Once, people with blue skin populated a small town in Kentucky. The mutation wasn’t harmful and the people lived long lives. Two genomic researchers from the Sloan-supported New York Genome Center–Hemali Phatnani and Joseph Pickrell–discuss this and other mutations with neuroscientist Heather Berlin and journalist Faith Salie on SCIENCE GOES TO THE MOVIES. Given the billion strands of DNA that make up each of us, it is almost certain that we will develop a genetic mutation during our lifetime. A mutation is an alteration in the chemical properties of DNA, which can be triggered by environmental circumstances such as radiation, or inherited. In the newest X-MEN movie, XMEN: APOCALYPSE, the blue-skinned progenitor to the entire X-MEN population returns. Can genetic mutations turn people into superheroes?

The entire episode of SCIENCE GOES TO THE MOVIES is available to stream below:

SCIENCE GOES TO THE MOVIES is broadcast on CUNY TV, and written and produced by Lisa Beth Kovetz. This is the ninth episode of Season 2, which premiered May 17. Science & Film has previously covered episodes on spooky action and zombies. Support for the series is provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.