Difference between revisions of "Guide to Genetics"

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There are a wide variety of mutations, some commonplace and simple, some extremely powerful and rare. Some are beneficial, some are detrimental, some are situational, and some are just wacky and fun. There are more mutations than those listed here, so feel free to research and find mutations on your own! Clicking the blue '''ABIL''' tab on your hotbar will toggle between standard options and your available mutation powers.
There are a wide variety of mutations, some commonplace and simple, some extremely powerful and rare. Some are beneficial, some are detrimental, some are situational, and some are just wacky and fun. There are more mutations than those listed here, so feel free to research and find mutations on your own! Clicking the blue '''ABIL''' tab on your hotbar will toggle between standard options and your available mutation powers.


Each mutation also has a set Stability level. You start out with 100 genetic stability, and if you are injected with mutations not in your genetic potential, this number will increase and decrease. Typically speaking, the more powerful the mutation, the bigger the stability penalty. Some genetic mutations, usually the debilitating ones, can actually ''increase'' your stability instead. If you reach sufficiently low levels of stability, extremely bad things will end up happening, up to and including spontaneous gibbing. Activating mutations from one's potential doesn't increase this value at all, though!
Each mutation also has a set Stability level. You start out with 100 genetic stability, and if you are injected with mutations not in your genetic potential, this number will increase and decrease. Typically speaking, the more powerful the mutation, the bigger the stability penalty. Some genetic mutations, usually the debilitating ones, can actually ''increase'' your stability instead. If you reach sufficiently low levels of stability, extremely bad things will end up happening, up to and including spontaneous gibbing. Activating mutations from the Potential pool don't effect Stability at all, it only happens with Injected mutations.


Certain chromosomes can change the effects of certain mutations, such as removing the stability penalty, making otherwise harmful mutations harmless, or making them more powerful. Experiment!
Certain chromosomes can change the effects of certain mutations, such as removing the stability penalty, making otherwise harmful mutations harmless, or making them more powerful. Experiment!
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|<font color=red>Harmful</font>
|<font color=red>Harmful</font>
| +20
| +20
| You no longer see action messages about what people are doing. This includes your own actions. To fix this without modifying DNA, you can equip a pair of [[Medical Objects#VISOR|VISOR Goggles]].
|You no longer see action messages about what people are doing. This includes your own actions. To fix this without modifying DNA, you can equip a pair of [[Medical Objects#VISOR|VISOR Goggles]].


|- id="Frontal Gyrus Suspension"
|- id="Frontal Gyrus Suspension"
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|<font color=red>Harmful</font>
|<font color=red>Harmful</font>
| +20
| +20
| You become mute, you are unable to speak. Mutadone ''cannot'' cure this if it is caused by [[Admin|admins]], for [[Rules#Punishments|obvious reasons]].  
|You become mute, you are unable to speak. Mutadone ''cannot'' cure this if it is caused by [[Admin|admins]], for [[Rules#Punishments|obvious reasons]].  


|- id="Deafness"
|- id="Deafness"
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|<font color=red>Harmful</font>
|<font color=red>Harmful</font>
| +20
| +20
| You can't hear anything. Blessed silence may come as a relief once you've gotten sick of the regular radio chatter. To fix this without modifying DNA, you can equip an [[Medical Objects#Auditory Headset|auditory headset]].
|You can't hear anything. Blessed silence may come as a relief once you've gotten sick of the regular radio chatter. To fix this without modifying DNA, you can equip an [[Medical Objects#Auditory Headset|auditory headset]].


|- id="Radioactive"
|- id="Radioactive"
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| <font color=red>Harmful</font>
| <font color=red>Harmful</font>
| +5
| +5
| Randomly causes bouts of movement confusion.
|Randomly causes bouts of movement confusion.


|- id="Glowy"
|- id="Glowy"
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|<font color=blue>Harmless</font>
|<font color=blue>Harmless</font>
| +5
| +5
| Your speech will often come out as excited shouts in '''ALL CAPS''', be ''horribly'' misspelled, and instead of saying "say" before everything you, well... ''say'', it will say that you "gibbered". Also, sometimes things you say will be broadcast over the radio if you are wearing one, in all its '''CAPS''' filled glory, whether you want it to or not.
|Your speech will often come out as excited shouts in '''ALL CAPS''', be ''horribly'' misspelled, and instead of saying "say" before everything you, well... ''say'', it will say that you "gibbered". Also, sometimes things you say will be broadcast over the radio if you are wearing one, in all its '''CAPS''' filled glory, whether you want it to or not.


|- id="Frontal Gyrus Alteration"
|- id="Frontal Gyrus Alteration"
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|<font color=blue>Harmless</font>
|<font color=blue>Harmless</font>
|0
|0
| Makes you look (more) like a doofus.
|Makes you look (more) like a doofus.


