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Why would absorbing someone's soul to extend your life physically age you?
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Souls are the sum of an individual. Their memories, personality, and everything that makes them "them". Souls also contain essence, which keeps the body alive and allows it to function. Essence, or the life force of an individual, decreases as one gets older, and is completely depleted upon death, where the soul makes its way to the afterlife. Elizabeth bathany, the blood countess, is a rich noble woman who wants to stay young and beautiful. To do this she has decided to steal the souls of those less deserving of their lives. She has discovered a spell that allows her to take the life force of others and add it to her own. Through this act, she can extend her years indefinitely by adding their years to her own, keeping her young and beautiful.
She begins kidnapping and sacrificing young people, stealing their mana and consuming their life energy. Runes are carved into the victims body, preventing their soul from escaping after death. The individual is then devoured alive. Through this act, the soul is completely consumed and the essence is absorbed.This has allowed her to live for hundreds of years. However, there is a problem. Her body had become more and more deformed as the years pass. In her mind, she is still the beautiful woman she has always been. In reality she has physically aged into a hag, and her body has mutated into a horrific looking monster WITH MANY MUTATIONS. She has been unable to see this due to her madness.
Why would this be the case?
magic
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Incognito
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up vote
4
down vote
favorite
Souls are the sum of an individual. Their memories, personality, and everything that makes them "them". Souls also contain essence, which keeps the body alive and allows it to function. Essence, or the life force of an individual, decreases as one gets older, and is completely depleted upon death, where the soul makes its way to the afterlife. Elizabeth bathany, the blood countess, is a rich noble woman who wants to stay young and beautiful. To do this she has decided to steal the souls of those less deserving of their lives. She has discovered a spell that allows her to take the life force of others and add it to her own. Through this act, she can extend her years indefinitely by adding their years to her own, keeping her young and beautiful.
She begins kidnapping and sacrificing young people, stealing their mana and consuming their life energy. Runes are carved into the victims body, preventing their soul from escaping after death. The individual is then devoured alive. Through this act, the soul is completely consumed and the essence is absorbed.This has allowed her to live for hundreds of years. However, there is a problem. Her body had become more and more deformed as the years pass. In her mind, she is still the beautiful woman she has always been. In reality she has physically aged into a hag, and her body has mutated into a horrific looking monster WITH MANY MUTATIONS. She has been unable to see this due to her madness.
Why would this be the case?
magic
asked 1 hour ago
Incognito
3,29253045
Any other ideas than 'DNA changed' ?
– Jannis
18 mins ago
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up vote
4
down vote
favorite
up vote
4
down vote
favorite
Souls are the sum of an individual. Their memories, personality, and everything that makes them "them". Souls also contain essence, which keeps the body alive and allows it to function. Essence, or the life force of an individual, decreases as one gets older, and is completely depleted upon death, where the soul makes its way to the afterlife. Elizabeth bathany, the blood countess, is a rich noble woman who wants to stay young and beautiful. To do this she has decided to steal the souls of those less deserving of their lives. She has discovered a spell that allows her to take the life force of others and add it to her own. Through this act, she can extend her years indefinitely by adding their years to her own, keeping her young and beautiful.
She begins kidnapping and sacrificing young people, stealing their mana and consuming their life energy. Runes are carved into the victims body, preventing their soul from escaping after death. The individual is then devoured alive. Through this act, the soul is completely consumed and the essence is absorbed.This has allowed her to live for hundreds of years. However, there is a problem. Her body had become more and more deformed as the years pass. In her mind, she is still the beautiful woman she has always been. In reality she has physically aged into a hag, and her body has mutated into a horrific looking monster WITH MANY MUTATIONS. She has been unable to see this due to her madness.
