How do you make a somatic mutation spread across all cells?

Toxic Spiders and Experiments Gone Wrong:

Let's Talk About Comic Book Mutations

Numerous superheroes get their powers after something mutates their cells.
Perhaps it's a gamma ray, and results in a morphological change every time the hero is stressed; or maybe an irradiated spider, that gives the hero enhanced speed and agility.
Let's talk about why that shouldn't work.

In real life, we observe two types of mutations:

Germline / Germinal / Heritable These are passed on from parents to offspring. They occur when a gamete (sperm or egg) mutates, and result in the mutation being spread through the entire body of the offspring.

Somatic These are not passed on from parents to offspring. They occur when environmental factors (radiation, DNA copying errors) are present, and only effect areas of tissue created when the mutated cell replicates.

The problem with explaining the powers of superheroes with mutations, aside from the improbability of mutations that cause the powers described in comics, is that the mutations described in comics seem to be a combination of both germline and somatic mutations.

Comic books describe environmental factors, that, in real life, would cause somatic mutations. They would

1. Only mutate clumps of cells nearby (think tumor instead of whole body)
2. Only mutate the same types of cells (a toxic spider that bites the skin won't change the bones)
3. Not be passed on to offspring

But yet these mutations effect the entire body, and can be passed on to offspring: they are also heritable.

Is there a way to justify a mutation from an environmental cause that affects all cells, and can be passed to offspring?

EDIT: To clarify, I am not asking if mutations can give you superpowers - of course they can't. I'm asking if the genes required to do so can end up in the places the comics say they are - and if so, how.

posted about 8 years ago

Zxyrra‭

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