Magical Genes and Wands

[Aleks]

No: HPFGUIDX 24159

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., Alfredo Ramírez <bonds0097 at y...> wrote:
>  Genes
> 
> We supposedly suffer mutations every ten generations. Magical 
ability is likely the result of some mutation that appeared a long 
time ago. As is the case with mutations, it would only appear in a 
small amount of people. In fact, it's quite likely that all magical 
people can be traced back to a small group of people. Perhaps a 
village or something like that. It doesn't make wizards inhuman; they 
simply possess a different gene. This is quite common; some people 
have a mutated gene in their fourth chromosome that causes 
Huntington's disease. I couldn't begin to imagine which gene would
> receive the mutation; perhaps one in the second chromosome. It 
would simply be a different sequence of letters in the gene's DNA.
> 
> Of course, if everyone comes from a limited stock of original 
wizards, then having wizards breed purely with wizards would end up 
causing a whole lot of genetic anomalies. Wizards have to breed with 
muggles. I can't really explain mudbloods (pardon the term) or squibs.
> 
> Another possibility is that there is a `magic gene'. It would be an 
inactive gene mostly but that in certain people would activate. If 
your parents had it as an active gene, you have a larger chance of it 
being active as well, though there's also a possibility that it won't 
be.
> 

I just wanted to add my two knuts to this topic. As a huge X-Men fan 
I am quite interested in the idea of genetic mutations, and altho' 
I'm not entirely sure if any of the theory has a basis in scientic 
reality I felt that there were some parallels here. Present in our 
DNA are a lot of genes which have no apparent purpose - the 
mutant 'science' suggests that this 'junk' DNA can change to 
incorporate active genes (such as the mutant 'X-Factor'), therefore, 
in the Potterverse those with wizarding ability have a similar gene 
which gives magical ability. Because this can be a spontaneous 
mutation as well as an inherited one it explains <insert-bad-word-
describing-those-from-non-magical-backgrounds>. Also, the idea of 
Squibs appears in X-Men too, in the form of Graydon Creed (son of two 
Alpha class mutants) who formed the Friends Of Humanity - an anti-
mutant organisation... at least Filch never took his bitterness to 
such an extreme.

Hoping this hasn't gone too far OT.

Aleks