Why would this be the case?
magic
asked 1 hour ago
Incognito
3,29253045
Souls are the sum of an individual. Their memories, personality, and everything that makes them "them". Souls also contain essence, which keeps the body alive and allows it to function. Essence, or the life force of an individual, decreases as one gets older, and is completely depleted upon death, where the soul makes its way to the afterlife. Elizabeth bathany, the blood countess, is a rich noble woman who wants to stay young and beautiful. To do this she has decided to steal the souls of those less deserving of their lives. She has discovered a spell that allows her to take the life force of others and add it to her own. Through this act, she can extend her years indefinitely by adding their years to her own, keeping her young and beautiful.
She begins kidnapping and sacrificing young people, stealing their mana and consuming their life energy. Runes are carved into the victims body, preventing their soul from escaping after death. The individual is then devoured alive. Through this act, the soul is completely consumed and the essence is absorbed.This has allowed her to live for hundreds of years. However, there is a problem. Her body had become more and more deformed as the years pass. In her mind, she is still the beautiful woman she has always been. In reality she has physically aged into a hag, and her body has mutated into a horrific looking monster WITH MANY MUTATIONS. She has been unable to see this due to her madness.
Why would this be the case?
magic
magic
asked 1 hour ago
Incognito
3,29253045
asked 1 hour ago
Incognito
3,29253045
asked 1 hour ago
Incognito
3,29253045
asked 1 hour ago
Incognito
3,29253045
asked 1 hour ago
Incognito
3,29253045
3,29253045
Any other ideas than 'DNA changed' ?
– Jannis
18 mins ago
add a comment |Â
Any other ideas than 'DNA changed' ?
– Jannis
18 mins ago
Any other ideas than 'DNA changed' ?
– Jannis
18 mins ago
Any other ideas than 'DNA changed' ?
– Jannis
18 mins ago
add a comment |Â
5 Answers
5
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Hundreds of years of uncontrolled cancer
Souls extend your life by giving you additional life force, but they do not revert the progress of your body. In this context consuming additional souls simply prevents you from dying, but it does not prevent your body from continuing to accumulate the problems associated age.
Cancer in particular is a problem that becomes more prevalent with age and can fit the bill for deforming the countess. If she is hundreds of years old, and she is deformed from age this is one possible reason. Maybe as she aged she was struck with various kinds of cancer (uncontrolled cancer can cause bulges and large growths). Since cancer is technically part of you (it is your own cells) maybe soul infusions did not remove this.
Her body can now be deformed by uncontrolled cancer that has gone on for far longer than it would in a normal person. This is because normally when cancer reaches a certain point a person dies, but the blood countess has continued to consume souls preventing her own death. Hence she is a mess of bulges and deformations. This seems like one way it could have happened.
answered 1 hour ago
Tyler S. Loeper
2,8691421
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up vote
1
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Souls have a shape?
Like a footprint they only fit perfectly in their own body.
By the many souls which she contains, she is having somewhat like more DNA in her which is now growing at some parts of her body.
It's like a shoe whats too small and now your foot deals with it.
Hope this simple solution helps and isn't against the rules of your fantastic world
:)
answered 1 hour ago
Jannis
62311
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
You absorb the life force of a victim, not their physical cells. The absorbed mana gives your own cells a boost to allow them to divide for a longer time than naturally possible, but they are still the same old cells.
During a cells division, the chromosomes literally rip apart to give each half one complete set of chromosomes. During this process the chromosomes sometimes entangle or rip apart at the wrong place, resulting in mutations that are inherited by each following generation of cells. Environmental influences like UV light and free radicals add more damage to the DNA of the cells.
The longer you live due to this process, the more damaged your cells become. You need to absorb more mana just to keep your mutated cells alive, not to mention further prolonging your unatural life. This process will eventually escalate to the point where your DNA is damaged so much that you cannot absorb enough mana to stay alive. How you actually look like at this moment is another question alltogether...
answered 1 hour ago
Elmy
7,2571932
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up vote
1
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By consuming the soul of somebody who has lived 16 years, she is also adding those 16 years to her body, as the soul has memory of the elapsed time.
