A bunch of off topic stuff
Schrafinator Not just a profile of Hellboy but a concept sketch by Mignola of Ron Perlman as Hellboy.
Percy If you haven't seen it already I suggest renting the movie. The dialouge gets clunky but the visuals are great, there are many shots that are like panels from the comic.
end of off topic
To continue with good/bad/neutral mutations:
I have a condition called keratoconus (
http://www.kcenter.org). Its a deformation of the corneas leading to eventual blindness. I've had two cornea transplants to hopefully cure me (90% succes rate with transplants). The exact cause of this condition is not fully understood but there is a heriditary (ie: genetic) component. So is this an example of a good, bad or neutral mutation?
Answer: neutral. Keratocunos generally kicks in at puberty, its a gradual process so the individual wouldn't be immediatly blind. While in the long term, if left untreated, it would be a severe disadvantage to the individual in the short term it wouldn't do anything to stop the individual from reproducing and passing on it's genes. Thus the gene/s for it weren't weeded out in our ancestors and continue to float around in the gene pool today.
And because modern medicine has treatments for it I'll be able to survive long enough to reproduce and pass it on. Even if modern medicine couldn't treat it, in today's society a blind person is not as disadvantaged as she/he would be ~1000 years ago and would still have a decent chance of passing on their genes.
This message has been edited by DrJones*, 09-07-2004 02:57 PM
*not an actual doctor