Michael Syndrome Theory

[AcidSquid]

Me and my mom were watching "Allies"

Spoiler:

When the wraith turns into a human, It changes extremely fast,

Now she said, that impossible, that was way too fast, it couldn't have changed like that, it would have had to have mutated in the womb when it was developing,

Spoiler:

now that got me thinking, Maybe the wraith can mutate so fast because of their incredible regeneration powers, their body would react to the sudden change of DNA, since the wraith can heal very fast maybe their body is always always working out the inconsistencies in the wraith body.

Thoughts?

[Harekin]

Well no if the retrovirus worked the way it is said it did then the next time the genes were expressed the transformation would occur.

[Jarnin]

Well no if the retrovirus worked the way it is said it did then the next time the genes were expressed the transformation would occur.

In other words, the change shouldn't happen until the infected cells divide. Cells in your body divide at different rates; for example the cells in your pancreas divide about once every 24 hours, so every day you wake up with a new pancreas. Your red blood cells on the other hand need about 120 days to reproduce.

So for a Wraith to turn 100% into a human, it would take months or possibly years. Of course that wouldn't be too fun to watch on an action-adventure show like Stargate, so they speed things up.

[2ndgenerationalteran]

all said is true but i would like to say your mother is extremely cool to watch stargate with you

[talyn2k5]

In other words, the change shouldn't happen until the infected cells divide. Cells in your body divide at different rates; for example the cells in your pancreas divide about once every 24 hours, so every day you wake up with a new pancreas. Your red blood cells on the other hand need about 120 days to reproduce.

So for a Wraith to turn 100% into a human, it would take months or possibly years. Of course that wouldn't be too fun to watch on an action-adventure show like Stargate, so they speed things up.

Maybe the Wraith cells divide in alot smaller intervals. A bit far fetched (all cells dividing in a matter of minutes of them injecting the retrovirus) but its all I can think of.
Also is it possible that the retrovirus itself is somehow programmed to trigger cell division throughout the body upon entry in order for the transformation to be immediate.

[Puddle-Jumper]

all said is true but i would like to say your mother is extremely cool to watch stargate with you

I know my mom is all like go outside, dont watch stargate, lose 50 pounds, stop knawing on my arm etc

(Only kidding I am actually slim and healthy but my mom does hate stargate)

[Jimbo-DR]

How's this for cool:

My mom discovered Stargate and got me completely hooked on it.

[nickak2003]

red blood cells along with most cells, do not divide, they are produced or stop dividing after maturity.

This is scifi. You cant inject an elephant retrovirus into a cat and expect it to become an elephant, there are about 100,001 issues. On SGA and in scifi, the opposite is true.

[2ndgenerationalteran]

and all the bugs (well just about) that bite you has either a venom or saliva that is a retrovirus that turns you into one of them

[Ancient_Chemist]

There are numerous thread that shot down SGA retrovirus used on michael, a number of biologists and biochemists on the forum seem to agree that the retrovirus premise was used incorrectly. What ya goinna do... its Scifi.


When you assulted by some animal or insect, the saliva, venom, etc is not a retrovirus. Hardly! Human silva for example contain a number of enzymes that breakdown simple carbohydrates and sucrose thus starting the digestion process when you eat. Another good example is rattle snake venom (one of the worst types) it contains a number of enzymes that cause immediate tissue narcosis (death) breaking down the cells so the snake can eat it prey.

As for retroviruses ... HIV is probably the best example. It is basically a strand of mRNA and coenzymes that in cased in cell which then docks with the leukocytes. The mRNA is then read in reverse producing a strand of DNA that is spliced into the host's cells DNA. The end result is the produce of more HIV. The influenze virus also works the same way. mRNA is the single strand of bases produced form the transcription of the DNA. Normally mRNA is then translated to the proteins which give us our traits.