Possible "Issue" *SPOILERS*

[The old Uriuujìn]

Alright, so we all know that Jake is now in an Avatar body, which is partially human DNA and partially Na'vi DNA.  However, this is where a question develops: What is the possible human-Na'vi genome ratio? How much of the Avatar body is Na'vi, and how much is Human? If the species are different enough, and the genes of each too far apart, is it even possible for Jake and Neytiri to have children? And if they can have children, how will they be different than regular Na'vi children?

Food for thought.

Eywa ayoenghu. Eywa Jake ulte Neytiri-hu

-Uriuujìn

[Maweya tirea]

You make a good point. However, none of us know for sure. That very well may be one of the conflicts in the sequels. 

[Hufwe Makto]

I've been wondering if Avatars were sterile. I'm learning about evolutionary history and creating new species in bio class. there are almost limiting factors to new species: mechanical difficulties (things don't.. err... fit),
the hybrid is sterile (that would be Jake), the hybrids offspring are unstable (fertilization occurs but every generation becomes weaker), and eggs and sperm are not compatible (no fertilization). so due to these factors it is highly unlikely that Jake and Neytiri will produce healthy children. of course the only part of human DNA that got mixed with Na'vi is the control of a human brain in the body and some cosmetic features. you could probably infer from this that about 75% is pure Na'vi and 25% is pure human. then their children would be more Na'vi, about 87%, 13% human. their children would be about 93% Na'vi 3 percent human. and so on. none of Jake's later generations could be pure-bred Na'vi. some human DNA will always stay on Pandora but very little if Jake was the only avatar to mate with a pure-bred Na'vi.

[Maweya tirea]

Very interesting and very confusing.    I honestly have to say I have no clue. It would definitely give a lot of drama to one of the sequels if Jake could not have children with Neytiri.

[Hufwe Makto]

i think it would be a waste of life. the ultimate biological objective in life is to pass your genes into the future. and if Jake looses that ability at the end of the movie, its a waste to transfer his consciousness into the avatar.

[Maweya tirea]

Well hey, I'm not trying to insult you if I am, but it sounds to me like you are adding your own beliefs to the series of movies. It might be the objective to life for some tawtute(skypeople) but maybe not for the Na'vi.

[Maweya tirea]

I also just read that the Na'vi do not reproduce the way humans do. The tentacles in their ponytails have something to do with the mating it appears.

[omängum fra'uti]

They have to do with mating as an act/ritual of the Na'vi, but nothing to do with actual reproduction.

[Tirealì'u]

I've been curious about this as well. It occurred to me when I first saw it, and I'm sort of curious if they can reproduce or not...


But, meh, ultimately to me it doesn't make much of a difference either way. :-P

[omängum fra'uti]

Well hey, I'm trying to insult you if I am, but it sounds to me like you are adding your own beliefs to the series of movies. It might be the objective to life for some tawtute(skypeople) but maybe not for the Na'vi.

I think he was talking on a more base level than beliefs.

At it's core, life exists to further life, so a life not furthered is, in that sense, wasted.  However, if you take that view, you might as well see all life as a waste IMO, because it never leads anywhere except furthering itself.

Whether an individual life, as a person, is a waste, is another matter.  If someone doesn't reproduce are they a waste?  Well, if they were a doctor and saved others lives who went on to reproduce, that seems pretty clear it wasn't a waste, even if the doctor never actually furthered their own genetic line.

But that's getting a bit too philosophical at this point.  We don't measure the value of life the same way nature was, and people took over the reigns of the race a long time ago.

[Maweya tirea]

Oh ok. I see what you mean. Good point. 