Eat a couple of teen agers and you have already very likely doubled the toll on your body, going from an adult woman to an aged one.
answered 1 hour ago
L.Dutch♦
66.6k20159314
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up vote
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In our actual world, something that seems minor, like having 3 chromosomes (trisomy) where you're supposed to have to have 2, can be devastating. Sometimes it does cause minor problems, like people with XXY instead of XY or XX.
Sometimes it causes moderate problems, like in having 3 copies of your 21st chromosome (aka Down Syndrome). In this case, brain function is altered and nearly everyone ends up with a mild to severe intellectual impairment. It also changes the facial shape, makes the person shorter than they would have been, and often affects the heart.
If the extra chromosome is on chromosome 18 or 13, the problems are extremely severe. A few children born with an extra 18 will live, but nearly all those born with an extra 13 will die in the first year, if they make it to birth in the first place. In addition to severe/profound intellectual disability, the extra chromosome often causes things like a cleft palate, cleft lip, extra fingers or toes, a nose in the wrong spot on the face, a heart condition, or under developed lungs. Among other things.
The effects of extra chromosomes elsewhere isn't really known because pretty much no embryo/fetus survives to birth. Though it's possible a few aren't in the literature because they don't cause problems so no one bothers to test for them (contrary to what you might think, trisomy is NOT picked up by consumer DNA testing commonly used for genealogical or health purposes).
Important note: some people with chromosomal differences are what you call mosaic. This means that the extra chromosome isn't in every cell, just in some. When you test chromosomes to look for trisomy, you run multiple tests so that you know if mosaicism is an issue, and so you don't miss a trisomy because you tested a regular set of cells.
Mosaicism generally causes the same problems as having the genetic difference in every cell, but it's more mild. It is also less likely to be fatal.
Absorbing a soul, by your description above, sounds like it might involve genetic transfer as well. I would think that, most of the time, it goes smoothly, but sometimes an extra chromosome will "catch" in a way that affects the host's body globally. Our bodies are really really good at fixing genetic information that goes bad (something that happens every day, in a small percentage of new cells). But sometimes we just can't fix it. That's what cancer often is; a genetic altering of our cells that our bodies can't fix.
So Elizabeth, over time, has had her genetics altered. This leads to her normal body repair mechanisms malfunctioning and rebuilding her body in ways it is not supposed to. It leads to cancerous tumors. And changes in how her brain, heart, and other organs work. All stuff that probably would kill anybody else. But she isn't able to die. She has all the soul infusions stopping that from happening. Short of cutting off her head, she's just going to continue to live, no matter how bad things get. No matter how different her body becomes.
answered 31 mins ago
Cyn
68310
add a comment |Â
5 Answers
5
active
oldest
votes
5 Answers
5
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
up vote
2
down vote
Hundreds of years of uncontrolled cancer
Souls extend your life by giving you additional life force, but they do not revert the progress of your body. In this context consuming additional souls simply prevents you from dying, but it does not prevent your body from continuing to accumulate the problems associated age.
Cancer in particular is a problem that becomes more prevalent with age and can fit the bill for deforming the countess. If she is hundreds of years old, and she is deformed from age this is one possible reason. Maybe as she aged she was struck with various kinds of cancer (uncontrolled cancer can cause bulges and large growths). Since cancer is technically part of you (it is your own cells) maybe soul infusions did not remove this.
Her body can now be deformed by uncontrolled cancer that has gone on for far longer than it would in a normal person. This is because normally when cancer reaches a certain point a person dies, but the blood countess has continued to consume souls preventing her own death. Hence she is a mess of bulges and deformations. This seems like one way it could have happened.
answered 1 hour ago
Tyler S. Loeper
2,8691421
add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
Hundreds of years of uncontrolled cancer
Souls extend your life by giving you additional life force, but they do not revert the progress of your body. In this context consuming additional souls simply prevents you from dying, but it does not prevent your body from continuing to accumulate the problems associated age.
