Mutations in Your Backyard

Ever watch those old horror movies or the science fiction flicks full of strange, mutant creatures? Ever wonder if they were in your backyard, waiting to do terrible things? Maybe there is a local legend about a beast in the night or a hideous monster that creeps up on nearby homes and people to do who knows what. Well, what if these ideas really are based off of fact?

There is a woman in China who woke up in the night to a scritch, scratch sound coming from inside her bedroom. When she turned on the light to find the source of the noise, a snake with one, clawed foot was moving across the wall. Talk about nightmares come true, the lady beat the snake to death in fear before realizing it was probably very rare. This incident occurred in September of 2009 and the snake’s body is now being studied at West Normal University in China. An event like this one does not happen too often, but when it does, it brings along a multitude of questions involving genetic mutations.

What causes a genetic mutation, the environment? Do mutations serve any use? Are all mutations bad or pointless? These are some of the most basic questions and for starters, no, the natural environment does not directly cause a genetic mutation in an animal. The natural environment (one free of human-influence for the most part) does, however, determine the use of a mutation. Does that mean these changes do serve some purpose? Yes, it does. Genetic mutation can be one of three options: harmful, beneficial, or neutral. The trick is knowing what makes them that way (hint: the natural environment) and whether or not the big picture of mutations is really a good, bad, or useless thing in the world. If you don’t believe me, continue reading to see pictures and examples explained that will prove this viewpoint. If you do believe me, read on anyways, it might be interesting.

Let’s look first at how a mutation can be beneficial, harmful, or neutral, then how the natural environment affects it. This is a picture of a couple penguins, a species thriving in Antarctica. The penguin has lots of blubber surrounding its body to keep it insulated from the cold, in and out of the water. It also has webbed feet that, while slow moving on land, are great assets in maneuvering the cold waters. It is important to be a quick swimmer because not only does it make catching food easier, it helps to evade larger predators as well. Penguins are also flightless birds, a trait that passed on through generations over time because the need to “reach for the sky” was unnecessary. All of these genetic mutations are helpful in surviving the harsh Antarctic lands.

Now let’s take a picture of this kakapo bird, a species found in the mountains of New Zealand. It is a small, flightless parrot that once flourished in its homeland. The wings, much like the penguins, mutated over time because the birds could find food on the ground and low brush, living unthreatened, they thrived. Once again, this is an example of a mutation at work in its natural environment, it may seem pointless one way or another, but it was not harmful to the bird.

Finally, let’s observe this panda. The panda has a unique thumb-like appendage grown from an extended wrist bone. For a panda, this “thumb” has become a vital means of survival, allowing it to handle bamboo stalks with relative ease and therefore

make eating easier. Another beneficial genetic mutation put to use.

So, why does looking at these three animals mean anything significant to the world of genetic mutations? We’ve seen what their physical changes can do in their original habitat, but what happens when that homeland has been altered?

This picture is an altered one (poorly at that) showing two penguins on a nice, hot, uneven piece of land. A new environment as drastically different as this one can mean only bad things for the penguin. The blubber will become a nuisance, overheating the animal and adding unnecessary weight as it moves around. The webbed feet will slow the bird just as it did in Antarctica, except here there are faster land animals that will see a penguin as prey. Suddenly two beneficial genetic mutations have been turned harmful. Worse yet, with wings that will not fly, the penguin truly has become an easy snack to a larger predator. What’s this? You say, “Well that’s why penguins are in Antarctica and not swimming down to some new stretch of land.” Alright, fair enough, but look at this kakapo bird again.

Okay, so I changed the picture from several birds to one (and added something), why did I do that? Simple, that’s exactly what happened to the New Zealand parrot. You see, instead of taking this bird to a different environment, the environment went ahead and changed on its own. Humans began to come to New Zealand to make civilizations, bringing their pet cats and other new animals with them. The kakapo’s natural environment was changing into one with stronger predators, predators like weasels and cats who found the kakapo to be easy prey. In a very short time, the kakapo parrot went from flourishing to near extinction all because it was a tiny, flightless bird under brand new threats. Its genetic mutation proved fatal in its new environment.

Now we can’t forget that panda can we? There have been beneficial mutations and harmful mutations shown so far, how about a neutral one? Put this panda in a different environment without bamboo stalks for nourishment, give the panda something else to eat, and see if that “thumb” is still useful. No, it’s not; in fact the appendage may even be a hindrance. If the panda has to move around a lot, the extra digit might get in the way, at the least, it will have no useful application.

There you have it, three types of genetic mutation, each of which change in use depending on the surrounding environment. Still, if the natural environment does not cause a mutation, what does? Mutagenic agents that are external or internal cause a genetic mutation to occur by affecting the DNA of an animal. UV radiation and nitrous acid are good examples of mutagenic agents; these are either caused by inner chemicals or an outside form of pollution that is not directly part of the natural environment.

What about the question on whether genetic mutations, in the big picture rather than individually, are bad overall? The quick answer would be that in the broad scheme of things, mutations are ultimately beneficial.

How did I reach this conclusion?

Glad you asked.

The negative mutations do not have much of a chance to spread because it puts the animal at a disadvantage which means it will die sooner (kakapo bird anyone?) than a normal or healthily mutated animal. The big picture cannot be pointless with useless mutations because if the overall result of mutations were neutral, there would be no progress in the world. All the creatures when the Earth first formed would still be the same, evolution or a new species’ population through mutation would not have been possible. The only option left then is that genetic mutations, in the long run, are ultimately beneficial. This makes sense because there would be stronger animals and progress could be made over time.

To sum up, mutagenic agents are the reason for genetic mutations, the surrounding natural environment is what determines their use, mutations can vary from helpful, harmful, or neutral, and overall, genetic mutations are beneficial. Perhaps these answers aren’t quite the image of a scary myth or movie monster, but they are the basis of them. I’d keep an eye out on your own backyard, maybe a leap in progress is about to be made.

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