Hi guys,
I'm writing a fantasy story where sorcerers have created shape shifters (for example, a female character who can shift into an octopus-human hybrid shape for work needed to be done underwater). What I'm puzzling over is whether this shifter would have special RNA/DNA and how being a shifter would impact their genes. Ultimately my question (I'm still at the world-building stage) is whether shifters in this world must be created using human subjects or if they can be born from shifter parents. I know some will say, "It's a fantasy story with magic, do what you want" but at this point I don't have any needs wrt to the story and I always like to ground some aspects of my fantasy stories in science. So... what makes sense? Does a body's shape shifter abilities need to impact RNA, in order for the person to retain abilities over time? I have a limited understanding of RNA, but it's involved in cell replication, right? And if so, does that mean that it would make sense for the magic to have altered the subject's DNA? And if that's the case, would being a shifter be inheritable?
Thanks for any thoughts!
I'm writing a fantasy story where sorcerers have created shape shifters (for example, a female character who can shift into an octopus-human hybrid shape for work needed to be done underwater). What I'm puzzling over is whether this shifter would have special RNA/DNA and how being a shifter would impact their genes. Ultimately my question (I'm still at the world-building stage) is whether shifters in this world must be created using human subjects or if they can be born from shifter parents. I know some will say, "It's a fantasy story with magic, do what you want" but at this point I don't have any needs wrt to the story and I always like to ground some aspects of my fantasy stories in science. So... what makes sense? Does a body's shape shifter abilities need to impact RNA, in order for the person to retain abilities over time? I have a limited understanding of RNA, but it's involved in cell replication, right? And if so, does that mean that it would make sense for the magic to have altered the subject's DNA? And if that's the case, would being a shifter be inheritable?
Thanks for any thoughts!