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Radiation increases mutation rates. Natural mutations occur through not vastly different mechanisms either. In case you think no positive mutations come out of
by zaarn 6y ago
Radiation increases mutation rates. Natural mutations occur through not vastly different mechanisms either.
In case you think no positive mutations come out of it; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutation_breeding https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutation_breeding
We literally blasted plants with radiation and then bred the ones that looked like they had some positive mutations.
Especially the list of notable results is interesting: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutation_breeding#Notable_mutagen_varieties https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutation_breeding#Notable_muta...
- Knufen 6y agoYou are definitely right, but I probably should have specified. Irradiating seeds is vastly different than irradiating already living specimen, and hardly transferable to insects I believe.
- zaarn 6y agoIrradiating the entire specimen is not so different if you also irradiate the part of them that produces the seed. You're just irradiating an earlier stage of reproduction, the result is unlikely to be different. Seeds have the advantage that they do not move and contain little water that could interfere with the radiation. The insect will produce it's own seed once irradiated, infertile or not.