|- id="Apocrine Enhancement"
|- id="Apocrine Enhancement"
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|<font color=blue>Harmless</font>
|<font color=blue>Harmless</font>
|0
|0
| Gives you a serious case of the stinks, causing people nearby to get ''wonderful'' messages about how nice the room smells.
|Gives you a serious case of the stinks, causing people nearby to get ''wonderful'' messages about how nice the room smells.


|- id="Fire Resistance"
|- id="Fire Resistance"
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|<font color=green>Beneficial</font>
|<font color=green>Beneficial</font>
| -10
| -10
|You are immune to heat changes. You gain an aura which flicks between orange and blue.
|You are immune to all changes in temperature, fire and ice. You gain an aura which flicks between orange and blue.


|- id="Alcohol Resistance"
|- id="Alcohol Resistance"
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|<font color=green>Beneficial (Mostly)</font>
|<font color=green>Beneficial (Mostly)</font>
| -15
| -15
|You are protected from electrical energy. Useful when the [[AI]] is shocking everything and you are lacking [[Engineering Objects#Insulated Gloves|insulated gloves]]. This includes [[Medical Objects#Tools|defibrillators]].
|You are protected from electrical energy. Useful when the [[AI]] is shocking everything or a malicious Engineer has hotwired the engine and you are lacking [[Engineering Objects#Insulated Gloves|insulated gloves]]. On the flip side however, this includes [[Medical Objects#Tools|defibrillators]].


|- id="Jumpy"
|- id="Jumpy"
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|<font color=green>Beneficial</font>
|<font color=green>Beneficial</font>
| -5
| -5
|You gain a jump that moves you half a screen in no time at all.
|You gain a jump that moves you half a screen in no time at all. Just make sure you don't use it while inside a container/vehicle of some sort, or you won't like the result...


|- id="Chameleon"
|- id="Chameleon"
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|<font color=green>Beneficial</font>
|<font color=green>Beneficial</font>
| 0
| 0
| You can no longer be mind-read or telepathically spoken to.
| You cannot be mind-read or telepathically spoken to. Doesn't affect the [[Admin|admin]]'s telepathy, obviously.


|- id="Empathic Thought"
|- id="Empathic Thought"
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|<font color=green>Beneficial</font>
|<font color=green>Beneficial</font>
| -5
| -5
| You can eat ''many'' more items than normal, like [[Syndicate Items|weapons from disarmed opponents]], or even your own limbs!
| You can eat ''many'' more items than normal, like [[Syndicate Items|weapons from disarmed opponents]], or even your own body parts! Just remember that you need certain body parts to live...


|- id="Telekinetic Pull"
|- id="Telekinetic Pull"
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| <font color=red>Harmful</font>
| <font color=red>Harmful</font>
| -5
| -5
| You can turn yourself into a liquid. If it's not Synchronized, you can not turn back again; RIP. If it is Synchronized, it's a version of the wizard's teleport; beware however that trying to use it anywhere you would not be allowed to teleport will trigger the un-synchronized effect and cause instant death.
| You can turn yourself into a liquid. If it's not Synchronized, you can not turn back again; RIP. If it ''is'' Synchronized, it's a genetic version of the wizard's teleport; beware however that trying to use it anywhere you would not be allowed to teleport (like the {{Adventure Zone}}, you filthy cheater!) will trigger the un-synchronized effect and cause instant death.


|- id="Incendiary Mitochondria"
|- id="Incendiary Mitochondria"
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| <font color=green>Beneficial</font>
| <font color=green>Beneficial</font>
| -40
| -40
| Prevents you from taking any damage from lack of oxygen and harmful gases, effectively giving you the [[Changeling|changeling's]] ability to be in low-oxygen environments or in the presence of leaked plasma with no negative effects. If this mutation is received while taking suffocation damage, your damage "locks" to its current value.
| Prevents you from taking any damage from lack of oxygen and inhaling harmful gases like plasma (but not [[Chemistry|chemical smokes]], you still need internals for those!). If this mutation is received while taking suffocation damage, your damage "locks" to its current value.


|- id="Apidae Metabolism"
|- id="Apidae Metabolism"
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| <font color=blue>Harmless</font>
| <font color=blue>Harmless</font>
| 0
| 0
| Your skin begins to rapidly flash different colors. Falls under Body Type Genetics.
| Your skin begins to rapidly flash different colors, similar to [[Virus#GBS|GBS]]' symptom but without any of the deadliness. Falls under Body Type Genetics.


|- id="Booster Gene"
|- id="Booster Gene"
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| <font color=blue>Harmless</font>
| <font color=blue>Harmless</font>
| 0
| 0
| Changes your snap and slap noises.
| Changes your snap and slap noises. This doesn't mean you can't still snap your fingers off!


|- id="Dermal Glitter"
|- id="Dermal Glitter"
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| <font color=green>Beneficial</font>
| <font color=green>Beneficial</font>
| -20
| -20
| Allows you to enter a pocket dimension, rendering you immune to any and all outside events, but you're unable to move while within this space until you exit. Any effects that are doing damage to you such as a heart attack or damage from poison still happen.
| Allows you to enter a pocket dimension, rendering you immune to any and all outside events, but you're unable to move while within this space until you exit. Basically, an indestructible, incorporeal closet on command. Any effects that are doing damage to you such as a heart attack or damage from poison still happen.


