When opportunity arises, some people will grasp their chance, many will not believe or trust their luck, whilst others will sit back and let the opportunity pass or have it taken away from them. Fate may deliver new possibilities but whether or not those possibilities prove fruitful will depend on the individual.
The same may be said for genetic performance.
Whenever genetic mutation occurs it amounts to genetic opportunity. It is the moment of genetic change when new possibilities become available.
Although there are various types of genetic mutation the common element to each is that in the reproductive process there isn’t perfect genetic replication. A genetic change occurs. It is the means by which life evolves.
In themselves, these creative moments are of little significance. It is only when these mutations establish themselves – achieving some sort of critical mass – that they can then be of influence. This is not always guaranteed. Genetic changes may or may not be passed on to subsequent generations.
Creation may be in the hands of the fates but a mutation’s future is certainly much more self-governing. The lifecycle of mutational genes can be short or it can be enduring; expansionist or dormant; a force of influence or an ineffectual presence.
Most mutations will experience an unremarkable, inconspicuous existence. As a passive force, they will fail to make any headway in their drive for status. They will be single (or limited) generation occurrences, dwarfed or swallowed up by their genetic rivals. These mutations will fade from being.
Other mutations will remain in existence but drift into a condition of stasis, unable to make any substantive developmental progress. Their appeal may be unrecognised; they may be off the reproductive radar or they may just be undiscovered. These mutations must wait for some sort of genetic promotion: that their genetic benefits are suddenly recognised and sought after; that they undergo further mutations to advance their desirable cause or that genetic weakness occurs elsewhere to elevate their own standing in the genetic hierarchy.
These stasis mutations are rather like the loose change that you have in your pocket; most of the time it just seems to disappear – it gets spent on day-to-day items, taken by the kids, lost down the side of the couch, put in places and then forgotten about. If, on the other hand, it is collected in the one place, if it is allowed to build up, it can amass into something quite sizeable, such that it can then be used for something special.
That is the aim of all genetic mutations, to achieve enhanced status so that they become a dominant strain. They want to become an abiding genetic influence.
However, enhanced status is never a final position. Mutational triumph is never complete. The genetic world is one of flux, with the balance of forces constantly changing. There’s always more work to be done – genetic gains to be made, genetic positions to be secured, genetic opportunities to be ceased upon.
Mutational genes have to secure their survival and their development. They have to elevate themselves from a condition of stasis to that of enhanced status. It’s not a straightforward process. There are so many forces at work; so many things that can go wrong.
Not only is mutational success and development determined and dependent on the inter-play of genes within a species but it is also significantly impacted by a species’ living arrangements and its reproductive behaviour.
- The smaller a community and the closeness of a community then the more likely a single mutation can be impactful.
- The greater the level of sexual opportunity and freedom in a community then the more likely a single mutation has of making an impression.
- The greater the reproductive output of each individual then the more likely a single mutation has of ensuring it is passed on to future generations.
- The gender bearing the mutation can also be important because in some species males have much greater reproductive opportunity than females.
If we consider the behaviour of lions: they live in small, well-bonded pride groups overseen by a dominant male. That male has sexual license to mate with all the pride’s females. He will do so until a more dominant male challenges and overthrows him. In these circumstances, a single mutation carried by a male can make significant advances.
Contrast this behaviour with that of another big cat – leopards. Leopards are solitary creatures, only having contact with each other for reproduction. Mutant genes will be a lot slower in securing any generational progression than in lions.
This would suggest that herd or pack animals may have a genetic advantage in being better able to promote mutational opportunities. It might also, in part, explain why human development has progressed so much – we are, after all, one of the most successful of communal animals.
And yet, looking to the future, in relation to the human condition our potential for further significant genetic change, as determined by mutation, is now much more limited. This is because our living behaviours have changed: we live in much larger groups, we are increasingly distanced from one another within our communities, our sexual proclivity has been restrained by societal development and, with increased survival rates, our reproductive output has declined.
Not only that. There is also an argument that the more complex we become as a species the less likely we are to be able to identify genetic mutational benefits. New mutational developments will struggle to make an impression. Instead, mutations get lost in our complexity – a needle in a haystack. Their failure to stand out and show their significance means they will, in all probability, be lost to us.
In fact, this might actually be an area for future genetic development – the identification and harnessing of new genetic mutations within our species in order to use them for engineering an improved humanity. It would certainly enable us to have more control and direction over our development. It might also be necessary given, as described, our declining ability to naturally take advantage of new mutational opportunities within the human species.
Perhaps we can’t and shouldn’t accept the leaving of mutational enhancement to the natural inter-play of our genes. Perhaps it is something that we do need to get more involved in.
The way we choose as a species to live our lives will determine our evolutionary development. It will shape our future. It will determine the way our species changes – how mutational adaptation impacts our condition. The better a species is at identifying and nurturing beneficial mutations the more successful it will be.
Genetically Wrapped 