Science fiction has done a great job at making the concept of genetic mutation so frightening that even thinking of it happening in real life following a nuclear disaster might send chills down one’s spine.
Well, genetic mutations do happen in real life without it being an apocalyptic Fallout scenario. The results might vary, but it can just be an aesthetic change making you look unique and cool.
Animals are no different in that regard. Folks all over the internet are sharing the one-of-a-kind genetic mutations their pets were born with, and Bored Panda has gathered them all into this neat little list, so enjoy!
So, a genetic mutation is when DNA—that thing that determines who we are as organisms and how we go about being organisms—is replicated and something wrong happens. An error.
In simple terms, DNA is made up of parts that, when put together, determine one thing or another about our bodies. However, sometimes, the parts can get mixed up, additional parts might be added, or subtracted, this leading to mutations.
There are a handful of types of genetic mutations in animals. Without getting super nerdy, the DNA code (or parts thereof) can get mixed up in multiple ways: it can get deleted or inserted, duplicated, inverted, frame-shifted, among other ways. These can affect individual cells or entire chromosomes depending on the circumstances, thus leading to varying degrees of mutation.
He’s two months old and he’s barely the size of one of her pet rats. He is so small but so mighty. His name is Roger, and he’s a cutie.
So, how do animals get their mutations in the first place?
These can happen throughout the life of an animal or can be inherited from a parent. If a cell is affected by a mutation during life, it’s likely that derivative cells from it will also carry the mutation. In this case, it often only affects a small amount of cells, but inherited mutations, however, will affect all of the offspring cells.
He is a Suffolk Chocolate cat and has a very unique personality to match his rare brown coat. He is my best friend.
Mutations are spontaneous. They happen during the process of replicating DNA. And since the body goes through quite a bit of these throughout the day, errors are bound to happen.
Now, the body does have mechanisms to deal with these errors. The biological mechanism that creates DNA also checks it for errors and if something is wrong, it attempts to fix it. I say attempts because it’s not always successful.
If you’re wondering how the body does repairs, there are essentially 3 ways to go about it: [1] direct reversal, whereby enzymes directly undo the damage done by the DNA-creation chemical reaction; [2] excision repair, whereby the enzymes quite literally remove the wrong part to be replaced by the right one; and [3] double-stranded break repair, which is when a whole chromosome breaks into two, essentially, and the body fixed that.
How much something will be affected by a mutation depends on the size and location.
The effects of germ line mutations, for instance, can vary from neutral to detrimental to beneficial.
If the effect is neutral, this means that the mutation affected the DNA that has no function or the part that doesn’t affect amino acid sequences.
In serious cases, mutations can limit or completely destroy an animal’s ability to survive or reproduce. Marfan syndrome, for example, can affect cattle, specifically their heart and blood vessels, the skeleton and muscle tissue, and even cause ocular diseases.
Other genetically-caused illnesses in animals include epilepsy, polydactyly (extra fingers or toes), cancer, congenital heart anomalies, eosinophilic skin disease, polycystic kidney disease, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, progressive retinal atrophy, vitiligo, among others.
But there are also mutations that benefit the body. Insects can develop an immunity to pesticides that cover certain crops. Not really good for humans, but, hey, the animal found a way to survive, so it benefits it.
Another example is nylon-eating bacteria. Now, it might not necessarily benefit the bacteria itself, but it does solve the problem of degrading nylon-based waste.
If you’ve enjoyed this listicle of cute, inspiring and interesting genetic animal mutations, there’s more where that came from on Bored Panda.
But if you can’t be bothered with that, why not leave a comment and upvote before you go on your next online adventure?
This is Wilbur. He’s my soulmate! He is albino and the black crust is due to an autoimmune disease. He’s very happy and healthy.
This is where it all began, well one of his new beginnings anyway. As a tiny kitten (prior to this pic) someone witnessed someone else throwing something into a lake in a plastic bag and heard meowing. The person saved Roo and brought him to animal control where Florida Humane Society took him to treat him and find him a home.
Apparently, someone didn’t think he deserved to live because he was different. He doesn’t use his right front leg to put weight on so he is more or less a tripod cat when he walks and he stands in the position you see here. We think there is less bone in that right leg than the left leg since it never touches the ground. He was otherwise healthy and required no special treatment as cats born with this adapt very well to getting around having known life no other way. He was adopted out not long after this photo was taken.
This was posted by a Northern Colorado TNR organization, shared with them by a trapper in Denver where this cutie was apprehended. They said that brown is a rare genetic mutation of the gene for black fur, and that they trapped another brown cat in the area. He’s already spoken for, so wish him a happy life off the streets!
My name is Polly. I talk with my people, like cuddles, and I nibble on noses, ears, and hair because some monster left me in a dumpster before I was properly weaned. I have a good life and a good sister-friend Crackers now though.
Note: this post originally had 120 images. It’s been shortened to the top 50 images based on user votes.
