All Humans Are Mutants, Say Scientists 309
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."
Comes as no surprise.. (Score:3, Funny)
May I opt out on the yellow spandex? (Score:4, Funny)
looks uncomfortable.
Aha! Evidence.... (Score:5, Funny)
And here we have scientific evidence that human mutation is working as Designed.
Weird, I'm suddenly craving a bowl of spaghetti.
Re:May I opt out on the yellow spandex? (Score:2, Funny)
Yay! Mutant Super Powers! (Score:5, 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.
Re:May I opt out on the yellow spandex? (Score:5, Funny)
I for one, welcome us all! :)
That cant be right (Score:4, Funny)
That cant be generally true otherwise all Chinese people would look identical. oh wait...
Re:Aha! Evidence.... (Score:5, 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.
Re:Quality reporting (Score:4, 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?
Try Alabama (Score:5, Funny)
Try this in Alabama, where they can use the terms wife,mother,and daughter interchangeably.
so females evolve faster? (Score:3, 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!
Re:X-Men 2 was wrong then? (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.
Re:Aha! Evidence.... (Score:3, Funny)
Are we not men? (Score:2, Funny)
Re:May I opt out on the yellow spandex? (Score:4, Funny)
Hey, I was wearing yellow & spandex this morning, you insensitive clod!
(I bike to work.)
Error rates (Score:3, Funny)
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.
Re:Weird Headline (Score:3, 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?
Re:Aha! Evidence.... (Score:5, Funny)
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!
Re:May I opt out on the yellow spandex? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Article title seems stupid to me (Score:3, Funny)
Yep. "Normal" is an illusory artifact of statistics and has nothing to do with empirical reality.
Re:Article title seems stupid to me (Score:5, 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......
Re:May I opt out on the yellow spandex? (Score:5, Funny)
Everyone knows you can't ride a bike in your regular clothes. You have to look like a total moron.
Re:Weird Headline (Score:1, Funny)
I'm sure the Japanese are working on it...
Re:X-Men 2 was wrong then? (Score:3, Funny)
I have shocking news for you. You may want to have a seat. You've been lied to about this.
Re:Article title seems stupid to me (Score:3, Funny)
What is top posting? What are quote tags? Why so angry?
"2) Do not, ever--I fucking repeat--EVER top post."
Re:May I opt out on the yellow spandex? (Score:5, 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.
Re:May I opt out on the yellow spandex? (Score:3, 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.
Re:Article title seems stupid to me (Score:3, 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....
Re:May I opt out on the yellow spandex? (Score:3, 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.)
Re:May I opt out on the yellow spandex? (Score:5, Funny)
That sound isn't whistling. What you are hearing is actually laughter distorted by the Doppler effect.
Re:May I opt out on the yellow spandex? (Score:1, Funny)
Truly hardcore enthusiasts wear Spandex on a Harley.
Q: Are We Not Men? (Score:1, Funny)
A: We are DEVO.
Praise "BOB"!
Re:May I opt out on the yellow spandex? (Score:3, 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.
Re:Aha! Evidence.... (Score:4, Funny)
Sacrilege!
Not as sacreligious as the evil Spagettios, the FSM's mortal enemy.