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All Humans Are Mutants, Say Scientists

Hugh Pickens writes "In 1935, JBS Haldane, one of the founders of modern genetics, studied a group of men with the blood disease hemophilia and speculated that there would be about 150 new mutations in each human being. Now BBC reports that scientists have used next generation sequencing technology to produce a far more direct and reliable estimate of the number of mutations by looking at thousands of genes belonging to two Chinese men who are distantly related, having shared a common ancestor who was born in 1805. To establish the rate of mutation, the team examined an area of the Y chromosome which is unique because, apart from rare mutations, the Y chromosome is passed unchanged from father to son so mutations accumulate slowly over the generations. Despite many generations of separation, researchers found only 12 differences among all the DNA letters examined. The two Y chromosomes were still identical at 10,149,073 of the 10,149,085 letters examined."

34 of 309 comments (clear)

  1. Comes as no surprise.. by scalpod · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...to the SubGenius and Devo fans in the house.

    --
    If "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" and "it was beauty that killed the beast" then "please stop staring at me".
  2. May I opt out on the yellow spandex? by jollyreaper · · Score: 3, Funny

    looks uncomfortable.

    --
    Kwisatz Haderach
    Sell the spice to CHOAM
    This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
    1. Re:May I opt out on the yellow spandex? by Coraon · · Score: 1, Funny

      may I as well, but I do want the eye beams that can blast through a mountain.

      --
      -Ours is the wisdom of Solomon, the magic of Merlyn, the fall of Icaris.
    2. Re:May I opt out on the yellow spandex? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      I for one, welcome us all! :)

    3. Re:May I opt out on the yellow spandex? by Beardo+the+Bearded · · Score: 3, Funny

      Hey, I was wearing yellow & spandex this morning, you insensitive clod!

      (I bike to work.)

      --

      ---
      ECHELON is a government program to find words like bomb, jihad, plutonium, assassinate, and anarchy.
    4. Re:May I opt out on the yellow spandex? by Adm.Wiggin · · Score: 5, Funny

      It's funny how you add "(I bike to work.)" as if that makes it less weird. :)

    5. Re:May I opt out on the yellow spandex? by Jurily · · Score: 4, Funny

      Everyone knows you can't ride a bike in your regular clothes. You have to look like a total moron.

    6. Re:May I opt out on the yellow spandex? by Lumpy · · Score: 4, Funny

      It is ... now fishnets on the other hand are quite comfy....

      Time to shock the family by dressing as Doctor Frank N furter again.....

      Nothing like making the parents of children run screaming from the house during Halloween night.

      --
      Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
    7. Re:May I opt out on the yellow spandex? by Lumpy · · Score: 2, Funny

      It's part of being in the club. Like the idiots that buy a harley, harley jacket, harley t-shirt, harley socks, harley boots, harley gloves, harley jeans, harley underwear, harley toothbrush, etc...

      It makes them feel like they are a real biker instead of a poser. bicycle enthusiasts wear the spandex to try and feel like they are a real bike racer. Problem is they need to cut out a testicle to be like a REAL bicycle racer.

      --
      Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
    8. Re:May I opt out on the yellow spandex? by smellsofbikes · · Score: 2, Funny

      Everyone knows you can't ride a bike in your regular clothes. You have to look like a total moron.

      For what it's worth, I get whistled at when I'm wearing lycra shorts and riding my bike. I never get whistled at when I'm wearing cargo pants. (Or, for that matter, if I'm wearing lycra and *not* riding a bike.)

      --
      Nostalgia's not what it used to be.
    9. Re:May I opt out on the yellow spandex? by mcpkaaos · · Score: 5, Funny

      That sound isn't whistling. What you are hearing is actually laughter distorted by the Doppler effect.

      --
      It goes from God, to Jerry, to me.
    10. Re:May I opt out on the yellow spandex? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Truly hardcore enthusiasts wear Spandex on a Harley.

    11. Re:May I opt out on the yellow spandex? by Arthur+Grumbine · · Score: 2, Funny

      It's actually more cost effective for me to wear a tux on my bike than the bike shorts.

      Another point to make is visibility. If I look like a guy on a bike, then maybe someone in a car will look up from their bagel / cell phone and say, "whoa, that is one UGLY outfit."

      Unless you're the only cyclist they've ever seen, they're probably going to notice you less when you wear your cycling gear. If you want visibility, be unexpected. I'd go with that tux you mentioned. Or the robes of a Spanish Inquisitor. Fear, surprise, and ruthless efficiency will keep you alive more than a butt bubble.

      --
      Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure everything I just said is completely wrong.
  3. Aha! Evidence.... by jdgeorge · · Score: 4, Funny

    And here we have scientific evidence that human mutation is working as Designed.

    Weird, I'm suddenly craving a bowl of spaghetti.

    1. Re:Aha! Evidence.... by natehoy · · Score: 4, Funny

      Don't forget, His Noodly Appendages must be served slightly al dente (unless you're an infidel who likes squishy appendages), and the proper attire is, of course, pirate.

