the.com/mutant
Evolution's rough draft — mostly typos, occasionally a superpower.
means An organism or cell whose genetic code has changed from the original, producing a new trait that wasn't there before.
from From Latin 'mutant-', the present participle of 'mutare' — 'to change.' The same root gave us 'mutate,' 'mutual,' and 'molt.' Science borrowed 'mutant' in the early 20th century, as genetics emerged as a field and biologists needed a word for organisms whose inherited traits had shifted; pop culture later ran off with it, mutating the word's own meaning until it meant less 'changed' and more 'secretly amazing.'
- source
- DNA copying errors, radiation, or plain bad luck
- frequency
- every human carries dozens of new mutations at birth
- pop culture debt
- X-Men borrowed the word, not the biology
- survival math
- most mutations are neutral, not dramatic