Let’s talk about witch genetics (2.0) and the benefits of Outcrossing
Okay. Last season we began our debate about how witch traits were passed down the matrilines (witch genetics 1.0). In Season 2, we learn a bit more about the matrilines and the customs the American military relies on for “replenishing the troops”. We now have a significant amount of information (new and old) that allows us to ponder how witch traits are passed from mother to offspring via the matriline and outline why the Imperative is a prejudiced movement. Let’s recap before we get into the details.
This theory was co-written and developed by: @smallfrost, @queerscifinerd, @jaedyxe, @theycallmestephlee, and @here4rizzles
This one is a long one, folks. Strap in and more below the cut.
First. What makes a witch a witch? As of now, we know that witches are witches because they have a unique vocal apparatus and a different ear structure. While there may also be other physiological differences that have not yet been revealed, this nonetheless strongly implies that genetics contribute to who possesses the ability to produce work (magic); because these body structures need a different blueprint compared to civilians or non-witches.
Izadora and co. completing the autopsy on the Bellweathers after the Camarilla attack
Second. We know that these traits are inherited from the mother, not the father, making this a matriline. Remember, Alder specifically states that male witches are incapable of passing witch traits to their offspring in episode 1 of season 2.
Alder educates VP Silver, and the nerds of the MFS fandom
Third. The Imperative and the Imperatrix are tasked with strengthening the bloodline, ensuring the stability of witch families, and the availability of sufficient numbers of witches to fill out the military’s ranks (at least in the USA ).
Mhmmmm ain't this some heteronormative bullshit
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Now the science!! Biology 101: the central dogma of life. DNA (our blueprint coded as ‘genes’) is required to make RNA (a blueprint copy), which is needed to generate proteins (the functional structures of the cell). Proteins are made up of amino acids, whose unique combination creates different machines which work together. Think of amino acids as lego blocks and proteins being the different combinations you can make. Our cells and bodies are therefore nothing more than a unique combination of proteins (lego structures) built together to produce a functioning unit. If you have different blueprints, you’ll get different legos which when combined, create machines that function differently.
Genetics 101: Humans are diploid organisms, meaning, we have two copies (termed pairs) of our blueprint packed into structures called chromosomes. We have 23 pairs of chromosomes, coding over 20,000 genes (lego structures), with one pair being the “sex” chromosomes. We are formed by two haploid cells (gametes: egg from the mother, sperm from the father). Importantly, all of the cellular components (organelles) and nutrients come from the egg while sperm only contain genetic information. For more background as to why, here is a great explanation on the process of meiosis. Disclaimer: For the remainder of this post we are using “female” and “male” in reference to biological sex only, and in no way are we implying that gender contributes to this process.
Blueprint → Copy → Legos!!!
So where does the blueprint for “witch” reside in order for it to be matrilineal (passed only on the mother’s side)?
There are two options to consider.
Option 1: The witch blueprint is located on the X chromosome (a.k.a. the ‘female’ chromosome), and is a recessive trait (requires both copies of the gene from each of the chromosomes in the particular pair to be expressed). This would be termed “X-linked” and would mean that female witches (XX) would need to mate with male witches (XY) to get witch daughters, because they would need BOTH X chromosomes to come from witches. This obviously isn’t the case because Raelle’s father, Edwin, is a civilian, yet Raelle is a witch (and a powerful one at that). This also would mean that male witches, while they wouldn’t be able to produce a witch if they bred with a civilian, could produce what are called carriers. Their daughters would not be witches but would still “carry” the blueprints for “witch” and therefore could reproduce with a male witch and have witch children. This also doesn’t seem to be the case as Alder states that male witches cannot further the bloodline. It should be noted that recessive traits on the X-chromosome express in male offspring if they have the gene(s) in question, since they only have one copy of the X chromosome, and no other dominant allele from the Y chromosome would interfere with the expression of the recessive trait on the X chromosome.
Tables showing the potential offspring of some different witch/civilian combinations if we assume Option 1 (the witch genes are recessive genes on the X-Chromosome). Capital X signifies the X-chromosomes of civilians, lower case x signifies the X-chromosomes of witches. For offspring to be a witch they must have either the xx or xy genotype. A carrier would be Xx or xX.
Overall, X-linkage is unlikely because Edwin is a civilian but Raelle is obviously a witch.
Consequently, based on the contextual information from the show, we are leaning more towards Option 2.