      --
      "This post contains words, known to the State of California to cause thought. Wash brain thoroughly after reading."
    2. Re:Aha! Evidence.... by PrescriptionWarning · · Score: 2, Funny

      how coincidental, their next study is whether "All Humans are Zombies". That bowl of spaghetti is really brainssssss!

    3. Re:Aha! Evidence.... by tomhudson · · Score: 4, Funny

      Sacrilege!

      The Fourth Council of Ristorante determined that there is no such thing as "slightly" al dente. It is al dente or not al dente; there is no in-between. The path to damnation is lined with compromise, and we'll have none of that here!

      Glory to his name, Ramen.

      Just throw it at the wall and see if it sticks - that's how all important decisions are made in politics, marketing (but I repeat myself), religion, the workplace ... if you used your noodle, you'd realize that!

    4. Re:Aha! Evidence.... by mcgrew · · Score: 3, Funny

      Sacrilege!

      Not as sacreligious as the evil Spagettios, the FSM's mortal enemy.

  4. Yay! Mutant Super Powers! by spun · · Score: 4, Funny

    My mutant super power is my ability to get depressed and lose focus. Oh man, I wish I'd gotten that cool one that gives you resistance to malaria and painfully inflamed fingers and toes. Mine seems kinda useless by comparison.

    --
    - None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
  5. That cant be right by JustNiz · · Score: 4, Funny

    That cant be generally true otherwise all Chinese people would look identical. oh wait...

  6. Re:Quality reporting by HeronBlademaster · · Score: 3, Funny

    On behalf of everyone who has never seen SMBC before, allow me to say:

    Thank you.

    P.S.: I hate you.

    P.P.S.: If I lose my job over this, can I crash at your place?

  7. Try Alabama by SnarfQuest · · Score: 4, Funny

    Try this in Alabama, where they can use the terms wife,mother,and daughter interchangeably.

    --
    Who would win this election: Andrew Weiner vs Andrew Weiner's weiner.
  8. so females evolve faster? by v1 · · Score: 2, Funny

    if the y chromosome remains relatively unchanged, and the X is subject to cross splicing with other x chromosomes (from either parent) that must mean that females at least as far as the sex-linked traits are concerned) evolves much faster than males, since there's rarely any opportunity for diversity in the Y chromosome?

    So next time a woman calls you "barbaric" etc you can say Got that right!

    --
    I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.
  9. Re:X-Men 2 was wrong then? by loteck · · Score: 5, Funny

    I seem to remember them saying that the mutations come from the father, how women are mutants I don't know.

    I have shocking news for you, you may want to have a seat: women have fathers, just like men. Disturbing, I know.

  10. Are we not men? by crowspeaker · · Score: 2, Funny

    We are D-E-V-O!

  11. Error rates by mollog · · Score: 2, Funny

    If I want I can set up two 4TB raids on my server at home (assuming I had more disk space), and issue the command dd if=/dev/mdx of=/dev/mdy bs=1M count=4000000. Then I could do a diff on the two volumes. I'd be shocked if they had any errors at all.

    If you turn off the error correction and the sparing of unusable sectors, you would indeed be shocked. Here's an idea, buy some of those video disk drives that Seagate makes.

    --
    Best regards.
  12. Re:Weird Headline by nine-times · · Score: 2, Funny

    Now, the 204 year bit sounds impressive, but it isn't like a piece of DNA lasted 204 years without any decay. Instead it was copied repeatedly over that time. If I copied that 4TB hard drive once every 25 years (generation time) onto a brand new drive (assuming that you could keep making them compatible) I don't think that getting the data across 200 years without any bit-flips is really that tall of an order.

    Yeah, but can you get the drives to make their own replacement drives every 25 years?

  13. Re:Article title seems stupid to me by FiloEleven · · Score: 2, Funny

    Yep. "Normal" is an illusory artifact of statistics and has nothing to do with empirical reality.

  14. Re:Article title seems stupid to me by supernova_hq · · Score: 4, Funny

    Yes, I was thinking the same. The very idea of evolution is based on mutation, and Evolution requires it as well.

    Unless you live in Kansas......

  15. Re:Weird Headline by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    I'm sure the Japanese are working on it...

  16. Re:X-Men 2 was wrong then? by CarpetShark · · Score: 2, Funny

    I have shocking news for you, you may want to have a seat: women have fathers, just like men. Disturbing, I know.

    I have shocking news for you. You may want to have a seat. You've been lied to about this.

  17. Re:Article title seems stupid to me by interkin3tic · · Score: 2, Funny

    What is top posting? What are quote tags? Why so angry?

    "2) Do not, ever--I fucking repeat--EVER top post."

  18. Re:Article title seems stupid to me by Lumpy · · Score: 2, Funny

    sorry? but my cats and dog have it made. Sleep all day, have food handed to you, all you need to do is lay there and lick yourself.

    I'd give my thumbs for that life any day. Hell the "pretty" ones are put out to stag....

    --
    Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
  19. Q: Are We Not Men? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    A: We are DEVO.

    Praise "BOB"!