Cancer in particular is a problem that becomes more prevalent with age and can fit the bill for deforming the countess. If she is hundreds of years old, and she is deformed from age this is one possible reason. Maybe as she aged she was struck with various kinds of cancer (uncontrolled cancer can cause bulges and large growths). Since cancer is technically part of you (it is your own cells) maybe soul infusions did not remove this.
Her body can now be deformed by uncontrolled cancer that has gone on for far longer than it would in a normal person. This is because normally when cancer reaches a certain point a person dies, but the blood countess has continued to consume souls preventing her own death. Hence she is a mess of bulges and deformations. This seems like one way it could have happened.
answered 1 hour ago
Tyler S. Loeper
2,8691421
add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
up vote
2
down vote
Hundreds of years of uncontrolled cancer
Souls extend your life by giving you additional life force, but they do not revert the progress of your body. In this context consuming additional souls simply prevents you from dying, but it does not prevent your body from continuing to accumulate the problems associated age.
Cancer in particular is a problem that becomes more prevalent with age and can fit the bill for deforming the countess. If she is hundreds of years old, and she is deformed from age this is one possible reason. Maybe as she aged she was struck with various kinds of cancer (uncontrolled cancer can cause bulges and large growths). Since cancer is technically part of you (it is your own cells) maybe soul infusions did not remove this.
Her body can now be deformed by uncontrolled cancer that has gone on for far longer than it would in a normal person. This is because normally when cancer reaches a certain point a person dies, but the blood countess has continued to consume souls preventing her own death. Hence she is a mess of bulges and deformations. This seems like one way it could have happened.
answered 1 hour ago
Tyler S. Loeper
2,8691421
Hundreds of years of uncontrolled cancer
Souls extend your life by giving you additional life force, but they do not revert the progress of your body. In this context consuming additional souls simply prevents you from dying, but it does not prevent your body from continuing to accumulate the problems associated age.
Cancer in particular is a problem that becomes more prevalent with age and can fit the bill for deforming the countess. If she is hundreds of years old, and she is deformed from age this is one possible reason. Maybe as she aged she was struck with various kinds of cancer (uncontrolled cancer can cause bulges and large growths). Since cancer is technically part of you (it is your own cells) maybe soul infusions did not remove this.
Her body can now be deformed by uncontrolled cancer that has gone on for far longer than it would in a normal person. This is because normally when cancer reaches a certain point a person dies, but the blood countess has continued to consume souls preventing her own death. Hence she is a mess of bulges and deformations. This seems like one way it could have happened.
answered 1 hour ago
Tyler S. Loeper
2,8691421
edited 59 mins ago
answered 1 hour ago
Tyler S. Loeper
2,8691421
answered 1 hour ago
Tyler S. Loeper
2,8691421
answered 1 hour ago
Tyler S. Loeper
2,8691421
2,8691421
add a comment |Â
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
Souls have a shape?
Like a footprint they only fit perfectly in their own body.
By the many souls which she contains, she is having somewhat like more DNA in her which is now growing at some parts of her body.
It's like a shoe whats too small and now your foot deals with it.
Hope this simple solution helps and isn't against the rules of your fantastic world
:)
answered 1 hour ago
Jannis
62311
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
Souls have a shape?
Like a footprint they only fit perfectly in their own body.
By the many souls which she contains, she is having somewhat like more DNA in her which is now growing at some parts of her body.
It's like a shoe whats too small and now your foot deals with it.
Hope this simple solution helps and isn't against the rules of your fantastic world
:)
answered 1 hour ago
Jannis
62311
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
up vote
1
down vote
Souls have a shape?
Like a footprint they only fit perfectly in their own body.
By the many souls which she contains, she is having somewhat like more DNA in her which is now growing at some parts of her body.
It's like a shoe whats too small and now your foot deals with it.
