The mutants in the comics are incredible. Some can fly, others move objects with the mind or manipulate the metal at will. However, all this is fantasy. The mutations in real life are not as flashy, but no less interesting.
A mutation is, according to the European Academy of Patients, a permanent alteration of DNA. Depending on its complexity it can affect a single component or a whole segment of the chromosome with several genes.
Among human beings, there are several mutations that are common and are not considered diseases. They include being redhead, blue eyes and the absence of wisdom teeth and other unusual features.
Although these features are striking, they are not as bright as having blue skin, just like the Beast or Mystique superheroes.
In this case, reality surpasses fiction, since there have been people with this peculiar characteristic, according to the site thescienceof.org, dedicated to the dissemination of science.
Dr. Eric Spana of Duke University explained to this page:
“There are few organisms on our planet with the ability to generate a blue pigment, like some butterflies and other insects, but there are no vertebrates.”
At least not currently, since the collective of thescienceof.org managed to document not only a case but an entire family with bluish skin.
The Fugate family was originally from Kentucky, United States, and lived in that area at the end of the 19th century. Several of its members suffered from a recessive genetic condition, which gave them a unique skin tone. They were known as the ‘Blue Fugates’.
This condition originated when Martin Fugate and Elizabeth Smith, both with the recessive methemoglobinemia gene, married and had children, who were born with blue skin.
Methemoglobinemia occurs when a person’s blood has a concentration of methemoglobin (the type of hemoglobin that does not carry oxygen) higher than normal. This causes the blood to not carry or provide enough oxygen to the body, which causes the skin to turn blue.
According to Professor Spana, it is unlikely that the X-Men mutation is due to this process since in most cases people suffering from this deficiency have poor health, but there are others in which the Affectation is minimal.
People with this genetic condition can live without any disease related to their condition. That is exactly what happened with Luna Fugate, the last member of the family who lived until age 85 maintaining perfect health, in addition to having 13 children without this condition.
Because several of the family members left their place of origin, it is very unlikely that they were related to other carriers of the same recessive gene, so there have been no cases of people with blue skin.
