The Genetics of Heroes

[Seyg-El]

"Hero" abilities are the product of a four gene complex. More specifically two genes, each of which has two forms, or alleles. To be a "Hero", a person must have at least one of each of the dominant alleles. A non-Hero may either have two recessive "a" alleles, or two recessive "b" alleles.

* A - Hero gene 1 (dominant)
* a - non-Hero (recessive)
* B - Hero gene 2 (dominant)
* b - non-Hero (recessive)

These combinations will make a Hero:

* AABB
* AaBB
* AABb
* AaBb

These combinations will make a non-Hero:

* AAbb
* Aabb
* aaBB
* aaBb
* aabb

Two Hero parents can even have non-Hero children. These non-Heroes are produced by two Hero parents who have at least one recessive allele of the same gene:

AaBB x AaBB could produce:

* AABB (1/4 chance) = Hero
* AaBB (1/2 chance) = Hero
* aaBB ( 1/4 chance) = non-Hero
* AABb x AABb could produce

* AABB (1/4) = Hero
* AABb (1/2) = Hero
* AAbb (1/4) = non-Hero

However, the cross AABb x AaBB would produce all Hero offspring, since only one recessive allele of each gene could be inherited by any offspring:

* AABB (1/4) = Hero
* AABb (1/4) = Hero
* AaBB (1/4) = Hero
* AaBb (1/4) = Hero

The cross likely to produce the most non-Heroes from two Hero parents is, obviously, AaBb x AaBb, in which the offspring have a seven in sixteen chance of being a non-Hero.

Heroes born from two non-Heroes are produced if one parent has two "a" alleles and at least one "B" allele, while the other parent has two "b" alleles and at least one "A" allele. Because of this, they could produce Hero offspring:

AAbb x aaBB, for example, would produce all Hero offspring of the type AaBb.

Aabb x aaBb would produce Hero offspring in the proportion of one in four:

* AaBb = Hero
* Aabb = non-Hero
* aaBb = non-Hero
* aabb = non-Hero

Aabb x aaBB or AAbb x aabB would have a one in two chance of having Hero offspring.

[chrisxs5]

Now swap the word hero for freckles and you have an actual application for this information. Remember....TV show!

* A - Freckle gene 1 (dominant)
* a - non-Freckle (recessive)
* B - Freckle gene 2 (dominant)
* b - non-Freckle (recessive)

These combinations will make a Freckle:

* AABB
* AaBB
* AABb
* AaBb

These combinations will make a non-Freckle:

* AAbb
* Aabb
* aaBB
* aaBb
* aabb

Two Freckle parents can even have non-Freckle children. These non-Frecklees are produced by two Freckle parents who have at least one recessive allele of the same gene:

AaBB x AaBB could produce:

* AABB (1/4 chance) = Freckle
* AaBB (1/2 chance) = Freckle
* aaBB ( 1/4 chance) = non-Freckle
* AABb x AABb could produce

* AABB (1/4) = Freckle
* AABb (1/2) = Freckle
* AAbb (1/4) = non-Freckle

However, the cross AABb x AaBB would produce all Freckle offspring, since only one recessive allele of each gene could be inherited by any offspring:

* AABB (1/4) = Freckle
* AABb (1/4) = Freckle
* AaBB (1/4) = Freckle
* AaBb (1/4) = Freckle

The cross likely to produce the most non-Frecklees from two Freckle parents is, obviously, AaBb x AaBb, in which the offspring have a seven in sixteen chance of being a non-Freckle.

Frecklees born from two non-Frecklees are produced if one parent has two "a" alleles and at least one "B" allele, while the other parent has two "b" alleles and at least one "A" allele. Because of this, they could produce Freckle offspring:

AAbb x aaBB, for example, would produce all Freckle offspring of the type AaBb.

Aabb x aaBb would produce Freckle offspring in the proportion of one in four:

* AaBb = Freckle
* Aabb = non-Freckle
* aaBb = non-Freckle
* aabb = non-Freckle

Aabb x aaBB or AAbb x aabB would have a one in two chance of having Freckle offspring.

[DiscoDyslexic]

I always wanted to know why some people have freckles.

[angeloo]

LMAO

[STFanatic]

And *I* thought I had too much time on my hands :lol:

[RedPhoenix23]

Damn! Where was this thread when I was taking biology? LOL. We went over that whole gene thing too.

[christian_kryptonian]

You forgot to put in a recessive Hero gene.

[chrisxs5]

What? Theres no recessive gene! Back to the drawing board!

[STFanatic]

I had several pairs of recessive jeans, or I gained weight.:confused:


Oh...GENES!

Nevermind. :p

[chrisxs5]

Originally posted by STFanatic
I had several pairs of recessive jeans, or I gained weight.:confused:


Oh...GENES!

Nevermind. :p
:lol:

[Ranroc]

I have a question for all of you. Has Peter developed a new power? The dream ability plus time traveling and invisibility. Those are two separate abilities that were used at the same time. Reference season 1 when Peter passed out in the street and went back in time and had a conversation with Charles. Peter’s body was still in present time but his mind was in the past. He was invisible so his body was in the past too. The dream power + time traveling + invisibility= what? Peter body was in the present and past, he was invisible, and there was 2 Peters occupying the same space and time. Can anyone help me with this or am I in need of counseling for my Heroes addiction?????

[Xanderman]

Originally posted by Ranroc
I have a question for all of you. Has Peter developed a new power? The dream ability plus time traveling and invisibility. Those are two separate abilities that were used at the same time. Reference season 1 when Peter passed out in the street and went back in time and had a conversation with Charles. Peter’s body was still in present time but his mind was in the past. He was invisible so his body was in the past too. The dream power + time traveling + invisibility= what? Peter body was in the present and past, he was invisible, and there was 2 Peters occupying the same space and time. Can anyone help me with this or am I in need of counseling for my Heroes addiction????? Lol, it was unclear what happened there. Peter asked Charles about it but Charles gave him a classic "Matrix"-style runaround.:lol: He asked Charles if he was responsible but Charles told him it didn't really matter or something. It could have been entirely Charles' doing. If it was Peter, it was something completely new/different as it wasn't exactly consistent with what we know he can do (not in any obvious way anyway).

[The Ninth Doctor]

It seems to be Charle's ability of Dream-time manipulation, or that it was the circumstantial evidence is pointing towards at the moment.

[Mello Penelo]

Thank goodness. Someone understands the genetic principles behind Heroes. I've been getting tired of people not listening to my genetics argument.

[InLove_with_Chloe]

Have you seen this thread???

http://www.kryptonsite.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=80381

Here's what I wrote back then:


......So, to finish this off we should not forget that therms like 'dominant' and 'recessive' are quite old-fashioned genetic terms. They are not wrong, of course, but unfortunately things are much more complex. For instance we have to consider terms like expressivity and penetrance. We must not forget that a special power constitutes the PHENOTYPE of a hero, rather than his/her genotype. Of course the reason for the power will lie in his/her genes, we know that much already. However, it is genetically possible, yes even very likely that some poeple with the HH genotype will never manifest any powers at all. Reasons for that can be multifold. I personally think it would be laughable if the Hero phenotypes are monogenetic. I mean, look at our eye colour, or skin colour: how many genes do we need to encode that?!?

Also, don't forget the title of Papa Suresh's book: ACTIVATING evolution. There seems to be a way to induce/facilitate these changes in the DNA. To me, it looks like the hero power manifests itself at different stages in life, in different heroes, in fact indicating a rather complex nature.

Ultimately, we will only know who's a hero once they express their difference. Until then we can only speculate, which makes things more interesting, I guess.