Cryptic Evolution

An educational fantasy story about cryptic genetic variation and Victorian-era gothic magic.

Introduction

Science Fictioned is a series of science fiction and fantasy stories based on scientific research papers. Each article starts by explaining the science behind the paper in normal-person terms, followed by a short science fiction or fantasy story based on the science.

The content in this article is based on the following paper:

Gibson, G., & Dworkin, I. (2004). Uncovering cryptic genetic variation. Nature Reviews Genetics, 5(9), 681–690.

The Science

We normally think of evolution as a slow-moving force. Operating on a multi-generational timescale, evolution creates changes that can often only be detected when comparing organisms across dozens or even hundreds of generations.

Broadly speaking, there are two “types” of changes discuss when we are talking about evolution. The first is genotype (gee-no-type), that is the genetic makeup of an organism. If you were to take all of the DNA in one of your cells and write it down in a very, very long list, this would be your genotype.

The other “type” we discuss in evolution is phenotype (fee-no-type). Your phenotype…