Question about mutant offspring

[Saitou Hajime]

Is it possible for a mutant to be born from parents who are a non-mutant meta and a human? Or is it necessary to have either two non-mutant meta parents or at least one parent to be an actual mutant?

[Lucyinthesky]

Mutants can be born from human parents, meta/super-human parents and mutant parents. The majority of mutants in the marvel universe have been born from human parents.

[Big Joe]

I find the genetics of mutants extremely interesting, but also extremely infuriating. Each of our genes (so obviously including the X gene) come from our parents. Each version is known as an allele. The alleles can be expressed or masked, also known as dominant and recessive. The X gene is obviously a recessive gene. Which means that both parents must contribute the recessive allele to produce the mutation. What this means is that two mutants, if they have offspring will always produce mutant children. It also means that two humans who neither received the X allele from either parent will never produce mutant offspring. In fact if even one parent never received the X allele there will never be a mutant child. For humans, both parents must have one x allele, then their chances of producing a mutant child are one in four.

[Glio]

I work in genetics and the best advice I can give about X-Gene is "Don't think too much about it."

[Big Joe]

I work in genetics and the best advice I can give about X-Gene is "Don't think too much about it."

Did I get my outline basically right because that's how I always understood it.

[Havok83]

Is it possible for a mutant to be born from parents who are a non-mutant meta and a human? Or is it necessary to have either two non-mutant meta parents or at least one parent to be an actual mutant?

Of course. That was the case for Marvel's very first mutant

[TheMutantTheorist]

More than never if one or more of the parents are mutant the resulting child will be a mutant. There have been cases of human children born to mutant parents aka Graydon Creed but they are very unlikely. Parents who are mutates also have a higher rate of producing mutant children, some good examples of these types of children are Franklin Richards and Purple Woman. I don't think it will always result in a mutant child and if a child is born with powers technically they should be considered mutants but they get the mutates title since they don't possess the x gene. Interspecial relationships also more than often result in mutant hybrid children whether one parent is mutant or posses a recessive allele like Namor, Abigail Brand, or Pixie. Mutant offspring is complicated because clones, genetic tampering, psychic entities, and so on exist which is why mutant family dynamics are far from human. Not to mention the more obscure ones could have different reproductive systems.

[AppleJ]

I find the genetics of mutants extremely interesting, but also extremely infuriating. Each of our genes (so obviously including the X gene) come from our parents. Each version is known as an allele. The alleles can be expressed or masked, also known as dominant and recessive. The X gene is obviously a recessive gene. Which means that both parents must contribute the recessive allele to produce the mutation. What this means is that two mutants, if they have offspring will always produce mutant children. It also means that two humans who neither received the X allele from either parent will never produce mutant offspring. In fact if even one parent never received the X allele there will never be a mutant child. For humans, both parents must have one x allele, then their chances of producing a mutant child are one in four.

My working theory is actually that all humans have the "X-gene" which is actually a silent gene that normally doesn't code for anything and that mutants arise naturally in the human population from unique de novo mutations that cause activation of the X-gene (thinking mainly creation of new start codons or activating promoters through translocations) which responds to specific hormone production. But I would say they are autosomal dominant, so two mutants have a 75% chance of mutant offspring and 25% of human. Seems to track with comics. Also a mutant may carry the X-Gene of both parents, causing a stronger more complex phenotype so both parents powers may be represented. And I would guess that the X-gene itself doesn't cause the powers directly, but targets activation of numerous other genes downstream which are normally only active in early development. This helps account for both variety within a family but also direct heritability.

Pretty sure Ma Guthrie is mosaic and carries an active X-gene in some of her tissues. Seen this happen IRL with human dominant genetic conditions.

[Sutekh]

Pretty sure Ma Guthrie is mosaic and carries an active X-gene in some of her tissues. Seen this happen IRL with human dominant genetic conditions.

My random thoughts;

A) Ma Guthrie pumps out mutant children as her primary mutant power. Her 'secondary mutation' is that she's a stealth mutant, able to 'pass' as a human, and utterly mask her X-gene from tests to detect her being a mutant.

B) 'Pa Guthrie' is dead, but technically wasn't really a real person anyway. Nathaniel Essex just retired that clone as the experiment had reached it's natural conclusion when Lucinda entered menopause. The entire Guthrie clan is just another of his experiments, one that he's actually forgotten all about, since it was six clones back and not all those memories downloaded...

I work in genetics and the best advice I can give about X-Gene is "Don't think too much about it."

Yeah, the 'rules' for who can or cannot be a mutant are 'whatever the writer wants.' Nothing about real world genetics applies, and, just going by what's been written, I think it's safe to assume that not one X-writer in five knows *at all* how genetics and inheritance and mutation actually works.

Which is fine. It's a comic book, not a science textbook. Marvel mutants are just technobabble, like how vibranium works, or the utter hogwash that is size-changing (what happens to the sandwich Pym just ate when he shrinks? What happens to the air in his lungs when he grows? How much air does he need when he's sixty feet tall and weighs a 100 tons (and, therefore, must be able to lift at least 100 tons to even stand upright!)? How can he breathe when he can't fit an atom of oxygen into his mouth?).

As Tom Servo says,
"If you wonder how he eats and breathes, and other science facts,
remember that it's just a show, you really should relax!"

[Will Evans]

I find the genetics of mutants extremely interesting, but also extremely infuriating. Each of our genes (so obviously including the X gene) come from our parents. Each version is known as an allele. The alleles can be expressed or masked, also known as dominant and recessive. The X gene is obviously a recessive gene. Which means that both parents must contribute the recessive allele to produce the mutation. What this means is that two mutants, if they have offspring will always produce mutant children.

Not true. Mystique and Sabretooth had Grayson Creed, who is a human.

[autbey]

I'm pretty sure that thanks to the Celestials the potential to have the X-Gene exists in every human, it just rarely activates.

[Big Joe]

Not true. Mystique and Sabretooth had Grayson Creed, who is a human.

I know, that's why I find it infuriating. That shouldn't be possible if it's based on human genetics, which is what it should be. So, infuriating.

[Havok83]

I know, that's why I find it infuriating. That shouldn't be possible if it's based on human genetics, which is what it should be. So, infuriating.

its based off comic genetics

[Sutekh]

I'm pretty sure that thanks to the Celestials the potential to have the X-Gene exists in every human, it just rarely activates.

In the original Days of Future Past, the Sentinels divided humanity up into three categories. Mutants. Latents, with the potential to have mutant children, but not actually destined to become mutants themselves. And a third 'pure' category that the Sentinels allowed to breed, because they had no potential to become mutants *or* to produce mutant children. So it seems that *some* of humanity escaped the Celestial tinkering, either on some far-flung continent, or because of interbreeding between early humanity and some species (Asgardians?, Faltinians?, Kree? Who knows.) that *didn't* have that tinkering.

The percentage didn't seem large, even way back then, suggesting that the majority of humanity at least had mutant latency, and could pass on that potential, if not having enough X-genetic factors to hop up to full mutant status themselves at puberty.

[Big Joe]

its based off comic genetics

I mean, I know, it's about suspension of disbelief, and there's loads of things that are ridiculous which don't even bother me in the slightest, so I really don't know why I have this irrational hatred of just this.