Fanfic Helpdesk: Technical and Scientific Help for Writers

[SF_and_Coffee]

Does the hypothetical woman's hypothetical weapon have to be something not normally used as a weapon? Because a small pocketknife could be used that way, even being slipped into a shoe, depending on what type of shoe.

[Skydiver]

Hmmm. Well, I do know that genetic markers are used to determine ancestry groups, and I'm pretty sure that DNA can show possible shared ancestry between individuals, at least within certain parameters.

Gene therapy won't cause a mutation, but you can insert a mutated gene using it, to the best of my knowledge, anyway.

search on mitochondrial DNA

there are certain genes/traits that are passed from mother to daughter unchanged and you can use them to trace ancestry.

that's how they know that, at one point in earth's past, the planet was down to 40ish breeding females.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitochondrial_DNA
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/neanderthals/mtdna.html

[WraithRichard]

It'd depend on what you mean by 'mutation'. Gene therapy can cause problems if the gene is inserted in the wrong place on the genome. Also, if using a retrovirus, there is the chance that introducing the gene or just part of it could accidentally activate a 'dead' gene in the person's DNA, which can cause pretty much anything, including cancer.

Oh, and if the virus leaves bits of itself in the individual, that's not good either.

[Skydiver]

By the way, I'm having an unusual brain block. What's small, something a woman would carry with her in a pocket or purse, that could be used as a weapon and hidden in a shoe? This isn't a riddle, I'm stumped as to how a weapon could be smuggled. Oh, and not a key. If dropped a key would be too easily traced to someone or look too suspicious that it was stolen.

nail file?

and what kind of shoe? some shoes have more room, from boot to flip flop

a garrotte? (thin cable with rings on each end, used to strangle someone)

[WraithRichard]

nail file?

and what kind of shoe? some shoes have more room, from boot to flip flop

a garrotte? (thin cable with rings on each end, used to strangle someone)

A nail file sounds good. The shoe is like those they gave the wraith they turned human in The Misbegotten.

A garrote might work, but it's not something someone wanders around with casually (to my knowledge).

[SF_and_Coffee]

To clarify: By "mutation" I meant an actual change in an existing gene itself.

[Choo1701]

Does the hypothetical woman's hypothetical weapon have to be something not normally used as a weapon? Because a small pocketknife could be used that way, even being slipped into a shoe, depending on what type of shoe.

Couldn't you just (hypothetical) shoot them?

EDIT: Just thinking about this, and you could do "wild" with the weapon idea.

Firefly has 'goodnight kiss' lipstick (knocks the 'recipient' out so you can steal their money, valuables or ship!) which you could easily turn deadly.

Just depends on what sort of 'hypothetical' weapon you want...

[Feast of the Muse]

A nail file sounds good. The shoe is like those they gave the wraith they turned human in The Misbegotten.

A garrote might work, but it's not something someone wanders around with casually (to my knowledge).

Maybe not something you wander with, but easily procured. You can use almost any thin wire, provided it's strong enough. Electical wiring should work. Rip it out of the wall and wind it up in your shoe. For that matter, yo-yo string could do.

[mathpiglet]

A nail file sounds good. The shoe is like those they gave the wraith they turned human in The Misbegotten.

A garrote might work, but it's not something someone wanders around with casually (to my knowledge).

If one wears an underwire bra, the garrote could easily be hidden there.

[Whytewytch]

Any thin blade could be hidden in a shoe; also as a hair piece. As for a garrotte, I saw an ep of a show once where the girl had a garrotte made of wire & hidden in the back of her bra.

[Whytewytch]

search on mitochondrial DNA

there are certain genes/traits that are passed from mother to daughter unchanged and you can use them to trace ancestry.

that's how they know that, at one point in earth's past, the planet was down to 40ish breeding females.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitochondrial_DNA
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/neanderthals/mtdna.html

Cool info--so I could theoretically trace a group of men and women back to one common female ancestor? I'll have to look up the websites & hope they're in plain speech. Thanks for the links!

That's a frightening statistic! And yet, it's kinda cool to think that because of that, most of us are related, no matter how diluted that relation is.

[Whytewytch]

Did you ever read Dune? If not, google "Kwisatz Haderach" and look into their selective breeding program. You could draw some parallels.

You might find the link below to be a great starting point. In short, yes, you can trace a group's DNA to common ancestors.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitochondrial_Eve

ETA: As for the gene therapy, look into rDNA. If I can find the paper I wrote on it I'll send it to you.

Thanks for the links! I read Dune, but it was literally 20 years or more ago. You wrote a paper on gene therapy? Holy cow! Color me impressed...

[WraithRichard]

Cool info--so I could theoretically trace a group of men and women back to one common female ancestor? I'll have to look up the websites & hope they're in plain speech. Thanks for the links!

If they have one and if you have a big enough group. You could also find out that they have very different ancestors.

[Whytewytch]

if they have one and if you have a big enough group. You could also find out that they have very different ancestors.

Perfect!

[Skydiver]

Cool info--so I could theoretically trace a group of men and women back to one common female ancestor? I'll have to look up the websites & hope they're in plain speech. Thanks for the links!

That's a frightening statistic! And yet, it's kinda cool to think that because of that, most of us are related, no matter how diluted that relation is.

they hve traced it back

that's one way they can kinda figure which races migrated where

don't quote me on this, but I think in France or Spain, they traced some people back and could tell which present day people could trace their lineage back to cromagnon/neanderthal man (no, they're not the same group, but some people are literally descended from people that old)

they've been able to study the dna in mummies in egypt and use it to figure out who's who