|- id="Ethanol Production"
|- id="Ethanol Production"
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| <font color=green>Beneficial</font>
| <font color=green>Beneficial</font>
| -15
| -15
| Increases the depletion rate of all chemicals in your bloodstream. Note that this is not exclusive to poisons: It affects ALL chemicals.
| Increases the depletion rate of all chemicals in your bloodstream. Note that this is not exclusive to poisons; it affects '''all''' chemicals.


|- id="Ossification"
|- id="Ossification"
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| <font color=blue>Spooky</font>
| <font color=blue>Spooky</font>
| 0
| 0
| You turn into a skeleton. This has no other effect. Falls under Body Type Genetics.
| You turn into a spooky skeleton. This has no other effect. Falls under Body Type Genetics.


|- id="Paranoia"
|- id="Paranoia"
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| <font color=green>Beneficial</font>
| <font color=green>Beneficial</font>
| -40
| -40
| Causes you to slowly regenerate brute and burn damage. Also regenerates lost limbs.
| Causes you to slowly regenerate brute and burn damage. Also regenerates lost limbs over time.


|- id="Spatial Destabilization"
|- id="Spatial Destabilization"
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| <font color=red>Harmful</font>
| <font color=red>Harmful</font>
| -15
| -15
| Causes you to teleport at random.
| Causes you to teleport at random. Fortunately you can't teleport onto space tiles. Unfortunately you ''can'' teleport onto things ''covering'' space tiles, like catwalks.


|- id="Toxic Resistance"
|- id="Toxic Resistance"
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| Meta-Neural Haze  
| Meta-Neural Haze  
| N/A
| N/A
| <font color=red>???</font>
| <font color=blue>Harmless</font>
| ??
| ??
| "Causes the subject's brain to emit waves that make the subject's body difficult to observe."
| Your character can't be Examined.
|}
|}



Revision as of 09:35, 26 January 2016

Here we go, time to make superheroes!

Geneticists have access to "GeneTek" consoles and scanners. These devices can, with enough patience, reward you with superpowers, crippling disabilities, or just amusing mutations.

Cracking the Code

Mutations are composed of a series of paired blocks. Each block contains the values G, A, C, T (Guanine, Adenine, Cytosine, and Thymine respectively) or is empty. In each pair of blocks, a G block always links to a C block, and a T block always links to an A block, but the order in which these appear in the block can vary.

Every person (and monkey) on the station will have a range of latent mutations, also known as their potential, which are mutations with missing blocks buried in the subject's genetic code. The overarching goal of genetics is to activate these latent mutations among the crew, and there are two ways of doing this:

  • Put the person/monkey in the scanner. The GeneTek console will then allows you to select blocks and modify them. Some values can be figured out immediately, while others need simple guesswork as you go through each possible combination. Once the correct code is entered, the user can then activate the mutation. It will no longer appear in Potential, and is now located in the Mutations section.
  • Create a DNA activator for the mutation, which when used on someone will instantly fill in all their missing blocks and activate the mutation, as well as having other benefits (see below). You can create an activator through the Potential section of the GeneTek interface if your target is in the scanner, or through the View DNA Samples section if the target isn't. Note that DNA activators will only work if the corresponding mutation is part of the target's potential; using an Obesity activator for someone who doesn't have Obesity in their potential will do nothing.

The second method is much faster than the first, and is the geneticist's primary method of distributing mutations among the crew. Additionally, an activator that is successfully used on a human with turn transparent and become a filled DNA activator. This can then be used on the genetics console in order to redeem it, providing the Geneticist with either materials, valuable chromosomes or unlock codes, as well as a reduction in the cost of research. As this provides the most reward for genetics, this should be what a good geneticist does to advance their research, especially early on in the round. If you need to redeem more activators, the easiest way to do that is to get a monkey, use the "body type" option on the console to turn it into a human, and use activators on that. Please note that if you try this on an unrestrained monkey, it will attempt to kill you, tips to prevent this are provided below.

There are, however, two advantages to the first method: The correct sequence of blocks will be stored in the GeneTek, letting you instantly activate the gene without guessing or waiting for activator creation to cool down, and you can activate the gene without letting the target out of the scanner, which may be beneficial if doing so would result in bodily damage to the Geneticist, like that monkey you just made into a fire-breathing crime against nature.

Within a round, all subjects with a specific mutation will have the exact same DNA code required to unlock it. Once you've activated a mutation the slow way once, an autocomplete button will appear in Potential, letting you instantly activate that mutation on a target in the scanner. This also means that if, for example, one human has half the code for Fire Resist and another has the other half, you can simply put the two together to figure out the full code. By clicking on the green vertical line connecting pairs of blocks, you can highlight that pair, which is useful for marking parts of the mutation which haven't been figured out yet.