Hope this simple solution helps and isn't against the rules of your fantastic world
:)
answered 1 hour ago
Jannis
62311
Souls have a shape?
Like a footprint they only fit perfectly in their own body.
By the many souls which she contains, she is having somewhat like more DNA in her which is now growing at some parts of her body.
It's like a shoe whats too small and now your foot deals with it.
Hope this simple solution helps and isn't against the rules of your fantastic world
:)
answered 1 hour ago
Jannis
62311
answered 1 hour ago
Jannis
62311
answered 1 hour ago
Jannis
62311
answered 1 hour ago
Jannis
62311
62311
add a comment |Â
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
You absorb the life force of a victim, not their physical cells. The absorbed mana gives your own cells a boost to allow them to divide for a longer time than naturally possible, but they are still the same old cells.
During a cells division, the chromosomes literally rip apart to give each half one complete set of chromosomes. During this process the chromosomes sometimes entangle or rip apart at the wrong place, resulting in mutations that are inherited by each following generation of cells. Environmental influences like UV light and free radicals add more damage to the DNA of the cells.
The longer you live due to this process, the more damaged your cells become. You need to absorb more mana just to keep your mutated cells alive, not to mention further prolonging your unatural life. This process will eventually escalate to the point where your DNA is damaged so much that you cannot absorb enough mana to stay alive. How you actually look like at this moment is another question alltogether...
answered 1 hour ago
Elmy
7,2571932
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
You absorb the life force of a victim, not their physical cells. The absorbed mana gives your own cells a boost to allow them to divide for a longer time than naturally possible, but they are still the same old cells.
During a cells division, the chromosomes literally rip apart to give each half one complete set of chromosomes. During this process the chromosomes sometimes entangle or rip apart at the wrong place, resulting in mutations that are inherited by each following generation of cells. Environmental influences like UV light and free radicals add more damage to the DNA of the cells.
The longer you live due to this process, the more damaged your cells become. You need to absorb more mana just to keep your mutated cells alive, not to mention further prolonging your unatural life. This process will eventually escalate to the point where your DNA is damaged so much that you cannot absorb enough mana to stay alive. How you actually look like at this moment is another question alltogether...
answered 1 hour ago
Elmy
7,2571932
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
up vote
1
down vote
You absorb the life force of a victim, not their physical cells. The absorbed mana gives your own cells a boost to allow them to divide for a longer time than naturally possible, but they are still the same old cells.
During a cells division, the chromosomes literally rip apart to give each half one complete set of chromosomes. During this process the chromosomes sometimes entangle or rip apart at the wrong place, resulting in mutations that are inherited by each following generation of cells. Environmental influences like UV light and free radicals add more damage to the DNA of the cells.
The longer you live due to this process, the more damaged your cells become. You need to absorb more mana just to keep your mutated cells alive, not to mention further prolonging your unatural life. This process will eventually escalate to the point where your DNA is damaged so much that you cannot absorb enough mana to stay alive. How you actually look like at this moment is another question alltogether...
answered 1 hour ago
Elmy
7,2571932
You absorb the life force of a victim, not their physical cells. The absorbed mana gives your own cells a boost to allow them to divide for a longer time than naturally possible, but they are still the same old cells.
During a cells division, the chromosomes literally rip apart to give each half one complete set of chromosomes. During this process the chromosomes sometimes entangle or rip apart at the wrong place, resulting in mutations that are inherited by each following generation of cells. Environmental influences like UV light and free radicals add more damage to the DNA of the cells.
The longer you live due to this process, the more damaged your cells become. You need to absorb more mana just to keep your mutated cells alive, not to mention further prolonging your unatural life. This process will eventually escalate to the point where your DNA is damaged so much that you cannot absorb enough mana to stay alive. How you actually look like at this moment is another question alltogether...
answered 1 hour ago
Elmy
7,2571932
answered 1 hour ago
Elmy
7,2571932
answered 1 hour ago
Elmy
7,2571932
answered 1 hour ago
Elmy
7,2571932
7,2571932
add a comment |Â
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
By consuming the soul of somebody who has lived 16 years, she is also adding those 16 years to her body, as the soul has memory of the elapsed time.