[The old Uriuujìn]

I would be very sad if it turns out that they cannot have healthy children. However, as a scientist I cannot honestly say that I would want to discredit the idea entirely.

of course the only part of human DNA that got mixed with Na'vi is the control of a human brain in the body and some cosmetic features. you could probably infer from this that about 75% is pure Na'vi and 25% is pure human. then their children would be more Na'vi, about 87%, 13% human. their children would be about 93% Na'vi 3 percent human. and so on. none of Jake's later generations could be pure-bred Na'vi. some human DNA will always stay on Pandora but very little if Jake was the only avatar to mate with a pure-bred Na'vi.

I would agree with this, but I'm not sure how much of the Human DNA would be allowed in, and yet still allow access to Tsahaylu. We need to talk to Dr. Grace Augestine, stat! Or at least Norm.

-Uriuujìn

[Txur’Itan]

I would be very sad if it turns out that they cannot have healthy children. However, as a scientist I cannot honestly say that I would want to discredit the idea entirely.

of course the only part of human DNA that got mixed with Na'vi is the control of a human brain in the body and some cosmetic features. you could probably infer from this that about 75% is pure Na'vi and 25% is pure human. then their children would be more Na'vi, about 87%, 13% human. their children would be about 93% Na'vi 3 percent human. and so on. none of Jake's later generations could be pure-bred Na'vi. some human DNA will always stay on Pandora but very little if Jake was the only avatar to mate with a pure-bred Na'vi.

I would agree with this, but I'm not sure how much of the Human DNA would be allowed in, and yet still allow access to Tsahaylu. We need to talk to Dr. Grace Augestine, stat! Or at least Norm.

-Uriuujìn

Kaltxì, frapoti leru fìtseng

Spoiler

Kaltxì, frapo-ti               l<er>u     fìtseng
hello, everyone<ACC>  be<IMPV> here
HI, everybody!

Humans have jumped significant hurdles in at least three or four disciplines of medicine with one program. Humanoid Cloning, detailed brain function cartography, thought transmission/reception, genetic engineering.

I can not claim to be an expert on DNA, but I read a ton.  Personally, I do not see how they could not breed.  I may read this tomorrow and say WTF to myself, but until then...

The level of genetic process control needed to combine alien and human into a single organism and make it stable, tells me that they have a great many abilities with manipulating DNA that have not been discussed, or Na'vi and human DNA processes are not terribly dissimilar.

How incompatible could the DNA really be.  Cloning as we understand it now, after the first cell has been given the desired set of DNA instructions, uses DNA selective processing in a path similar to reproductive cell division.

Dealing just with the human sequences, the biological process of "cellular proof reading" would have to be manipulated to selectively combine the human sequences with any disparate species in the first place.  Something too alien may seem like junk sequences and discarded or it would mutate.

You could not have two sets of catalytic enzymes contradicting each other?  One would probably have to be dominant, or they would be the same?

2154 geneticists would probably have control over the enzyme catalysts that carry out reading and duplicating DNA instructions for cellular division to ensure cloning stability.  The volume of cells would demand that these processes be automated by the biology of the cells, which would imply sequence coding algorithmically on a massive scale, or already compatible enzymes which work the same way regardless of preexisting sequencing.

Because of the way proteins modify/interact with human DNA, if they could not function the exact same way with the alien DNA, they would likely and easily destroy the foreign DNA as I doubt it would have been left alone.  Considering the successful versions running out of Dr Augustine's Lab, I do not think that the current builds are very far from the Na'vi gene-pool.

The number of advancements made or implied to have been made suggest some new understandings of the human brain, or even more spectacularly that of a completely alien species brain.

To pick apart the components of the brain to wire what it processes to pilot a second body.  There is so much possibly in the science of that era that it is mind blowing.  - forgive me for that, it late and I am tired. 

[Maweya tirea]

Well hey, I'm trying to insult you if I am, but it sounds to me like you are adding your own beliefs to the series of movies. It might be the objective to life for some tawtute(skypeople) but maybe not for the Na'vi.

oh sorry it was not trying to insult you....sorry 

[Hufwe Makto]

no hard feelings 

[Maweya tirea]

no hard feelings 

Irayo