The Building Blocks of Life

When a person (or monkey) is put into the scanner, the GeneTek console menu will show several options:

  • Potential - This is where you go to mess with DNA and activate mutations.
  • Mutations - Shows mutations which are active.
  • Research Menu - Shows the research that is currently taking place, and shows possible research and finished research. It also contains the DNA Samples. DNA materials can also be bought by spending money from the station's research budget.
  • Change Body Type - This lets you change the occupant into a variety of lovely forms depending on what mutations you've researched, such as a lizardman or a giant cockroach. By default, Human and Primal Genetics (monkey) are available.
  • View DNA Samples - NanoTrasen takes a DNA sample from every crewmember when they join up and provides them to you here.
  • View Stored Mutations - see the section below on storing and combining mutations.
  • View Stored Chromosomes - see the section on Chromosomes below.

In addition to this, the console will show you the occupant's health and genetic stability. It is important to keep an eye on both of these attributes, as there is a finite amount of air in the scanner, and loading your occupant up with multiple mutations can have detrimental effects.

The printer icon at the bottom left is used to print out the current page onto a piece of paper, if you want to do that for some reason.

Icons

The following icons and numbers will appear beside the Research Menu button as you perform research:

Research Time.png This is the number of seconds you must wait until a piece of tracked research is completed.

DNA Injector Icon.png This is the number of seconds you must wait until a DNA Injector or DNA Activator can be created. Injectors require a longer pause than Activators.

Reclaimer Cooldown.png This is the number of seconds you must wait until the DNA Reclaimer can be used.

Emitter Cooldown.png This is the number of seconds you must wait until the Radiation Emitters can be used.

Analyzer Cooldown.png This is the number of seconds you must wait until the Gene Sequence Checker can be used.

Monkey Discipline

If you don't want to be rapidly beaten to death by enraged monkeys seeking revenge for their horrible mutations, there are several tips you need to be aware of.

  • Never leave the door to the monkey enclosure open. Once you're through, click it to prevent monkeys getting into the operating theatre. This is important, as once they get in there, they like to pick up staple guns or toolboxes. Not only does this make their attacks against you more lethal, it also means they're able to break the glass separating you from them.
  • Restrain your monkey. There are a few ways to do this. You can use a straitjacket or handcuffs to prevent them from attacking you. This works, but the monkey will still attempt to rush at you if angered. It won't be able to harm you, but will be very annoying for you and your geneticist colleague, you can alleviate this somewhat by buckling yourself to your chair. Alternately, you can use the bedsheets or the blindfold to blind the monkey. This is preferable as it will stay perfectly still and not attack, whatever you do to it. Blindfolds, straitjackets and bedsheets can be found in the small room west of the operating theatre.
  • It's best to put your restraining item on the monkey in the monkey enclosure, then use pull to bring it in to the genetics lab, as you risk it escaping your grasp and picking up something from medbay on the way. Whatever you do, don't grab it as the others will attack. Putting the restraining item on is annoyingly finicky as they like to move away before you complete the action, but if you stand so that the monkey is between you and the wall you should be able to do it before it moves away.

Normal Workflow

Unless you have a specific plan that requires you complete genetic codes, this is what you should be doing on a standard shift as the geneticist.

  • Have a look into your own DNA on the samples page, do some research and see if there's anything you'd like to activate. If there is, create an activator for each mutation, and then redeem it into the console.
  • Restrain a monkey and put it into the scanner. Use the body type button to turn it into a human, then research its potential mutations.
  • For each mutation the monkey-turned-human has, vend an activator, eject the monkey from the scanner, use the activator on the monkey, redeem the spent activator in the console, then put the monkey back in the scanner.
  • Steadily work your way through the research upgrades for your equipment.
  • Once you have activated all of a monkey's genes, you can use the scrambler to remove all mutations and provide a new set to begin activating. Be aware that unless you have researched Biotic Radiation Dampeners, this will cause radiation damage each time it's used which risks killing your monkey.
  • Once you research DNA Injectors and Mutation Storage, the real fun of genetics begins. At this point you can begin storing desirable mutations from your monkey, combining them with either chromosomes or with other mutations, and then using injectors to pass these mutations on to others. You can continue to scramble your monkey's DNA to find mutations to store.

Walkthrough - Completing the Code

So, we're trying to make someone fat, and they have Obesity in their latent genes. Normally it would be preferable to create an Activator for this and jab them with it, but let's say that's undesirable or impossible, so we're doing this the long way.

Genetek3.png

To start, fill up any half-filled pairs, A goes with T, G goes with C.

Genetek4.png

The unfilled pairs must be filled in with every combination of AT, TA, GC and CG possible until the words "Sequence Stable. Activate?" appear. This can be quite tough if there is more than one pair, however researching the Gene Sequence checker can make this much easier.

Genetek6.png

Click "Activate" and you're done!

Locked pairs

You may notice some pairs have a little lock between them, click on them to begin a game:

 SCANNER ALERT: Encryption is a 2-character code.
 Possible characters in this code: G C 

A specific chain of letters must be entered to unlock the pair of blocks. The only possible combinations here are GG, GC, CG and CC.

