-gene makes everyone who has it a mutant and a risk to "human purity" as it were, and advocate testing while the kids were still in utero, followed by 'cleansing' if the tests proved positive... which leads to a whole new kettle of fish. One I would prefer not to touch with the proverbial barge-pole

Drastic Spastic - So, his sister is either a non-mutant or a unactivated mutant. That is an important plot point if she's so excited and accepting of the school. Too bad base-line humans aren't allowed to go there.

InterNutter - you seem to know a lot about genetics. What sort of gene do you think the X gene would be? It can't be sex-linked - because males and females seem to be mutants in equal amounts. But do you think it's a dominant/recessive/something else kind of thing?

I'm mean, of course it's all made up - but it's still fun to ask. I like the idea that its something more supernatural (like genetic recombination by aliens). Also, while they may have mapped the human genome - they've only mapped that of one (supposedly non-mutant) guy. So how can they possibly test for a gene when they don't know where to find it. Or can even be sure that there is just one.

[Edited on 26/2/06 by chicory]

I think it's a gene that turns on other genes... if such a thing exists. It's a tricky little thing, the X-gene, turning on otherwise dormant genetic attributes, like the ability to process sunlight and so forth.

Of course, the little that I've managed to figure out about it also means that the 'X-gene' is pure scientific BS unless its several genes at once, which means that mutants as we know them are more complicated than we could belive.

*BUT* since this is ComicBook!Science, I think we can suspend disbelief

The X-gene is an 'activator' gene. It takes what we call 'junk' DNA and fools with it to bring out new potential in human beings as we know them. For example, Mystique's X-gene allows her to consciously direct the growth and development of her own body. Permanently. Wolverine's allows him to heal *real* quick, and has also managed to conquer that tricky claws-vs-fine-manipulation problem that's plagued human imagination for quite some time

...one of my ponderings imagined that Logan's blood is technically stem-cell soup, thus allowing him to regenerate real fast. I dunno how much of that is real science versus pseudoscience, but it's a pretty good explaination as to how he can grow back a new whatever.

Obviously, the X-gene is what science might call a tricky little bugger

Originally posted by chicory
Drastic Spastic - So, his sister is either a non-mutant or a unactivated mutant. That is an important plot point if she's so excited and accepting of the school. Too bad base-line humans aren't allowed to go there.

It was a plot point because the "villain" for that arc was acting up because he objected to her non-mutant presence. Whether whatever let him know she wasn't a mutant would also cover possible inactive mutation... *shrug*