Information About Super Mutants

ThaScout wrote:Average super mutants stand approximately 10.4 feet tall (although they typically stand with hunched backs that reduce them to about 7.8 feet) and weigh around 800 pounds, possibly even more. Their skin color is predominately grayish green in case of Mariposa mutants and yellow with tints of red and green in the case of Vault 87 ones, although some mutants with other skin colors also exist. Their skin is extremely tough, and their muscle and bone structure are enhanced well beyond the human norm.
Super mutant cells undergo cellular division at a greatly increased rate. Mitosis occurs at a rate 15% quicker than that found in pure strain humans. A super mutant's cellular structure is said to be highly similar to normal humans. Super mutant DNA strands are nearly flawless, with all of the recessive genes that produce many of the most common ailments like diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular disease eradicated from the genome. Those recessive genes which are commonly found in humans have been manipulated in such a way by the infection of the FEV virus as to bring about the best possible combination of genetic traits. A super mutant's RNA structure was also altered by the virus to produce more rapid transcription, resulting in the enhanced regenerative capacities of the mutated form.

The mutation produced by the FEV in this case has some severe side effects. Chief among them is sterility. As the gametes of the reproductive system consist of 'half-cells' comprising only 23 of the normal 46 chromosomes, they are perceived as 'damaged' cells by the FEV's integrated genetic sequences, which "repairs" them by restoring the missing chromosomes, which essentially renders the mutants sterile since their gametes lose the ability to recombine with other sex cells in sexual reproduction. Other side effects of this form of FEV infection include an alteration of the pigment cells of the epidermis. While the super mutants originating from Mariposa are sterile, they do not lose their sexual organs, but they do lose their secondary sexual characteristics, such as breasts. In contrast, East Coast super mutants lose all visible sexual characteristics.

While they will not normally die due to the normal effects of aging, super mutants are prone to senility, leading to tendencies to engage in near-psychotic, aggressive attacks against other humans and other creatures. As super mutants created by the modified strain of FEV as part of the Evolutionary Experimentation Program in the Capital Wasteland age, they grow consistently larger and stronger, eventually reaching heights of up to 2 stories.