If your answer is wrong, the machine will show you how close you are to the correct answer. Let's assume we entered GG and this was the result:

 SCANNER ALERT: Decryption failed.
 0/2 correct characters in entered code.
 0/2 characters in correct position.
 Attempts remaining: 1.

This shows that there is no G in the code, and thus the code must be CC!

Some codes will be this simple, but others will have up to 4 characters. Some genes will even have multiple locked pairs. Most of the more powerful genes have some of their pairs locked, so it can be worth the effort!

Chromosomes

Every time a DNA activator is used and successfully activates a mutation (i.e. the target had the latent mutation and it was not already active) on a human (not a monkey), it becomes a filled DNA activator which can be placed back in the GeneTek. Doing this will gain one of several benefits:

  • Extra research material
  • A free unlock for a locked pair (when asked to guess at a locked pair, you'll be told you have free unlocks available, and entering UNLOCK as your guess will instantly unlock it)
  • A random chromosome.

Chromosomes are modifiers that can be spliced with existing mutations to improve or alter their abilities. Each mutation can only be spliced once, but the modified mutation can be stored and applied multiple times. They come in multiple forms:

  • Stabilizer: Removes the genetic stability penalty from the mutation.
  • Synchronizer: Makes the mutation less dangerous to the user. This has multiple different effects depending on the mutation it's spliced with.
  • Weakener: Makes the mutation give more genetic material when reclaimed.
  • Reinforcer: Makes the mutation mutadone-proof, meaning that the only way it can be removed is through the genetics console.
  • Power Booster: Makes the mutation more powerful! Note that this only affects ability mutations, i.e. mutations that appear in the DNA hotbar.
  • Energy Booster: Halves the cooldown time associated with any activated ability the mutant grants.

Testing

Since the genetics scanner is tied to the medical database, you have access to everybody's DNA sample right from the start. They can be found by going to View DNA Samples in the View Research tab. From there, you can select the name of the person you want to work on. You can't alter the code of a sample while the person isn't in the scanner, but you can note what powers they have and activate them when the person visits genetics, or just create an activator and take it to them (don't just stab people out of nowhere, though, since people don't like that). Of course, your first activity in most rounds will be to create activators for all your own desirable mutations, because the only thing better than getting superpowers is getting superpowers and material/chromosome bonuses at once!

IMPORTANT: If left in the scanner for too long, the scanner can run out of air and people can begin to suffocate! Consider giving your test subjects some internals to circumvent this.

Research

Every mutation can be researched to find out what it does. If a mutation has not been researched, it is simply titled Unknown Mutation. Each mutation only needs to be researched once. Research is conducted by spending research materials, which are slowly gained over time. Additional research materials can be bought by spending money from the station's research budget.

Extra features and upgrades to the machine can be bought directly from the Research Menu section. Research starts at tier 1, and higher tiers are unlocked when lower tiers are completed. In addition, some research options only unlock when you fulfill certain conditions, such as researching a particular number of mutations.

All research costs are reduced every time a) a filled DNA activator is put into a GeneTek, or b) someone is cloned with Genetic Analysis enabled on the cloner.

Research Tier Research Time Materials Cost Effect
Mutation Research None 60 seconds 20 Shows the name of that particular mutation and gives a brief description of it.
Radiation Emitters 1 90 seconds 80 Installs radiation emitters in the scanner, allowing you to re-roll the pool of potential mutations of a person. This will cause severe radiation poisoning that will have to be treated. This can not be used on dead organisms and has a cooldown time of 3 minutes.
Gene Sequence Checker 1 90 seconds 50 Installs analysis equipment in the scanner that allows users to check how many base pairs are stable. It has a cooldown of one minute. Correct DNA pairs will turn blue. Incorrect DNA pairs will turn red.
Advanced Mutation Research 1 90 seconds 50 Halves the base cost and time of researching a mutation and enables the ability to see, research, and activate secret mutations. Secret mutations are highlighted in purple and are generally very powerful and/or unique.
Biotic Cooling Mechanisms 1 90 seconds 150 Applies genetic research to halve the cooldown times for all equipment.
Body Type Research 2 60 seconds 40 Lets you change the body type of people in the scanner to any type discovered via genetic mutations. (Aquatic Genes, Blattodean Genes, etc.)
DNA Reclaimer 2 240 seconds 100 Allows unwanted genes to be converted into research materials. It has a two minute cooldown and has a chance to fail depending on what gene is being reclaimed.
Radiation Dampeners 2 180 seconds 80 Reduces the amount of harmful radiation caused by Radiation Emitters
DNA Injectors 2 240 seconds 120 Allows the manufacture of syringes that can insert researched genes into other subjects. Syringes cost 40 materials to manufacture.
Emitter Coolant System 2 180 seconds 120 Reduces the amount of time required for Radiation Emitters to cool down.
Mutation Storage 3 300 seconds 100 Allows for storage of up to three genes in the GeneTek console for the purposes of combination or transference into new recipients. The genes must be researched and activated before storage. Stored mutations can be combined, resulting in rare or even completely unique mutations! Experiment!
Precision Radiation Emitters 3 300 seconds 150 Upgrades the Radiation Emitters in the scanner so they can target single genes at a time. The gene must have been researched first, and doing this has a longer cooldown and greater irradiation amount than regular emitters.
Improved Material Storage 3 300 seconds 125 Increases the maximum number of research materials to 150.
Biotic Radiation Dampeners 3 250 seconds 100 Completely removes the harmful effects of the Radiation Emitters.
Expanded Mutation Storage 4 450 seconds 120 Adds two additional saving slots for mutations, for a total of 5.

