Curt Adams wrote,
>There are billions of mice in the world, and each one carries
>a few dozen point mutations from the previous generation. So
>any 1-base mutation is happening several times a year. Since
>this is a loss of function, dozens of mutations (loss of the start
>codon, any splicing goof, most additional stop codons, a couple
>of significant base changes, and deactivation of the promoter)
>would produce the phenotype.
Okay, got it. (Thank you for this free tutorial!) Now, if mice suddenly mutated (or got genetically engineered) so that they could live 200 years and grow as big as elephants, should we expect them to do so in large numbers, in the wild? Or would something in their natural environment interact with the Uber-Mice in such a way as to reduce rather than increase their numbers? --J. R.