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We Are All Mutants

Infographic Poster. It explains that all humans are made from DNA — the building blocks of life — with half inherited from each parent. It shows that building a human isn’t perfect: each person gains about 60 new DNA mutations, meaning “we are all mutants.” The infographic explains that de novo (new) mutations can arise during embryo development or when eggs and sperm are formed. Women are born with all their eggs, but men continually make new sperm from stem cells that copy DNA, allowing mutations to build up over time. It notes that older fathers contribute more to de novo mutations than older mothers. Most mutations don’t cause problems, but some can disrupt DNA and lead to health issues in children. Illustrated with factories, robotic production lines, and DNA “building blocks.”

Project Information

'We Are All Mutants' is a public engagement project led by Professor Anne Goriely and developed and delivered by Dale Maxwell, Hans Ng, and Alison Kay.

We gratefully acknowledge the financial support from the Enriching Engagement scheme at the University of Oxford (IREF), funded by the Wellcome. Our sincere thanks go to Prof. Nina Hallowell, Hana Mlčochová, Katherine Wood, Rachel Horton, and Arianna Manzini for their valuable support in developing this project.

Check out our video

Check out our blog post

Still from 'we are all mutants' video

WIMM Blog Post

Goriely Group

Cartoon of a group of scientists

Learn more about the Goriely group