Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-86.46.22.35-20130403153709/@comment-64.33.250.214-20140816225559

Genes only change through mutation or gene therapy. Environmental factors do influence physical traits, but do not usually alter genes themselves (unless it's certain radiation or a mutagen). Anyway, a teenager can be intimidating to a much younger child, and one would want a clone of Big Boss to have normal emotional and mental development, which an accelerated childhood would likely cause consequences for.

As for Dolly, her genome (genetic information) was six years old, but that wouldn't make her physically that age. You're probably referring to the possible inheritance of genetic defects, which her "mother" may have developed during her own lifetime.

Also, just a helpful tip in case you aren't aware, any extraneous text can be deleted when quoting previous posts, to avoid repeating a lot of the discussion again. Perhaps "change" isn't the best word for it. What I meant to say was that genes are constantly being expanded upon. Inheritance and cloning can't determine these expansions. They can only be determined by lifestyle choices. You may not lose the genes you inherit from your parents, but your genes will be built upon in ways your parent's genes will not. There are numerous articles on how diet alone can change your genes without completely changing genetic structure.

This is an excerpt from an article on how diet effects genes:

"One way that we can influence genes without changing their basic structure is through the foods we eat. It may be that our genes load the gun, but our lifestyle pulls the trigger. The impact of nutrition on our genes is often called nutrigenomics."

Here's another one:

"Our genes are modified by the choices we make every day – the foods we put in our bodies, the chemicals we are exposed to, how active we opt to be, and even our social environments."

Going by this, clones will never truly be identical on a cellular level. The gene that triggers Big Boss's gray hair, may trigger sooner or later depending on the lifestyle of his clones. Likewise the age that wrinkles form, or skin blemishes like freckles, moles, and acne. The triggering of these genes are dependent on lifestyle conditions and environmental exposure.

In Solidus's case, his genes would be adversely triggered if he were 6 years old from birth like Dolly. It would determine when acclerated aging began and how much of an effect it had.

Barring retcons, Solidus would be no more than 16 by the time he established his child soldiers. He could even be younger than that. I just can't personally picture someone with the physical appearance of a 16 year old (or younger) leading a group of child soldiers. Most children know not to get in a van with a creepy adult, let alone take orders to commit mass murder from someone barely in high school.

Nor does the CIA tend to hire teens. According to one online website, the general age for applying to the CIA is 25-35. The legal age for US presidency is also 35. Which supports the idea that Solidus's accelerated aging started early, and perhaps stopped (or slowed down) once he looked old enough to become President.

Solidus would adapt easier than others to an accelerated childhood, due to him having genius level intelligence. Of course, he might struggle coping a bit. We know the clones, particularly Solidus and Liquid, suffered from major identity crisis.