Eat a couple of teen agers and you have already very likely doubled the toll on your body, going from an adult woman to an aged one.
answered 1 hour ago
L.Dutch♦
66.6k20159314
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
By consuming the soul of somebody who has lived 16 years, she is also adding those 16 years to her body, as the soul has memory of the elapsed time.
Eat a couple of teen agers and you have already very likely doubled the toll on your body, going from an adult woman to an aged one.
answered 1 hour ago
L.Dutch♦
66.6k20159314
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
up vote
1
down vote
By consuming the soul of somebody who has lived 16 years, she is also adding those 16 years to her body, as the soul has memory of the elapsed time.
Eat a couple of teen agers and you have already very likely doubled the toll on your body, going from an adult woman to an aged one.
answered 1 hour ago
L.Dutch♦
66.6k20159314
By consuming the soul of somebody who has lived 16 years, she is also adding those 16 years to her body, as the soul has memory of the elapsed time.
Eat a couple of teen agers and you have already very likely doubled the toll on your body, going from an adult woman to an aged one.
answered 1 hour ago
L.Dutch♦
66.6k20159314
answered 1 hour ago
L.Dutch♦
66.6k20159314
answered 1 hour ago
L.Dutch♦
66.6k20159314
answered 1 hour ago
L.Dutch♦
66.6k20159314
66.6k20159314
add a comment |Â
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
In our actual world, something that seems minor, like having 3 chromosomes (trisomy) where you're supposed to have to have 2, can be devastating. Sometimes it does cause minor problems, like people with XXY instead of XY or XX.
Sometimes it causes moderate problems, like in having 3 copies of your 21st chromosome (aka Down Syndrome). In this case, brain function is altered and nearly everyone ends up with a mild to severe intellectual impairment. It also changes the facial shape, makes the person shorter than they would have been, and often affects the heart.
If the extra chromosome is on chromosome 18 or 13, the problems are extremely severe. A few children born with an extra 18 will live, but nearly all those born with an extra 13 will die in the first year, if they make it to birth in the first place. In addition to severe/profound intellectual disability, the extra chromosome often causes things like a cleft palate, cleft lip, extra fingers or toes, a nose in the wrong spot on the face, a heart condition, or under developed lungs. Among other things.
The effects of extra chromosomes elsewhere isn't really known because pretty much no embryo/fetus survives to birth. Though it's possible a few aren't in the literature because they don't cause problems so no one bothers to test for them (contrary to what you might think, trisomy is NOT picked up by consumer DNA testing commonly used for genealogical or health purposes).
Important note: some people with chromosomal differences are what you call mosaic. This means that the extra chromosome isn't in every cell, just in some. When you test chromosomes to look for trisomy, you run multiple tests so that you know if mosaicism is an issue, and so you don't miss a trisomy because you tested a regular set of cells.
Mosaicism generally causes the same problems as having the genetic difference in every cell, but it's more mild. It is also less likely to be fatal.
Absorbing a soul, by your description above, sounds like it might involve genetic transfer as well. I would think that, most of the time, it goes smoothly, but sometimes an extra chromosome will "catch" in a way that affects the host's body globally. Our bodies are really really good at fixing genetic information that goes bad (something that happens every day, in a small percentage of new cells). But sometimes we just can't fix it. That's what cancer often is; a genetic altering of our cells that our bodies can't fix.
