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Why we are all X-men: Scientists discover 60 new genetic mutations in EVERY person
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 3:44 PM on 13th June 2011
It might be one fantastical work of science fiction - but researchers have discovered we have more in common with the characters of the X-Men films than we first believe.
Scientists have found that each human being has around 60 different mutations in their genes.
And although you might lack the superpowers of a character like Wolverine, the results are startling.
Magnificent mutant: Scientists in Cambridge have discovered each person receives gene mutations from their parents - but it's unlikely to lead to the superpowers of Wolverine from X-Men
Findings by the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in Cambridge and two other institutes in the U.S. and Canada revealed each one of us receives up to 60 mutations in our genome from our parents.
It shows that human genomes (our genetic makeup carried on 23 pairs of chromosomes) are mutated in both sperm and egg cells, resulting in changes to our DNA seen in neither parent.
The studies also confounded previous theories over whether most mutations came from the mother or father, with results showing that it varied dramatically in each individual.
To try and ascertain how much of a 'mutant' each human is, scientists studied the genes of two families, both of which consisted of two parents and one child.
Looking for new mutations in the child, researchers combed through 6,000 possible mutations in each genome sequence. Code breakers: Scientists at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute have found that changes in DNA occur from parent to child
Code breakers: Scientists at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute have found that changes in DNA occur from parent to child
This proved extremely challenging, given that, on average, just one in every 100 million letters of DNA is altered each generation.
They also sorted mutations into those that occurred during the production of their parents' sperm or eggs, and those which happened after they were born.
The results, published in journal Nature Genetics, surprised scientists.
They showed that in one family, 92 per cent of the child's mutations came from the father, while in another it was just 36 per cent.
Study co-author Dr Matt Hurles, from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, said: 'We now know that, in some families, most mutations might arise from the mother, in others most will arise from the father.
'This is a surprise: many people expected that in all families most mutations would come from the father, due to the additional number of times that the genome needs to be copied to make a sperm, as opposed to an egg.'
Co-author Professor Philip Awadalla, from the University of Montreal added: 'Today we have been able to test previous theories through new developments in experimental technologies and our analytical algorithms.
'This has allowed us to find these new mutations, which are like very small needles in a very large haystack.'
The team plans to do further research into how factors like parental age and environment affects the number of mutations, and how they could use their findings to identify debilitating genetic diseases.
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The kind of mutations that go on in cartoon and related science fiction characters imply spontaneous, rapid and considerable change in the preexisting genetic make up of the mutating individual while the person is still living and breathing, such that the individuals develop entirely new traits and/or forms.
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