Option 2: The Witch blueprint is located on mitochondrial DNA. Mitochondria are cellular organelles that are responsible for converting energy, providing our bodies with energy in a usable form. Simply put, these little guys turn our food into fuel to power our bodies. They originated from symbiotic bacteria and have their own blueprints (mitochondrial genome). In short: humans co-evolved to rely on these tiny workaholics. The mitochondrial blueprint is different from the rest of our blueprint which resides in the nucleus (nuclear genome). Most importantly, all of our mitochondria originate from our mothers since all the cellular components come from the ‘female’ gamete after meiosis. For more background as to why, here are some great explanations on the process (video 1 & video 2). Thus, since males do not pass mitochondria to their children, if the blueprint for “witch” is mitochondrial, that would indicate that only the mother can pass these traits on. Voila: matriline! To quote smallfrost from witch genetics 1.0, “This would be pretty cool, considering that the mitochondria represent the “powerhouse” of the cell - so nifty source for witches’ “power” in a literal way.”
Therefore, it is likely that the blueprint for “witch” is mitochondrial, providing a clear path towards maternal inheritance.
But, it isn’t that simple! There can’t just be one gene and POOF you’re a witch. There needs to be a lot of interconnected things happening to influence the physical structure and function of a witch’s body to the extent seen on the show. No one gene can change the vocal apparatus AND the ear structure. Genes don’t work like that. Further – the mitochondrial blueprint is SMALL. It contains only a handful of genes that are for mitochondrial function (metabolism) and that help decode the “legos” from RNA (tell the cell what amino acids to use to build proteins). How can these influence the overall biological structure of a witch? This is where it gets super fascinating, (though, a bit complicated). After some investigating, we believe there are a few key ways that mitochondria may influence how cells function and therefore how they may impact development (The first two recently reviewed here).
1) Epigenetics. Epigenetics is how the structure, or ‘landscape’, of our DNA blueprint in the cell’s nucleus influences how we make the lego structures (gene expression). If we change the landscape, we may not be able to make the blueprint copy (RNA) to produce the structures (proteins). Think of our chromosomes as newspaper. You can't read the text when it is crumpled up; it is more inaccessible than text (i.e. genes) on a flattened page and therefore turned “off”. Epigenetics would be changing the landscape to make the text on the inside of a crumpled newspaper more accessible so genes residing there could be turned “on”. The energy and byproducts produced by mitochondria can alter the landscape of our DNA, leading to an increase or decrease in the copies of genes being made. Could it be that witches’ mitochondrial genes function more efficiently? This would increase the output of mitochondria potentially altering the landscape of the nucleus more than civilians to access genes hidden in the 'crumpled newspaper' needed for developing the vocal apparatus and ears or witches?
The output from mitochondria can alter the genetic landscape in the nucleus. This could allow for genes that are “off” (crumpled ball of newspaper) in civilians to be turned “on” (flattened page of text) in witches. (image source).
2) Alternative splicing. When we make copies of our blueprint as RNA, it still needs to go through a series of changes before that copy can be used to make protein. One of these changes is splicing. Most of our blueprint is excess code and much of it needs to be “cut out” in order to have a rendered set of instructions to produce proteins. This is called “splicing” – removing the unnecessary code to properly render the blueprint to be used to create the lego structures. For many genes, the same unrendered blueprint can be rendered/spliced in many different ways, called “alternative splicing”. This allows for one gene to code different versions of the same protein that might function differently even though they are coming from the same blueprint. Think of this as the base model of a car versus the sport version. Same basic blueprint, but some versions have slightly different features that make the machine function slightly differently. If altered mitochondrial function influences alternative splicing/rendering, it could suggest that witch traits are simply already coded in our genes but it is the small alterations in how our bodies render the information that are influencing the final function.
