This week, we’re joined by Trace Dominguez from the YouTube channel Uno Dos of Trace to talk about genetic mutations! Tiny changes in an organism’s DNA sequence can lead to big variations or absolutely nothing. It’s just a roll of the dice! So what mutations have shown up in modern humans—different bones, livers, or even eyeballs? What is “foreign DNA” and where does it even come from? And can anybody name as many X-Men as Sam?
If you want to know more about any of the topics discussed today, check out these links:
[Truth or Fail]
Hypoxia:
https://www.sciencealert.com/indonesian-bajau-genetic-changes-adapt-them-to-aquatic-lifestyle-2
Bones:
https://www.the-scientist.com/notebook-old/the-worlds-densest-bones-47155
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejmoa013444
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28893644
Smoking:
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-10-17-mn-51362-story.html
[Fact Off]
Tetrachromats:
Colchicine and watermelons:
https://csuvth.colostate.edu/poisonous_plants/Plants/Details/79
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4656054/
https://scialert.net/fulltextmobile/?doi=jbs.2013.277.282
https://naldc.nal.usda.gov/download/CAT71326739/PDF
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/artful-amoeba/for-plants-polyploidy-is-not-a-four-letter-word/
[Ask the Science Couch]
Foreign DNA:
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-11/uonc-ahc111815.php
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/290835.php
https://genomebiology.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13059-015-0607-3
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rspb.2009.1679
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK7934/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6177113/
[Butt One More Thing]
Beautiful buttocks:
https://www.nature.com/news/2002/020917/full/news020916-3.html