XPost: alt.tv.star-trek.tos, rec.arts.movies.current-films, rec.arts.sf.tv   
   From: ANIM8Rfsk@cox.net   
      
   In article <4b312d9d.7537000@news.west.earthlink.net>,   
    quester@infionline.net (Harold Groot) wrote:   
      
   > On Tue, 22 Dec 2009 10:46:49 -0800 (PST), Led4Aces    
   > wrote:   
   > >> And she created a pathogen that regressed most of the crew into half   
   > >> whatever they were / half one of their ancestors (which doesn't explain w=   
   > >hy   
   > >> Barclay became half spider, since they aren't ancestors of humans)...   
   > >   
   > >Not exactly. Go back far enough and Humans and spiders have a common   
   > >ancestor. Probably hundreds of millions of years.   
   >   
   > Yeah, but none of Barclay's ancestors had actual spider genes.  They   
   > only came into being on a different branch of the evolutionary tree.   
   > You might be able to "de-evolve" both a human and a spider to get back   
   > to that same common ancestor, but you can't turn the spider into a   
   > human or the human into a spider that way.  Neither has the correct   
   > genes (active or inactive) from that other branch.  You can't   
   > reactivate something that simply isn't there.   
      
   Yeah.  Crusher could probably make Barclay into an amoeba, and then in   
   trying to bring him forward end up with a spider, both through her own   
   massive incompetence, but directly is a tough sell.   
      
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