Ask Ms. Jessica Issue 14 – Mutations happen so fast! (Patreon)

Ask Ms. Jessica Issue 14 – Mutations happen so fast!

(The content for Ask Ms. Jessica comes from real questions from real people sent to AskMsJessica@gmail.com)

Hello again,

Thank you for the prompt response, and the incredibly in-depth explanation of modularity mutations. I’ve done a bit more reading, and after looking at some case studies, there’s a couple questions related to mutants in general I feel I need answered: how do mutations develop, in a more physiological sense? And how can even the biggest mutations emerge so quickly compared to other forms of rapid cell development?

Aha, a question about mutation and cellular development! I actually wrote several papers on the topic while earning my doctorate, so this is a bit of a specialty of mine.

Before I begin, I do want to note something more… sociological. Most mutants actually don’t mutate all at once. They mutate over a period of days, weeks, months, or even years. For the most part, mutations take place under a time-scale that coincides with normal or just slightly accelerated cell development, nothing that would seem out of place for science.

However, you rarely see this type of mutation in the media because spontaneous mutation simply sells a story better. 

Think about how many level 3 and 4 mutants you see in the media, mutants whose bodies have changed significantly to the point that their lives have been drastically altered. They might seem rather common, but remember that level 3 and 4 mutations are actually comparatively rare. It’s just that media, for the most part, doesn’t really sell the concept of “MUTANT” by following around girls with a different hair color, an extra finger, a set of fangs, or a longer than usual tongue. They want spectacular stories about mutants that have mutated so far from what humans consider normal that you might mistake them as another species!

Well the same is true for the mutation process. The media likes to cover spontaneous mutation because it breeds drama. Someone being human at one point and then mutant the next makes for a really good story. However, in reality most mutants mutate over a longer period of time, watched over by doctors and loved ones to ease them into the mutant life.

As for how spontaneous mutation actually works, I mentioned in a previous issue that mutations happen in multiple stages of development. First, the body prepares itself internally and then mutations manifest externally. For spontaneous mutations the same is true, but in a more drastic way.

Bodies preparing for spontaneous mutation begin storing massive amounts of nutrients in hyper dense deposits around the body. These deposits usually form around sites where mutation is going to take place. For example, someone who would eventually grow an extra pair of arms might store these deposits around her existing shoulder joints.

Believe it or not, these are actually detectable. That is why we can prepare some people for spontaneous mutation later in life. If you find any strange lumps under the skin, or if you appear to be gaining weight without any real change to your figure, go to the doctor for a thorough examination for signs of mutation.

These hyper dense nutrient deposits are then slowly converted into hyper dense bundles of cell and tissue. They are, for all intents and purposes, a tumor at this point. They are cellular material compacted several times more dense than our normal cellular tissue, in a state of a sort of stasis. They are, for all intents and purposes, undifferentiated STEM cells at this point. 

At this point, these cellular deposits are removable but we highly suggest you do not attempt to do so, and it is actually forbidden in several countries by law. Attempting to surgically alter or prevent a mutation usually only results in even more extreme and possibly dangerous mutations occurring. 

However, small samples have been taken from these hyper dense deposits safely, and they reveal a lot about how spontaneous mutations works. Essentially there is a protein wall that encases these deposits. This of it as a sort of egg. The “egg” starts with few cells and mostly huge deposits of nutrients and eventually becomes a bundle of cells packed in a small space with few nutrient. Eventually, the egg cracks, and when this happens, a number of enzymes and hormones rush into the blood, triggering the spontaneous mutation.

At that point, these undifferentiated cells spread rapidly and begin taking on their jobs. Remember, these clusters of stem cells are highly densely packed, able to compact all the cells needed for, say, a new arm or leg into a sphere the size of an orange. As they flood the system, they latch onto existing cell and protein networks, forming vital structures, and causing the mutation to manifest.

So in a way, spontaneous mutations don’t actually happen all at once. The cellular development actually happens over a long period of time. It’s just the cell differentiation and outward manifestation that happens all at once.

Note, that when people spontaneously mutate they usually do so all at once, but that’s not always the case. Not all the “eggs” burst at the same time, so to speak. This is why sometimes people experience a series of spontaneous mutations over the course of a short period of time.

The amount of cellular activity caused by a spontaneous mutation can be very dangerous. It’s very taxing on the body, and usually leaves the subject in a state of nutrient depletion and exhaustion. People undergoing spontaneous mutation usually produce high volumes of adrenaline and other natural anesthetics to keep them from feeling too much pain (though this effect is limited depending on how drastic the mutation is) but this too can cause system shock. If you undergo a spontaneous mutation, it’s recommended you get a lot of bed rest and eat plentiful meals for the next few days. Even if you feel like you are a fuck machine that can take on the world, trust me, that’s just the adrenaline talking. You will eventually crash.

There is a type of spontaneous mutation that is still being studied that science doesn’t yet completely understand. Sometimes, people with the mutant gene have been known to mutate in times of severe stress or danger. These spontaneous mutations seem to happen all at once, without the preparation time of other spontaneous mutations. 

There are competing theories on how this works. Some scientists believe that mutations like this actually form the same way as other spontaneous mutations, it’s just that stem cell matter is more evenly distributed through the body, waiting to manifest in a way that is needed, rather than focusing all at once in a single location.

Other scientists believe that a massive spike in adrenaline can simply cause vastly accelerated cell growth. We have actually observed as such in humans and animals, so it’s not that much of a leap to think it could also apply to mutants and mutations.

Some scientists believe that the body begins converting all storied nutrients from fat into new body structures. In fact, some even believe that the body sort of “eats itself” and borrows from existing structures to form new ones that would be useful in a time of danger.

Perhaps the most wild theory, which is still very unproven and exists more in the realm of pop science than experimental science, is that mutants in distress will begin converting matter from the world around them into biological matter, which then feeds their mutation. I’m not sure how much I agree with this one. It seems farfetched, and doesn’t really have a basis in biology.

Either way, it’s unethical to put human beings in danger in order to study spontaneous mutations like this, so our knowledge of them is incomplete and likely will be for a while. Frankly, I’d rather have there be a few holes in our knowledge than resort to putting people in danger just for scientific study.

In fact, that’s probably the biggest limiting factor of mutant studies. As far as we have seen, mutations as we know them only manifest in members of the species homo sapiens. We can’t study the biological process of mutation in lab mice or other test animals. We can only study humans, which means mutant studies must always be rigorously examined to be done in a safe and ethical way.

I hope this cleared things up for you!

Dr. Jessica Park

AskMsJessica@gmail.com