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00:14

Okay, so we're talking about mutations now with Dr. Ruth.

00:18

What happens when DNA gets mutated?

00:21

Like, we've all seen the movie X-Men and its sequels, and they're awesome.

00:27

Talk to us about mutations.

00:29

You can get a mutation in DNA and you can have nothing happen...for a couple different reasons.

00:35

Either the mutation happens in a part of the DNA that's not important...

00:38

...or the mutation doesn't actually change the protein sequence.

00:41

Give us an example. Like, what would be a mutation where nothing happened?

00:45

So let's say that you've got a gene here and a gene here and the mutation happens in between...

00:48

...it might...there's a lot of junk DNA in our cells that really don't do much...

00:51

...and so if you got the mutation there, it probably wouldn't have a detrimental -- or any -- sort of effect.

00:55

Would we even notice?

00:57

We wouldn't. Our cells encounter tons and tons of mutations every day that we repair most of...but don't always notice the others.

01:05

And is that something that genetically evolved because we evolved with mutations? Like...according to Magneto?

01:13

Or, like, how did all that...why do we exist in a world where there's purposely so much conflict in our bodies? Is that to keep us tough... and it's a Darwinian kind of thing?

01:24

So mutations -- that's another potential effect of mutations...

01:28

They're sort of the source of evolution. Without mutations, you wouldn't be able to be better adapted to some environments.

01:35

Some mutations are good.

01:37

The other thing is that, in order to have no mutations, you'd have to kind of shield yourself from the environment completely.

01:42

Because a lot of mutations actually come from exposure to the sun or to things in the environment... so it's kind of impossible to do.

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