So Elizabeth, over time, has had her genetics altered. This leads to her normal body repair mechanisms malfunctioning and rebuilding her body in ways it is not supposed to. It leads to cancerous tumors. And changes in how her brain, heart, and other organs work. All stuff that probably would kill anybody else. But she isn't able to die. She has all the soul infusions stopping that from happening. Short of cutting off her head, she's just going to continue to live, no matter how bad things get. No matter how different her body becomes.
answered 31 mins ago
Cyn
68310
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
In our actual world, something that seems minor, like having 3 chromosomes (trisomy) where you're supposed to have to have 2, can be devastating. Sometimes it does cause minor problems, like people with XXY instead of XY or XX.
Sometimes it causes moderate problems, like in having 3 copies of your 21st chromosome (aka Down Syndrome). In this case, brain function is altered and nearly everyone ends up with a mild to severe intellectual impairment. It also changes the facial shape, makes the person shorter than they would have been, and often affects the heart.
If the extra chromosome is on chromosome 18 or 13, the problems are extremely severe. A few children born with an extra 18 will live, but nearly all those born with an extra 13 will die in the first year, if they make it to birth in the first place. In addition to severe/profound intellectual disability, the extra chromosome often causes things like a cleft palate, cleft lip, extra fingers or toes, a nose in the wrong spot on the face, a heart condition, or under developed lungs. Among other things.
The effects of extra chromosomes elsewhere isn't really known because pretty much no embryo/fetus survives to birth. Though it's possible a few aren't in the literature because they don't cause problems so no one bothers to test for them (contrary to what you might think, trisomy is NOT picked up by consumer DNA testing commonly used for genealogical or health purposes).
Important note: some people with chromosomal differences are what you call mosaic. This means that the extra chromosome isn't in every cell, just in some. When you test chromosomes to look for trisomy, you run multiple tests so that you know if mosaicism is an issue, and so you don't miss a trisomy because you tested a regular set of cells.
Mosaicism generally causes the same problems as having the genetic difference in every cell, but it's more mild. It is also less likely to be fatal.
Absorbing a soul, by your description above, sounds like it might involve genetic transfer as well. I would think that, most of the time, it goes smoothly, but sometimes an extra chromosome will "catch" in a way that affects the host's body globally. Our bodies are really really good at fixing genetic information that goes bad (something that happens every day, in a small percentage of new cells). But sometimes we just can't fix it. That's what cancer often is; a genetic altering of our cells that our bodies can't fix.
So Elizabeth, over time, has had her genetics altered. This leads to her normal body repair mechanisms malfunctioning and rebuilding her body in ways it is not supposed to. It leads to cancerous tumors. And changes in how her brain, heart, and other organs work. All stuff that probably would kill anybody else. But she isn't able to die. She has all the soul infusions stopping that from happening. Short of cutting off her head, she's just going to continue to live, no matter how bad things get. No matter how different her body becomes.
answered 31 mins ago
Cyn
68310
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
up vote
1
down vote
In our actual world, something that seems minor, like having 3 chromosomes (trisomy) where you're supposed to have to have 2, can be devastating. Sometimes it does cause minor problems, like people with XXY instead of XY or XX.
Sometimes it causes moderate problems, like in having 3 copies of your 21st chromosome (aka Down Syndrome). In this case, brain function is altered and nearly everyone ends up with a mild to severe intellectual impairment. It also changes the facial shape, makes the person shorter than they would have been, and often affects the heart.
If the extra chromosome is on chromosome 18 or 13, the problems are extremely severe. A few children born with an extra 18 will live, but nearly all those born with an extra 13 will die in the first year, if they make it to birth in the first place. In addition to severe/profound intellectual disability, the extra chromosome often causes things like a cleft palate, cleft lip, extra fingers or toes, a nose in the wrong spot on the face, a heart condition, or under developed lungs. Among other things.
The effects of extra chromosomes elsewhere isn't really known because pretty much no embryo/fetus survives to birth. Though it's possible a few aren't in the literature because they don't cause problems so no one bothers to test for them (contrary to what you might think, trisomy is NOT picked up by consumer DNA testing commonly used for genealogical or health purposes).
