re: DNA test updates for the Nazca alien bodies discovered

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I realize I'm not a geneticist, but it seems to me that an actual space alien with 3 fingers and 3 toes would have significantly different DNA than humans and other proto-human species.

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The portion of DNA that impacts appearance is very very small.

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That isn't "appearance" like your eye color or hair color. That would be more along the lines of body plan/embryonic development genes.

I don't know the specifics, but you can be assured that pretty much every higher animal form, from amphibians to mammal, have very similar genes when it comes to encoding body plan. Meaning the same gene/type of gene controls the number of digits in a frog as in a human.

So, it would be a matter of when the gene "turns on" to grow however many digits during embryonic development.


So...I guess you're both wrong? Hell, I'm probably pretty wrong myself. Been a long time since I've pondered such things. Ha.



Edit to add:

It also means that such a thing wouldn't be an unheard of mutation in nature. There are plenty of people born with extra toes and fingers (polydactyls). Why not fewer digits?