Mutations?

[Georgie_Leech]

Well, we have oppossable thumbs, An upright gait allowing us to grasp things with our hands, and the brains necessary to create tools. Do those count?

Those are not mutations. The same way speech isn't a mutation.

I see what the problem is. It's not a mutation now, as we all have it. It is a mutation from what gold ol' genus Homo and earlier Australiopithicus were before. Some primates began developing a more upright gait, allowing them to use hands for things other than walking, such as holding on to objects. This led to increased survivability of the species, and so this mutation then became the dominant gene and the non-mutated gene eventually died out, at least in this particular species. Mutations are not considered mutations compared to whatwe have now. Mutations are simply a gene differeing from its former pattern, resulting in a change. The mutations you are looking for have more or less already happenned; what development is occuring is due more to mental development and technological progress.

 

[ultrachicken]

A science teacher once told me that there once was a red wood tree that had a mutation, putting insert name of chemical here in the bark. This chemical made the bark resistant to fire. Later, there was a huge forest fire, killing almost all the redwood trees, but not the mutated one. Now that mutated tree spread its fire-resistant seed, and that's how redwoods got fireproof bark (according to the teacher).

 

[andrewfox]

That's not evolution. Will it is but its Micro evolution. That's adapting.

You don't get a new breed, just a better animal.

.../sigh. Once again someone hears about evolution in Bio 101 and thinks that they know everything.

If you're looking for evidence of positive mutation in humans, then you can look at the resistances to various diseases that we've built up over the years. A population gets a disease (2,3,4) almost everyone dies except the people with the resistance (5,6,7) then those survivors spawn themselves retarded (and take a bow).

As for why we don't have drastic changes in physiology, well, you need to have natural pressure to force a change and Homo sapien hasn't been pressured since we invented firearms and modern plumbing. Our technology has replaced our physical changes.

At least your not throwing time into the equation.

So modern medicine plays no part in the healing of the sick?

I could agree if you said that the disease caused a MUTATION inside the person infected causing them to die off....

 

[The Procrastinated End]

Over long periods of time the organisms who have undergone mutations that are beneficial were the ones who reproduced and passed along their superior traits to the next generation. Random events over very long periods of time can help evolution.

 

[Catalyst6]

At least your not throwing time into the equation.

So modern medicine plays no part in the healing of the sick?

Time, environment, genetic drift, widespread death, random chance, everything plays a role in evolution. And you'd be an idiot to think that medicine has nothing to do with healing.

Frankly, you're either a troll or a massive idiot. If the first case then go back to your hole. If the second case then I'm certainly not going to waste my time explaining on a forum what I've taken years of schooling to learn.

 

[2fish]

A positive human mutation would be a resistance to something or a defense see immune systems, attached ear lobes, and cast iron stomachs.

OR

If you were born with pheremones that made the opposite sex want you whenever thy were within 5 feet of you would be a good one too .

Maybe double jointed will help use evolve into humans V 3.5

 

[sheic99]

I should have specified. HUMAN mutation.

Sickle cell is human evolution. It gives a natural resistance to malaria, ergo beneficial.

That's a wide-believed myth.

The problems with this are obvious, as the sickle cell mutation, like the many other described hemoglobin mutations, clearly impairs the function of the otherwise marvelously well-designed hemoglobin molecule. It can in no way be regarded as an improvement in our species, even though its preservation is enhanced in malaria-endemic parts of central Africa by natural selection.

But it increases the likely hood that a carrier will live long enough to reproduce in a region with a high malaria rate. In that strict definition, it is beneficial to the human race.

 

[Dags90]

At least your not throwing time into the equation.

So modern medicine plays no part in the healing of the sick?

I could agree if you said that the disease caused a MUTATION inside the person infected causing them to die off....

A much better example would be bacterial resistance to antibiotics. If you don't think Sickle Cell can be a positive mutation you're wrong. You're thinking in black and white terms. Environments are dynamic and may vary widely. The negative health effects of Sickle-Cell in heterozygous form are negligible, and this is actively selected for as evidenced by its prevalence. Hemoglobin wasn't "designed", your wording shows a clear lack of understanding.

 

[BrassButtons]

Great Jay-Z. Topic Discussion: "Q: What's a beneficial HUMAN mutation? More importantly, where can I find one?"

Very well, I'll change the search to "beneficial mutations in humans"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutation
http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/mutations.html
http://www.gate.net/~rwms/EvoHumBenMutations.html

That's only 3 links, but I also wasn't trying very hard. Someone who really wanted this information could try online scientific journals, more in-depth search criteria, a library search (sometimes the best place to find information is offline).