Injectors

DNA Injectors are made from either stored mutations (using the Mutation Storage research described below) or subjects with active mutations. Upon jabbing someone with a DNA Injector, the corresponding mutation will be activated in the target, even if they didn't have that mutation in their genetic potential, effectively meaning that you can give anyone any mutation! On the downside, giving someone mutations not already in their genetic potential will also cause damage to their genetic stability. More on that later.

Mutations

Dnahotbar.png

There are a wide variety of mutations, some commonplace and simple, some extremely powerful and rare. Some are beneficial, some are detrimental, some are situational, and some are just wacky and fun. There are more mutations than those listed here, so feel free to research and find mutations on your own! Clicking the blue ABIL tab on your hotbar will toggle between standard options and your available mutation powers.

Each mutation also has a set Stability level. You start out with 100 genetic stability, and if you are injected with mutations not in your genetic potential, this number will increase and decrease. Typically speaking, the more powerful the mutation, the bigger the stability penalty. Some genetic mutations, usually the debilitating ones, can actually increase your stability instead. If you reach sufficiently low levels of stability, extremely bad things will end up happening, up to and including spontaneous gibbing. Activating mutations from the Potential pool don't effect Stability at all, it only happens with Injected mutations.

Certain chromosomes can change the effects of certain mutations, such as removing the stability penalty, making otherwise harmful mutations harmless, or making them more powerful. Experiment!

