Posted
on September 29, 2015
If
you were a teenage mutant ninja turtle, which would you celebrate –
the anniversary of your birth as a perfectly ordinary baby turtle, or
the anniversary of the mutation that caused you to be a smart,
capable ninja?
I'm
guessing the latter...
Well,
today is the day to celebrate! In the fictional world of TMNT, today
is the anniversary of Splinter's and the four Teenage Mutant Ninja
Turtles' mutation.
Fans
are all over this, creating art and videos and parties.
Of
course, I am all over an enticing name like “Mutation Day” – I
just want to wallow in the biology of it!
A
mutations is a permanent change in the DNA of a plant, animal, or
other organism. The change can be caused by damage to DNA, damage to
RNA, a copying error, or from the bits of DNA being inserted into or
deleted from a strand.
The
mutation that caused the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to be more
human (and much more ninja) than the average pet turtle is, of
course, impossible. To make changes that enormous in any one animal
would require thousands of mutations – not just one!
Good...or
bad?
A
lot of mutations don't have any effect, so they are pretty much
neutral as far as the mutated creature goes.
On
the other hand, many mutations have a harmful effect, and some have a
good effect. It all depends on specifically where on the DNA or RNA
strand the change or copying error is as well as the nature of the
change or error.
 |
| If there were no such thing as mutation, life on Earth might be no more complex than this. ^ |
Overall,
if you look long-term and big-picture, mutations are good, because
they are the raw materials of evolution. If there was no such thing
as mutation, you and I would definitely not be here discussing
mutations – the only life on Earth would be super simple one-celled
creatures.
I
love the recipe allegory Mr. Andersen uses to explain about
mutations! Check it out.
To
learn more about mutations, check out this lesson plan or thisBrain POP.
Also
on this date:
Plan
ahead:
Check
out my Pinterest boards for:
And
here are my Pinterest boards for:
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