 

[Mr.Mattress]

I should have specified. HUMAN mutation.

Sickle cell is human evolution. It gives a natural resistance to malaria, ergo beneficial.

Firstly, if Sickle Cell is evolution, how come all of our species hasn't gotten it? Or would Sickle Cell humans be different? Secondly, does this mean I can classify Sickle cell people as a different type of human? Like say "Homo Molocktovto (Rough Greek Translation)", or "Homo Nosson"?

OT: I think Good Genetic Evolution would be us having Bigger Brains, Stronger Bodies, Bigger Hands, Opposable Toes, or better eyes.

 

[daemon37]

A mutation is simply a mistake in the genetic encoding when parents have children. These random mistakes over a long period of time is how evolution works. For example, if neither of your parents have the genes to produce blonde hair, but you are born with blonde hair, then you are a mutant. And if having blonde hair helps you reproduce, then that would be a beneficial mutation. You have evolved!

Seriously though, genetic encoding tends to make a lot of mistakes, so everyone has a few mutations. Most of them are so minor that we don't notice, but every so often people are born with some strange genetic disorder which clearly was not inherited from their parents. As a society we tend to focus on the negatives more than the positives.

 

[p3t3r]

well i have this thing where whenever i walk outside or otherwise exposed to bright light i sneeze and it is so helpfull because whenever i need to sneeze but just can't i know what to do
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photic_sneeze_reflex

 

[Kuchinawa212]

Well look at a rat. Smooth brain and tiny
Look a human brain. Big thing with lots of wrinkles to increase surface area
I say big useful brains are a good thing =D
Does that help

 

[sheic99]

I should have specified. HUMAN mutation.

Sickle cell is human evolution. It gives a natural resistance to malaria, ergo beneficial.

Firstly, if Sickle Cell is evolution, how come all of our species hasn't gotten it? Or would Sickle Cell humans be different? Secondly, does this mean I can classify Sickle cell people as a different type of human? Like say "Homo Molocktovto (Rough Greek Translation)", or "Homo Nosson"?

OT: I think Good Genetic Evolution would be us having Bigger Brains, Stronger Bodies, Bigger Hands, Opposable Toes, or better eyes.

I never said it was evolution, just a mutation. Secondly, we gave up opposable toes to be able to walk upright and better vision to see in color.

 

[Cain_Zeros]

Being able to drink milk throughout your entire life is technically a mutation.

 

[daemon37]

Firstly, if Sickle Cell is evolution, how come all of our species hasn't gotten it?

There are so many things wrong with this statement. I could try to write them all out but I'm really not interested in writing a book at the moment.

Or would Sickle Cell humans be different? Secondly, does this mean I can classify Sickle cell people as a different type of human? Like say "Homo Molocktovto (Rough Greek Translation)", or "Homo Nosson"?

Yes, if one group of humans evolves in a different direction from another, then you could consider them to be a different kind of creature. Unfortunately, this is the kind of argument that Hitler made about Jewish people.

OT: I think Good Genetic Evolution would be us having Bigger Brains, Stronger Bodies, Bigger Hands, Opposable Toes, or better eyes.

Sure, but this would only work if these mutations resulted in more reproduction. But that doesn't seem to be the case nowadays. Go watch Idiocracy, (link to trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0yQunhOaU0 )

 

[bam13302]

most mutations are negative, a few are positive, natural selections weeds out the good from the bad
thats the theory

 

[muckinscavitch]

Could easily be proven by exposing a bacterial culture, say E. Coli, that is killed by a certain antibiotic, say penicillin, and expose it to UV light (I won't go into the details of how this works, but lets just say the cells can screw up during DNA repair). Then, you plate your culture on a plate containing penicillin and contrast this to a control group of non-exposed E.Coli.

You will see that the plate containing the bacteria exposed to UV light will have a much higher incidence of mutation allowing the cell to continue living even in the presence of penicillin (once again, won't go into the details, but the binding site on the cell where penicillin causes its affect it mutated on these cells so that penicillin cannot bind and kill the cell).

However, the plate not exposed to UV light will have far fewer mutations.

Long story short: This is a mutation that allows the bacteria to live in the presence of an antibiotic. One thing to keep in mind with mutations is that that are indeed random and take a VERY long time to lead to noticeable changes normally.

 

[sheic99]

Skin pigmentation is actually mutation, so when you tan, your skin mutates and becomes darker to protect you from ultraviolet rays. I'd say that's pretty beneficial.

That's not mutation, the mutation would be albinism. What you're talking about is melanin, which is the pigment in your skin. Your body produces more melanin to help protect your skin against the radiation.