Morphing and inherited diseases

[dragonarmy]

Thinking about book #50 and the DNA-versus-injuries issue . . . not quite sure I fully understand it.

I have Crohn's, which is an autoimmune disease. And it SUCKS. It's not 100% certain what causes the disease, but it has a strong genetic component. From what scientists can tell, it's inherited, but most likely has an external trigger. So, you inherit the gene, which is later activated by some kind of infectious agent.

So if an Animorph had a disease like Crohn's, morphing would eliminate the active disease, since the infectious trigger isn't part of the DNA. Right?

[estrid]

that is a tricky issue. the gene is what causes the problem, and the gene is passed on (hence the inherited part) so morphing wouldn't cure that, you would still have the gene. while in morph you may be free of the trigger, but after demorphing, if that gene is still there, then it will probably still be triggered to react

[Stephquiem]

Morphing doesn't cure something you're born with. I think that was the issue with most of the Auxillary Animorphs in #50. 

[morfowt]

the point she's making though, is that you're born with the gene, but you're not born with the disability. the disability is caused by the gene and controlled by something external. removing 1 would remove the disability.

that is a tricky issue. the gene is what causes the problem, and the gene is passed on (hence the inherited part) so morphing wouldn't cure that, you would still have the gene. while in morph you may be free of the trigger, but after demorphing, if that gene is still there, then it will probably still be triggered to react

unless the trigger isn't something you're faced with constantly. Like if your body temperature rises to a certain level (probably an unlikely trigger, but just an example) by a fever, the gene kicks in and causes the disability. But after you morph and cured of it, you're no longer at the temperature needed for the gene to react, so in a way, you are cured of it... at least till your next fever...

[Ferahgo]

I think part of what's important in morphing is not only the genetic component, but how you imagine yourself to be as well. If you're injured and you demorph, the injury goes away in part because the injury isn't part of your default self-image. This property of morphing that's separate from mere DNA (which is never really explained in the series, but must exist) is responsible for things like maintaining a haircut, morphing clothing, and other more subtle things. Another that comes to mind is how the Animorphs are able to morph into animals that need to maintain a complex broth of specific bacteria in their guts, such as cows, in order to stay healthy. I presume that since the bacteria are such an integral part of what makes a cow a cow, they are somehow conjured out of Zero Space along with the rest of the cow when morphing.

For a disease like Crohn's where the genetic component isn't enough on its own, I think it would depend at least partially on how you subconsciously imagine yourself to be. If the disease is something you've had since birth, then it's likely to be permanently ingrained into your self-image. Therefore I'd wager that it is not something you could get rid of by morphing.

[morfowt]

except rachel tried to imagine herself without a recent haircut she didn't like but it failed... I think the haircut would've been recent enough that the self-image didn't include the haircut... I don't even include 3-week-ago haircuts into my self-image without even trying...

[Ferahgo]

This particular aspect of morphing may as well be considered something of a KASU, because it's not consistent throughout the series.

[Phoenix004]

An interesting question. Obviously the disease itself wouldn't go away if it's genetic, but it's hard to tell if it would "deactivated" if it's a condition with an external trigger. My best guess would be that it wouldn't be deactivated, since the Andalite in book 40 was still equally crippled by his genetic disease everytime he demorphed.

[morfowt]

I believe you mean 40, since there was no crippled andalite in 50...

[Phoenix004]

Yeah sorry I was thinking 50 because that's the book dragonarmy mentioned.

[AniDragon]

I've always imagined Gafinilan's disease as something like cancer, which is partially genetic, and partially outside trigger, depending on the type. (For example, something like breast cancer is mostly genetic, while something like lung cancer is mostly accumulated outside trigger)

[Phoenix004]

Which brings up another interesting thought: using the morphing technology to reverse the harmful effects of smoking. The tobacco industry will be thrilled!

[alaois]

I think there's 2 parts of morphing technology at work which makes for the ambiguity and inconsistency--there's the dna aspect, which makes someone mutate genetically into a different creature, but there's also the mass transfer to z-space.  it's the mass transfer to z-space that makes skintight clothing possible, it's stored away in z-space with your other mass.  it's the status of that mass in z-space that keeps you with the same haircut and at the right age, since that's not part of dna, it's the actual mass waiting in z-space that is at the right age and has a specific amount of hair on its head.  some diseases, even if they're not directly carried in dna, might be transfered with your mass like a haircut or a morphing outfit.  the only way to see if this or that person could  be cured by morphing would be to test it out.  probably 2 people with the same disease might experience different results.