quinta-feira, 10 de setembro de 2015

X-Men: Meet the Real Mutants

      In 1963, the comic book legends Stan Lee and Jack Kirby first created the X-Men and I guess they could have had no idea what they were get into...much more than just a comic book story...a whole new world that would be part of millions and millions fans' life and the start point to a discussion that would intrigue us forever - are mutants real? 
     Unfortunately, according to the text in our booklet, they are real, but not so glamorous as we see them in Hollywood movies. Maybe it will be possible in a future (no so long) due to some researches that have been conducted around the world.
      According to The Telegraph, there are some mutants among us and they are quite special because on the contrary of the text that we've studied lately, these people are not sick, they are healthy and their "powers" are beyond the common human limitations. And the best part of it, these super powers can also be used to benefit others. For example, in 2006, scientists at Cambridge University discovered a Pakistani street performer who was able to cut himself with knives without experiencing pain. Upon investigation, they found that he was one of a handful of local people who had a defect in a gene called SCN9A meaning that pain did not flow from the nerves to the brain. Researchers are currently studying whether this may provide the key to treating chronic pain conditions.

Post Question: 
- Do you like the X-Man comic books, movies or cartoon? Which one is you favorite mutant Why?
- If you could have a "super mutant power", which one would you like to have? Why?

Tip: To read the article published on The Tegraph and read about the other "real mutants", just click here. 
To read more about how genetic mutations associated with disease may be beneficial for certain sports, just click here. (This article is in Portuguese).