(image source)
3) Different Amino Acids (legos). Some of the genes coded into the mitochondrial genome are known as transfer RNA (or tRNA). tRNA is the translator who knows what amino acids (lego blocks) match the instructions in the blueprint (RNA) and can fetch the appropriate piece for the appropriate location. Humans have 20 unique amino acids (lego blocks) whose different combinations are used to make our diverse range of proteins. Each amino acid has a different chemistry which influences how our proteins are structured and function, the same way that different lego blocks would end up making different structures. If mitochondrial DNA contains the code for tRNA, could witches have a different cypher, and therefore use different combination of amino acids/legos to match the blueprint instructions? Alternatively, do they have an entirely different type of amino acid that replaces one of the 20 we know? This could greatly influence the function of the final protein products, thereby potentially impacting the way our bodies form and function. However, the chances of witches having one or more different amino acids is highly unlikely as all eukaryotic life as we know it (nucleus-containing organisms) have the same 20 legos (bacteria and archaea do as well, but some use an additional 1-2 amino acids). This is most likely because all organisms on earth evolved from the same common ancestor. Therefore, the only ways witches could have different amino acids would be either an incredibly rare mutation or they evolved from a different common, extraterrestrial ancestor. The former has an extremely low probability of happening based on our current knowledge of evolution yet we cannot exclude the latter possibility of a different, other-worldly common ancestor, which could support the "witches as aliens" theory.
If witch mitochondrial DNA codes for different tRNA cyphers than civilians, this could influence protein synthesis. (image source)
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All in all, no matter how the mitochondria may be influencing the expression of different traits, one thing is clear. Everyone could theoretically have the blueprint for “witch” – they just don’t have the power supply needed to turn it on (the mitochondria). If this is the case, then there is no reason why female witches need to reproduce with male witches and keep a “pure” blood line. It is very possible that civilian men have the blueprint and just need the metaphorical (and literal, in this case) mitochondrial ‘power supply’. By limiting the genetic diversity to a small pool of men who have “desirable traits'' that can’t actually influence whether or not a witch may be more or less powerful, witches (in America at least) are unintentionally narrowing their genetic diversity and probably, as a consequence, limit their diversity of work (explained more below). Further, a breeding program like the Imperative is going to sooner or later select against desirable traits and in worst case scenarios even select for undesirable traits (e.g. like hemophilia in European royal families).
It probably hasn’t happened with the matrilines in the army yet because matrilines used to be abundant (showcased below with Tally’s family tree), but if they continue doing this, it could happen. The first signs could already be there: The Imperatrix mentioned that fewer witches are being born. This could be because of their excessive use of work, as Adil has pointed out in season 1 episode 7, but it could also be because of the breeding program itself, inadvertently selecting against fertility.
Tally’s family tree shows that matrilines used to be very abundant.
The point though is, that the Imperative is a eugenics approach that is baseless. That is, the selective breeding of “desirable” traits that is not based on genetics, but rather on prejudiced preconceived notions of “witch is desirable, civilian is not”.
And the Imperative’s prejudices go even further than that: The Imperatrix even has something against Abigail handfasting with Adil, someone who is canonically described as a powerful witch and probably possesses many traits that a program like the Imperative would call desirable. The Tarim are considered an old and powerful tribe, focused on tradition. If power and tradition were indeed the Imperatrix’s interests, she would have been happy to match them. But that is not the case, and further demonstrates that the Imperative’s breeding program is purely based on prejudice.
Another thing is, you WANT to bring more variability into the genetic pool. It helps select against potentially detrimental traits and allows new, potentially optimized codes to form. Within the MFS universe we have two great examples of this: Raelle Collar and Penelope Silver. Both have civilian fathers. Both are incredibly strong witches. If outcrossing was so bad, how do you explain their powers? Further, Alder tells Raelle in 2x03 that new work is exceedingly rare, yet both Raelle and Penelope, our outcrosses, have created new work (Raelle and the Witchbomb and Penelope and the seed that melts glass). YES, the military matrilines are powerful; the stories we heard about Jem Bellweather and what we’ve seen Abigail and Petra do prove that. But why limit witches to just certain sets of work, no matter how powerful, and close yourself off to new work?
Just take a crash course from Scylla, she seems good at "cooking up" small bits of new work.
YES, Raelle is able to do what she does because of her connection with the mycelium, but as Izadora said in 2x02, Raelle is the only person who interacted with the mycelium and came out relatively unscathed. It is entirely possible that the mycelium CHOSE Raelle because of certain traits she has which would be due to her specific genetics.
So, in summary:
The matrilineal code is likely stored in the mitochondria, passed mother to daughter.
The Imperative is misinformed (or informed and bigoted).
It is highly likely that the outcrossing of witches with civilians will lead to the production of new work and potentially even an increase in witch strength overall.
There should be no shame in having a civilian father and maybe moving forward, the observed strengths of our outcrosses will help guide witches away from handfasting and the Imperative and towards supporting love in any form.
