So, I’ve been working 6 days a week recently, and thought that I would have the motivation to complete June’s edition of Camp NaNoWriMo. That was a wash. I’ll try again in August. The exhaustion is ruining my writing process.
Then there’s the homesickness I have to contend with. As much as I hated Webster, I liked it better than Florida. This place is a hellhole, Jacksonville especially. (Apologies to anyone who lives here.) Being away from most of the people that I love, in a place that is so completely inhospitable and, frankly, weird, has taken its toll. I’m a New England kind of girl, and the mindset that Florida is putting me in has brought me down hard.
I’m trying to get a handle on it, though. It’s hard to run a blog about writing when you can’t get any done, right?
I do, however, have ample plotting material for a piece of fiction that I’m trying like hell to get rolling on. I put Muse on the back burner for the time being. I’m not executing it as well as I’d like, and I need to go back and see where I went wrong and where I can improve. The piece I’m working on has been mentioned on G&L a few times, and still has no title. The main character is Kadri, the clone. She’s spiffy. I love her.
Which brings me to the point of this post: I’ve already gotten a physician’s take on this situation, but I need the opinions of the readers of science fiction. Ready?
If a certain group of people are genetically engineered, would they pass their alterations down to their offspring? If those genetically engineered people only breed with one another (taking incest out of the equation), are they more likely to pass down those alterations than if they produced offspring with a normal human being?
Thoughts?
Goggles & Lace 
I think yes, in answer to your question. If the changes have been made at a DNA/RNA level, then that genetic information is going to get passed down to the kids, and more readily if both parents (presuming there are two and regular reproductive means are happening) carry the fancy/altered genes. I can’t think of an example of inherited mutations off the top of my head, but basically that’s why incest is scientifically not recommended, because if you have something wrong with your DNA, there’s more of a chance of the problem getting passed to your offspring.
Hope things are going ok with you (or start going better)—really sorry to hear about the 6-day workweeks and homesickness. =[
Hugs!
I shall prevail! *counterhugs!*
And thank you for your input. You pretty much cemented what James told me. ^_^ The validation is welcome. <3
Florida is an incredible odd place, from the little time I’ve spent in it. My ex girlfriend lived there for a long time, and she got used to it, but under very specific circumstances where she was able to spend time with people she knew and loved so I think she managed to enjoy living there because of them. Why are you there? What job are you doing there?
Don’t beat yourself up about NaNo – you’ll try August, and if not then, there’s always November, when at least the heat won’t be as bad and you might feel cozier for writing when staying inside during the rain.
As for your question… I would think, as a layperson, that someone who is genetically engineered would pass on their alternations to offspring. If their genes are altered, it makes sense that those genes would be able to go on to another generation. Unless, of course, the engineered genes are recessive and not as strong as the “normal” and non-engineered genes. That could be an interesting issue to grapple with on its own. I mean, sort of like my twisted theory about how redheads must ONLY breed with redheads so that the redhead gene won’t die out!!! Because redheads are pretty and shouldn’t disappear from the world :P. No, but seriously, what if by having a child with a non-engineered human, the engineered human knows that his/her engineered genes will disappear? Or, even more complexly, vice versa? What if “regular” humans are a dying breed whose genes are increasingly rare because they keep breeding with engineered humans?
(I’m excited about the political/sociological/moral/philosophical questions of your story here, clearly ^_^”)
I’m here because some of my family moved here, and it was kind of a last resort situation. Blah. I really need to get back to New England. Florida is just… horrible.
See, the story starts with humanity creating these ‘special’ people. Clones. And enhancing their genetic material (in much more fantastic ways than is possible or ethical) to make a race of people who age slower, have various skills and heightened abilities, and receive and carry out orders efficiently. These people were meant to live on when Earth is uninhabitable, remember what it was like to be sure it’s passed on. There are others who were created as a type of body guards for humanity. All in preparation for a voyage into space for colonization.
Earth dies a lot sooner than they expect. Nuclear war plunges Earth into a complete disaster and the evacuation starts. (Naturally, anyone who can’t afford it is left behind, but this story isn’t about them. Someday, I may tell it.) The clones, most batches still very young at the time, are tugged along anyway, for the sake of research (and also, they were expensive to make). As they grow, most of them have “defects” and are “decommissioned.” That can mean anything from euthanasia for the worst of them, and adoption for those who turned out more normal than was hoped.
They aren’t natural, though, so they aren’t readily accepted. They’re easily identified, since, while they look different, they all have light colored eyes with a dark etching in the right iris containing their serial number. So, the clones are given a space station to colonize to alleviate growing tensions.
The clones that have grown to adulthood try living in peace, but there’s always one, you know? One person who refuses to be programmed and made a sheep. One person who has to take things to an extreme. She is the villain, because she starts the war. (Think “Magneto.” Her views and opinions are totally valid, but she’s an extremist and coexistance just isn’t in the cards.)
My heroine, Kadri, is a “survivalist.” She’s a clone who lives by her own rules and doesn’t politicize herself. But as far as she’s concerned, everyone deserves the right to live, even unnatural abominations and bigots reacting out of fear.
ENTER CONFLICT!
TL;DR: Human/clone interbreeding is HORRIBLY frowned upon. And will be so fun to explore through side characters. >]
If both parents have been genetically mutated, then yes, the mutations would be passed down to the children. They, in fact, would receive different mutations from both parents, and even possibly have completely different mutations then what the parents would have.
Why would they receive different mutations? It wouldn’t pass the identical/similar traits down?