Power Message Danger Level Stability Effect
Blindness You can't see anything. Harmful +20 You no longer see action messages about what people are doing. This includes your own actions. To fix this without modifying DNA, you can equip a pair of VISOR Goggles.
Frontal Gyrus Suspension You are unable to express yourself. Harmful +20 You become mute, you are unable to speak. Mutadone cannot cure this if it is caused by admins, for obvious reasons.
Deafness It's quiet. Too quiet. Harmful +20 You can't hear anything. Blessed silence may come as a relief once you've gotten sick of the regular radio chatter. To fix this without modifying DNA, you can equip an auditory headset.
Radioactive You feel a strange sickness permeate your whole body Harmful -10 You suffer from radiation sickness and cause the same to nearby people. May also give you more bad mutations.
Dyspraxia You feel kind of off-balance and disoriented. Harmful +5 Randomly causes bouts of movement confusion.
Glowy Your skin begins to glow softly. Harmless 0 You permanently emit a light with a random color and intensity.
Dwarfism Did everything just get bigger? Harmless 0 You are smaller. At the start of the round, Miners may spawn with this mutation.
Tourettes Your thoughts become disorderly and hard to control. Harmless +5 Your speech will often come out as excited shouts in ALL CAPS, be horribly misspelled, and instead of saying "say" before everything you, well... say, it will say that you "gibbered". Also, sometimes things you say will be broadcast over the radio if you are wearing one, in all its CAPS filled glory, whether you want it to or not.
Frontal Gyrus Alteration Variable Harmless (Mostly) 0 (Mostly) There are several variations of this mutation. Each one effects speech in a different way, such as faltering speech, low-talking, and talking Swedish. The chef will commonly spawn with Swedishness, Bork Bork Bork!
Cranial Keratin Formation A pair of horns erupt from your head. Harmless 0 Makes you look (more) like a doofus.
Apocrine Enhancement You feel sweaty. Harmless 0 Gives you a serious case of the stinks, causing people nearby to get wonderful messages about how nice the room smells.
Fire Resistance You feel cold. Beneficial -10 You are immune to high temperature and fire. You have a noticeable orange aura.
Cold Resistance You feel warm. Beneficial -10 You are immune to low temperature and ice. You have a noticeable blue aura.
Thermal Resistance N/A Beneficial -10 You are immune to all changes in temperature, fire and ice. You gain an aura which flicks between orange and blue.
Alcohol resistance You feel unusually sober. Beneficial 0 You are a bit more immune to alcohol I.E: You can drink Bo Jack Daniel's without passing out, but you will still get fairly smashed. At the start of the round, the detective, HoS and barman will normally spawn with this mutation.
SMES Human Your hair stands on end. Beneficial (Mostly) -15 You are protected from electrical energy. Useful when the AI is shocking everything or a malicious Engineer has hotwired the engine and you are lacking insulated gloves. On the flip side however, this includes defibrillators.
Jumpy Your leg muscles feel strong and taut. Beneficial -5 You gain a jump that moves you half a screen in no time at all. Just make sure you don't use it while inside a container/vehicle of some sort, or you won't like the result...
Chameleon You feel at one with your surroundings. Beneficial -20 You become invisible while standing still. This can work against you in more ways than one. (Note that this and other invisibility mutations make you deaf when invisible.)
Cloak of Darkness You meld into the shadows. Beneficial -20 You're invisible while in the dark. vampires also get this power. Unlike vampires however, you cannot toggle it on or off. (Note that this and other invisibility mutations make you deaf when invisible.)
High-pressure intestines Your stomach grumbles unpleasantly. Beneficial -15 Blow away your foes with your tremendous farts! Beware: if Empowered, you will not just blow away your foes, but also yourself.
Cryokinesis You notice a strange cold tingle in your fingertips. Beneficial -10 You gain the ability to cool people down significantly by firing a ball of ice at them, and to get on everyone's nerves by creating patches of slippery ice on the floor.
Telepathy You can hear your own voice echoing in your mind. Beneficial -5 You gain the ability to communicate telepathically. Don't use this to impersonate admins, lest you want to earn yourself a ban.
Optic Energizer Your eyes ache and burn. Beneficial -10 You gain the ability to fire laser beams from your eyes.
Meta-Neural Enhancement Your mind feels closed. Beneficial 0 You cannot be mind-read or telepathically spoken to. Doesn't affect the admin's telepathy, obviously.
Empathic Thought You suddenly notice more about others than you did before. Beneficial -5 You can read the minds of others, telling you things such as their current intent, and numbers that might be important to them. Wizards start will a spell much like this, but theirs shows the owner of the mind being read's current location.
Matter Eater You feel hungry. Beneficial -5 You can eat many more items than normal, like weapons from disarmed opponents, or even your own body parts! Just remember that you need certain body parts to live...
Telekinetic Pull You feel your consciousness expand outwards. Beneficial -15 You can send unanchored items flying from afar by click-dragging them from one tile to another. You can also perform a Telekinetic Smash, which throws all unanchored objects near to a location into it. Works great with X-ray vision.
Gamma Ray Exposure You feel your muscles swell to an immense size. Beneficial -25 Your skin turns green, and you can punch through walls. Hulk wears off after a while just like in "real life", though there might be a way to negate this...
X-Ray vision You suddenly seem to be able to see through everything. Beneficial -30 Basically it's just like you put on both a pair of Optical Meson Scanners and Optical Thermal Scanners at the same time, as it lets you can see through walls, see cloaked people, and removes darkness.
High Decay Digestion Your stomach grumbles unpleasantly. Harmful -10 Your farts create butts of jenkem, which goes straight into the bloodstream of anyone who breathes it in.
Obesity You feel bloated and lethargic. Harmful +5 Is fat. You are so fat that people may struggle to push your fat ass out of the way. Some of your clothes may also rip due to your extreme girth. Also makes it harder to find your neck.
Self Biomass Manipulation Your skin and joints feel loose. Harmful -5 You can turn yourself into a liquid. If it's not Synchronized, you can not turn back again; RIP. If it is Synchronized, it's a genetic version of the wizard's teleport; beware however that trying to use it anywhere you would not be allowed to teleport (like the Template:Adventure Zone, you filthy cheater!) will trigger the un-synchronized effect and cause instant death.
