Jump to content

Home

Mixed-Breeds


Recommended Posts

I was wondering about the different species of the Star Wars universe. What if a Twi'lek falls in love with a human. Or a Zabrak with a Chiss? I'm sure there would be some problems with say a Wookie and a Jawa. Would they be able to have children? And if so what would they look like? Its bound to come up. I'm not to knowledgable about EU so this may have been covered.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, a Twi'lek and a human. That would propably be as sterile as a cat and a fox. They are different species. The difference between races and species is that two members of different races of the same species can have children, while two members of different species can't. It's just not possible for a turtle and a dove to have children, no matter how much they want to. No more than a chimpanzee and a gorilla, even if they are very 'related' species.

 

The only way, biologically, would be to say that the species are extremely close, ie, in the period of evolution where two races slowly distances from each other, and becomes two species. Like a donkey and a horse. Then, the offspring would be sterile (donkey + horse = mule, which is sterile). However, I doubt Twi'lek is related to human in that way. So no, they can not have children. No matter how... compatible their genitals are.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, biologically speaking, how much the different species resembles each other doesn't matter. Two parrots that you might think look almost identical can't mate, if they are not related on the DNA level, so to speak. I mean, there's amphibians that look so alike that biologists haven't realized until today that they are not the same species. Even though, they can't mate. On the other hand, humans comes in all shapes and colour, and there's no 'compability problems' there. So it's tricky. It all depends on the genetical history, how different the genealogy is, and for how long the schism has existed. And, well, I've seen very little info about that in the Star Wars universe.

 

Of course, if we disregard 'natural' procreation, this changes drastically. "Enter the Genetical Engineer". Splicing the egg cell (that will later become the faetus) while it is on a 1-16 cell stadius, most things are possible. Especially if you chart the DNA (as in the HUGO [The Human Genome Organisation] project), you can pick tidbits here and there. When you use genetic engineering, petty things like species doesn't matter. You can take genes from a fish and add to potatoes (which has led to frost-resisting crops), and you can grow human ears on the back of mice (yup, they've done that too).

 

What this means is that you can take a human egg cell and mix and match alien attributes, which then becomes a hybrid. Again, this is with our technology: I have no idea if this is possible in the SW universe. It would also require a lot of years of research; it is very difficult to make sure exactly what gene does what, and what the result will be. Often, the same genes that causes one thing (like an extraordinary lung capacity) can cause something completely unrelated (like fast hair growth).

 

If the hybrid can reproduce with one of the 'ingredients', or is sterile, you have a hybrid. If it can reproduce only with similar hybrids, congratulations, you have a new species.

 

Of course, the ethics in this can (and is) discussed. But it is readily possible with todays technology.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's not only possible. It has been done for twenty years. However, the precision and insight when it comes to tampering with genes are increasing, and thereby, its usefulness.

 

(Oh, and really, it has been done for a couple of thousand years. It's called breeding. It is a very slow, but efficient way to tamper with genes. Both for animals and crops.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

uhm.... all i read in the X-wing series is indeed a chemical thing.. and also a sort of permit they needed... i think..

 

in the x-wing series Garik Loran was with a Twi'lek woman Dia Passik.. and i never heard what happened with them after 'Solo Command'... so....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Propably. He's way too creepy (and quite a lot younger) to go to bed with.

 

Oh, and the interview went great, thanks for asking. I'll propably spend the comming year working at different daycare centers. Getting money to play with children? Sweet deal.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

wouldn't the reporductive cells in each species have to have hte same number of chromosomes, so the total number of chromosomes in the offspring would work out?

 

 

ya kno what we need? One of those flip books that has 3 parts, the head, the body, and the legs. And then we can flip to our hearts content :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Originally posted by setsuko

Oh, and the interview went great, thanks for asking. I'll propably spend the comming year working at different daycare centers. Getting money to play with children? Sweet deal.

Great... so you got the Job..... i think that is realy great.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey, having the same sort of chromosomes is no sort of security. After all, you male persons LACK 1/4th of a chromosome, and are, by nature, defect. That doesn't prevent pregnancies.

 

Oh, and yes, the lack of 1/4th of a chromosome also means that male DNA is more vulnerable to mutations, due to the fact that there's no way for the chromosome to mend defects when the rNA copies the cell. Which means that you are sort of a natures guinea pig: you are more likely to get good mutations, but you are also more likely to suffer horrendous defects (that's why so many inherited diseases only break out in the male members of the family, such as autism and haemophilia).

 

To further add to the insult, there's more boys born than girls (some 53% vs 47%). Because you are more likely to die if you are a boy(especially at age 0-8). And you will statistically live 5-10 year less than if you were a female! :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'll propably spend the comming year working at different daycare centers. Getting money to play with children? Sweet deal.

 

I can't really think of a worse fate than caring for other people's kids... you volunteered for this?!?!

 

and as for my 0.02$ I don't think that any of the different species in Star Wars can reproduce naturally... evolving in entirely different gene pools probably doesn't help. I can't remember any cases of half breeds in the EU, but I have been known to be wrong from time to time!

 

Using technology, all bets are off.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...