Important note: some people with chromosomal differences are what you call mosaic. This means that the extra chromosome isn't in every cell, just in some. When you test chromosomes to look for trisomy, you run multiple tests so that you know if mosaicism is an issue, and so you don't miss a trisomy because you tested a regular set of cells.
Mosaicism generally causes the same problems as having the genetic difference in every cell, but it's more mild. It is also less likely to be fatal.
Absorbing a soul, by your description above, sounds like it might involve genetic transfer as well. I would think that, most of the time, it goes smoothly, but sometimes an extra chromosome will "catch" in a way that affects the host's body globally. Our bodies are really really good at fixing genetic information that goes bad (something that happens every day, in a small percentage of new cells). But sometimes we just can't fix it. That's what cancer often is; a genetic altering of our cells that our bodies can't fix.
So Elizabeth, over time, has had her genetics altered. This leads to her normal body repair mechanisms malfunctioning and rebuilding her body in ways it is not supposed to. It leads to cancerous tumors. And changes in how her brain, heart, and other organs work. All stuff that probably would kill anybody else. But she isn't able to die. She has all the soul infusions stopping that from happening. Short of cutting off her head, she's just going to continue to live, no matter how bad things get. No matter how different her body becomes.
answered 31 mins ago
Cyn
68310
In our actual world, something that seems minor, like having 3 chromosomes (trisomy) where you're supposed to have to have 2, can be devastating. Sometimes it does cause minor problems, like people with XXY instead of XY or XX.
Sometimes it causes moderate problems, like in having 3 copies of your 21st chromosome (aka Down Syndrome). In this case, brain function is altered and nearly everyone ends up with a mild to severe intellectual impairment. It also changes the facial shape, makes the person shorter than they would have been, and often affects the heart.
If the extra chromosome is on chromosome 18 or 13, the problems are extremely severe. A few children born with an extra 18 will live, but nearly all those born with an extra 13 will die in the first year, if they make it to birth in the first place. In addition to severe/profound intellectual disability, the extra chromosome often causes things like a cleft palate, cleft lip, extra fingers or toes, a nose in the wrong spot on the face, a heart condition, or under developed lungs. Among other things.
The effects of extra chromosomes elsewhere isn't really known because pretty much no embryo/fetus survives to birth. Though it's possible a few aren't in the literature because they don't cause problems so no one bothers to test for them (contrary to what you might think, trisomy is NOT picked up by consumer DNA testing commonly used for genealogical or health purposes).
Important note: some people with chromosomal differences are what you call mosaic. This means that the extra chromosome isn't in every cell, just in some. When you test chromosomes to look for trisomy, you run multiple tests so that you know if mosaicism is an issue, and so you don't miss a trisomy because you tested a regular set of cells.
Mosaicism generally causes the same problems as having the genetic difference in every cell, but it's more mild. It is also less likely to be fatal.
Absorbing a soul, by your description above, sounds like it might involve genetic transfer as well. I would think that, most of the time, it goes smoothly, but sometimes an extra chromosome will "catch" in a way that affects the host's body globally. Our bodies are really really good at fixing genetic information that goes bad (something that happens every day, in a small percentage of new cells). But sometimes we just can't fix it. That's what cancer often is; a genetic altering of our cells that our bodies can't fix.
So Elizabeth, over time, has had her genetics altered. This leads to her normal body repair mechanisms malfunctioning and rebuilding her body in ways it is not supposed to. It leads to cancerous tumors. And changes in how her brain, heart, and other organs work. All stuff that probably would kill anybody else. But she isn't able to die. She has all the soul infusions stopping that from happening. Short of cutting off her head, she's just going to continue to live, no matter how bad things get. No matter how different her body becomes.
answered 31 mins ago
Cyn
68310
answered 31 mins ago
Cyn
68310
answered 31 mins ago
Cyn
68310
answered 31 mins ago
Cyn
68310
68310
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Any other ideas than 'DNA changed' ?
– Jannis
18 mins ago