four pincered crab

Princess Ivy · 08-03-2006, 01:13 AM

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cornwall/5237820.stm
a rare 'mutant' crab has been caught off the british coast.

Alexa · 08-03-2006, 01:20 AM

They named it Claudette !!!

Princess Ivy · 08-03-2006, 01:41 AM

more poeple with 'common' sense

Alexa · 08-03-2006, 03:17 AM

This article made me wonder about something. If the crab or any other animal can mutate, theorethically have we the possibility to deal with human mutants for real !?

steve12553 · 08-03-2006, 04:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alexa

This article made me wonder about something. If the crab or any other animal can mutate, theorethically have we the possibility to deal with human mutants for real !?

I think the individual quoted in the article is throwing around the word "Mutate" incorrectly. The regrowing of a claw is a genetic trait that has been in crabs and other animals for a long time. If the mechanism that allows this fails or gets confused that would be akin to a broken bone in a person healing crookedly. If a family of crabs would grow extra claw consistantly for a few generations then it might be a genetic trait. This crab was probably an accident rather than a mutant.

Princess Ivy · 08-03-2006, 11:19 AM

but the connotation of 'mutant' is an annomoly, and therefore not a genetic trait. eg: the first man who walked upright would have been a 'mutant' however after several generations it would have been 'genetics' once it became enherrant to the species.

steve12553 · 08-03-2006, 11:53 AM

Mutation is following along the lines of something normally caused by genetics but deviating in an individual. This crab may be doing something that all crabs can do but normally don't. If you or I grow an extra hand that would be a mutation because we don't have the ability to grow a hand once we lost one. Our genes won't let us. The crab has the ability to grow a replacement claw but grew it when it hadn't lost one. That seems to me to merely be a misfire, like a dog shedding in the winter.

Princess Ivy · 08-03-2006, 12:10 PM

to my understanding, a mutation is not simply the potential to do what has not been done before, but an annomoly in the species, such as my son (i call him the original 'leX-man'), although his genetic annomoly is the most common of renal anomolies, it is a mutation from the norm. therefore, although charlotte has excersised an ability which is an 'improvement' on her own natural ability, it is still a mutation from the norm.
and to split hairs even further, the only thing certain about human ability is that we only use a very small amount of our potential, who is to say that future humans will not be able to re-grow missing body parts?

Princess Ivy · 08-03-2006, 12:11 PM

btw,l i'm not being argumentitive for the sake of it, i really would like to know.

steve12553 · 08-05-2006, 05:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Princess Ivy

btw,l i'm not being argumentitive for the sake of it, i really would like to know.

My suspisions and reasonning behind my arguement is that I believe that the extra pinchers could be grown by any crab at random if the right circumstance came up. (Damage to the existing claws that fooled the bodies regrowth mechanism into thinking the claws were gone and the existing claws recovering) Growing four claws and having offspring that grew four claws would indicate that the DNA structure had mutated rather than just something that happened to the individual animal. I'm just saying that they are not proving that the anomoly was genetic. Even though we can record and compare DNA at this point I don't think that anyone can look at a DNA sample from that crab and fairly say it's genetic structure has changed and that's why it grew extra claws.