Incendiary Mitochondria You feel like you are burning up. Harmful -10 You set yourself on fire and become a human torch. This is a very bad thing if you don't want to burn alive. If you have Heat Resistance this will instead fizzle and do nothing.
Epilepsy You twitch. Harmful +10 You will occasionally have seizures, being stunned on the floor for the duration of them. You will shake violently, and due to a bug the twitching will persist even after the mutation is removed.
Chronic Cough You start coughing. Harmful 0 You occasionally cough, dropping anything in your hands.
Diminished Optic Nerves Your vision blurs. Harmful +5 Your vision becomes blurred, and darkened outside a small radius. Can be counteracted with Prescription Glasses.
Adrenaline Rush You feel hype! Beneficial -5 Gives you an activated ability that allows you to recover from stuns by putting various stimulating and painkilling drugs in your bloodstream. Also one of the only genetic mutations that can be used while incapacitated.
Anaerobic Metabolism Your lungs feel strangely empty. Beneficial -40 Prevents you from taking any damage from lack of oxygen and inhaling harmful gases like plasma (but not chemical smokes, you still need internals for those!). If this mutation is received while taking suffocation damage, your damage "locks" to its current value.
Apidae Metabolism You feel buzzed. Harmless 0 Doesn't seem to do anything at first. However, if sugar is put into the bloodstream through any means, it has...interesting effects.
Body Type Genetics Various Harmless 0 Completely cosmetic, changes your character look to that of various things such as a lizard person or a giant roach. Can only have one at a time. (Melanin Eraser, Bio-luminescent and the like also fall into this category.)
Bioluminecent Overdrive Your skin begins flashing! Harmless 0 Your skin begins to rapidly flash different colors, similar to GBS' symptom but without any of the deadliness. Falls under Body Type Genetics.
Booster Gene N/A ? ? Booster Genes are a group of five different, mysterious genetic mutations that, on their own, do absolutely nothing. However, they are said to interact with other activated genes in various and interesting ways.
Constricted Larynx ...you feel like being quiet... Harmless 0 Causes your text to become really, really small.
Corprolalia You can't seem to shut up! Harmless 0 Causes you to randomly shout random swear words.
Dactyl Crystalization Your fingers and toes turn transparent and crystalline. Harmless 0 Changes your snap and slap noises. This doesn't mean you can't still snap your fingers off!
Dermal Glitter Your skin looks all blinged out. Harmless 0 Makes you sparkle as if you're carrying an item made of gold.
Dimensional Shift You begin to see a small blue light... Beneficial -20 Allows you to enter a pocket dimension, rendering you immune to any and all outside events, but you're unable to move while within this space until you exit. Basically, an indestructible, incorporeal closet on command. Any effects that are doing damage to you such as a heart attack or damage from poison still happen.
Ethanol Production You feel drunk! Harmful 0 Causes you to constantly produce ethanol in your bloodstream, slowly making you extremely drunk.
Healing Touch Your hands radiate a comforting aura. Beneficial -10 Allows you to touch an adjacent human and heal a small amount of damage.
High-Pressure Larynx YOU SUDDENLY FEEL LIKE SHOUTING A WHOLE LOT!!! Harmless 0 YOUR TEXT BECOMES REALLY LARGE
Irritable Bowels You feel bloated and gassy. Harmless 0 Causes automatic and intermittent farting.
Melanin Stimulator N/A Harmless 0 Turns your skin and hair EXTREMELY dark. Falls under Body Type Genetics.
Melanin Suppressor N/A Harmless 0 Turns your hair and skin to an extremely light shade. Falls under Body Type Genetics.
Melanin Eraser N/A Harmless 0 Turns your hair and skin EXTREMELY light. Essentially albinism. Falls under Body Type Genetics.
Meta-Neural Antenna Your head is full of odd chatter. Beneficial -5 Allows you to hear the common radio channel (145.9) without a headset.
Midas Touch Your hands sparkle and gleam. Beneficial -5 Gives you the ability to turn certain items into solid gold! This includes your own butt (and other limbs).
Motor Neuron Signal Enhancement One of your limbs feels a bit strange and twitchy. Harmful +20 Causes a random limb to be chosen upon mutation acquirement. That limb will then proceed to strangle you, kick you in the head, and various other harmful actions.
Musculature Enhancement You feel buff! Beneficial 0 Gives you a slight strength bonus to mining. Maybe it has other uses...
Narcolepsy You feel sleepy. Harmful +5 Randomly causes you to fall asleep.
Natural Anti-Toxins Your pulse quickens. Beneficial -15 Increases the depletion rate of all chemicals in your bloodstream. Note that this is not exclusive to poisons; it affects all chemicals.
Ossification You feel kinda thin. Spooky 0 You turn into a spooky skeleton. This has no other effect. Falls under Body Type Genetics.
Paranoia They're out to get you! Harmless 0 Causes automatic and intermittent screaming.
Photokinesis Everything seems too dark! Beneficial -5 Allows you to create a radiant point of light.
Polymorphism You don't feel like yourself. Beneficial -15 Allows you to take on the appearance and name of a crewmember by touching them.
Pseudonecrosis N/A Beneficial -5 Causes you to be recognized as dead by all medical scanners and machinery.
Regeneration Your skin feels tingly and shifty. Beneficial -40 Causes you to slowly regenerate brute and burn damage. Also regenerates lost limbs over time.
Spatial Destabilization You feel a bit out of place. Harmful -15 Causes you to teleport at random. Fortunately you can't teleport onto space tiles. Unfortunately you can teleport onto things covering space tiles, like catwalks.
Toxic Resistance You feel refreshed and clean. Beneficial -40 "Locks" your current toxin damage and makes you immune to any further toxin damage. You will still be susceptible to any other effects of poisons, such as radiation, burn damage, stuns, and suffocation.
Unstable Refraction N/A Harmful -15 Causes you to randomly flicker in and out of invisibility at random.
Meta-Neural Haze N/A Harmless ?? Your character can't be Examined.

High Complexity DNA

This is a unique, rare mutation which cannot be researched or activated using an activator. It can also only be worked on if the carrier is physically in the scanner. When activated and stored using the Mutation Storage research, it serves as a wildcard for combining stored mutations, so you can very easily get some fascinating and rare mutations this way.

Combining Mutations

Once you have researched Mutation Storage, active mutations can be stored and combined to yield new and more useful mutations. Some of these are only available via combination, whereas others may appear (rarely) as potentials. There isn't any penalty to getting an invalid combo, so feel free to experiment and see what results you get!