Tag: genetics

Bad Science: Kipo

I almost didn’t even bother doing commentary on Kipo and the Age of the Wonderbeasts, because this show is so comfortable in it’s own ridiculousness that I don’t expect the science to be solid. All the animals have extra legs/eyes, are huge, or are highly intelligent. Sometimes a combination of the above. Then there’s the dubstep bees and the huge waterbear-like creature that can give people visions, which I can offer no explanation for.

Disclaimer: I love this show. It’s cute, wholesome, and entertaining. The characters are loveable and the world is interesting. I freaking adore Wolf. Highly recommend for children and adults. I’m not critiquing the show, only pointing out minor mistakes overlooked by the writers because someone (like me) might find it interesting.

And honestly, a lot of the science mentioned in it seems legitimate to me. But then we got to S3E5 (“Song ReMix”), and they started throwing around words like “homozygous” and “dominant alleles” in a way that didn’t make sense.

One of the characters says, “I can’t remember if the mutagen was heterozygous or homozygous.” To see why I have an issue with this, let’s take a look at some definitions:

  1. Mutagen: a chemical or physical agent capable of inducing changes in DNA called mutations. 
  2. Heterozygous: refers to having inherited different versions (alleles) of a genomic marker from each biological parent. Thus, an individual who is heterozygous for a genomic marker has two different versions of that marker.
  3. Homozygous: refers to having inherited the same versions (alleles) of a genomic marker from each biological parent.
    Source: National Human Genome Research Institute (https://www.genome.gov/)

So, essentially, a mutagen is something that can mutate your DNA. I think the writers may have meant to use the word mutation instead, but even that doesn’t entirely sit well with me. Examples of mutagens include radiation, tobacco products, and a variety of chemicals (basically anything that’s known to cause cancer is probably a mutagen). Mutagens cannot be homo- or heterozygous, words that refer to an organism’s DNA. You may know that humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes. Every gene in our genetic code comes in pairs, and each pair can have two identical or two different versions. There was also something about the “pattern of dominant alleles,” which I suppose could refer to the mutated genes that resulted in giant talking animals, but the fact that what precedes it is nonsense makes it sound like gibberish.

I still find it funny that I am complaining about genetics accuracy in the same sentence as “giant talking animals.”

Shortly after, she comments on “trying to prolong the process of transient polymorphism.” For some context, they’re talking about when she was trying to come up with a cure for the mutation that changed all the animals (which I won’t even get started on. You can’t “cure” genetic mutations with a shot the way they imply you can). I’m not sure what transient polymorphism has to do with their cure research, nor do I know why they would be trying to prolong it. This term refers to when one version of a gene (also known as an allele) is gradually replacing another in a population. In nature, this is usually due to natural selection. If you were trying to slow down a mutation taking over a population, I suppose you could try to “prolong the process,” but this show takes place in a world where pretty much all the animals have this mutation. And what does any of it have to do with finding a cure? None of this makes sense to me.

I think this is just an example of writers double checking their facts and definitions and making sure they’re using the words they want. And maybe a case of people throwing out random science words to try and sound smart and hoping nobody looks too closely.

(I also need everyone to know that I upgraded my Netflix plan for a month so I could rewatch this show and write this post, because it’s not available on their basic plan with ads, and I’m still angry about it.)

Side-note: I was cracking up at the scene where they randomly do karaoke with a machine that really shouldn’t work. Even if that building had electricity, the thing is at least 200 years old!

Bad Science: Breaking Dawn

But Nicole! Twilight is a fantasy novel. Why are you bringing science into this?

Well, because Stephanie did. Or tried to.

I understand the impulse to explain magic by tying it to science, but if you’re going to do this, please do the research. This is such a brief part of Breaking Dawn (one chapter!) that it didn’t even need to exist, but it still managed to annoy me.

For those who haven’t read the book or don’t remember, Carlisle and Jacob spend a few paragraphs talking about chromosomes. Specifically, the fact that vampires and werewolves have a different number of chromosome pairs than humans. Humans = 23, werewolves = 24, vampires = 25.

Let’s start off ignoring the fact that getting turned into a vampire means you gain two extra pairs of chromosomes and focus on the faulty reproductive aspect of this. For vampires it matters less, since they’re not supposed to be able to reproduce anyway, but werewolves are another matter. If they have 24 chromosomal pairs, they would only be able to reproduce with other werewolves, lest they produce infertile offspring. The reason this is problematic is the same reason mules are usually sterile. A mule is a cross between a horse and a donkey, two species that have a different number of chromosomes. The resulting mule has an odd number of chromosomes (63), which disrupts the process of meiosis.

To really explain this, we’re going to delve deeper into genetics and molecular biology. You may remember meiosis and/or mitosis from biology class. Mitosis is how cells replicate themselves, producing an identical cell with the same number of chromosomes. Meiosis, on the other hand, is how our bodies made sperm and eggs, also known as gametes. We inherit half of our chromosomes from each parents, which means gametes need to have half the number of chromosomes, lest the offspring end up with way too many. During meiosis, chromosomes line up with their pair so they can be separated, producing cells that have only one set of chromosomes instead of two. The fact that mules have an odd number of chromosomes means that last chromosome doesn’t have a pair to buddy up with. This prevents meiosis from being successfully completed, and therefore mules have no sperm or eggs.

So how does this relate to werewolves? Since Meyer makes a point that most werewolves are male (Leah being the exception, blessed her poor tortured soul), it means that werewolves reproduce with humans. The result would be a child with an odd number of chromosomes (remember, humans have 46 chromosomes and werewolves have 48), and therefore they would experience the same reproductive problems as mules. They would be a genetic dead-end and werewolves would cease to exist.

As for the vampires, apparently drinking their blood and then dying somehow infects you with two extra pairs of chromosomes that infiltrate all of your cells and that turns you into a vampire. Vampirism would have to be a virus that can insert itself into your genome, those chromosomes carrying genes that can bring you back from the dead and allow you to exist without a heartbeat or blood.

Wait, did I just explain vampirism? Okay, Stephanie, I’ll give that one to you. But the werewolf thing still doesn’t work.

Update: I forgot to mention that Edward and Bella’s hybrid baby would have 23 pairs and 2 unpaired chromosomes, not 24 pairs as Carlisle implies. It’s an important distinction.