[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-140918-en":3,"doc-seo-140918-105":31,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":92},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":20,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":21,"is_downloadable":21,"audit_status":21,"page_count":22,"language":23,"language_code":24,"site_id":25,"html_lang":24,"table_of_contents":26,"faqs":27,"seo_title":28,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":29,"read_time":30},140918,549768064622,"Lucas Vance","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_6f874abed73319feea01a86fa6f0fab8",8,"Research & Report","Mutation and Infertility in Science Fiction","Mutation in the science fiction genre is often portrayed with revulsion because it produces strange beings and alien others that threaten established humanity. Infertility is framed as a worldwide issue likely to affect up to one third of couples. The paper explains how mutation operates in nature, then surveys science-fiction mutations linked to infertility, clarifying the underlying science while highlighting when narratives stretch plausibility beyond acceptable artistic license.","Mutation and Infertility in Science Fiction  \nBy Victor Grech, Clare Vassallo and Ivan Callus  \nAbstract  \nMutation in the Science Fiction (SF) genre is viewed with revulsion as it results in strange beings, threatening monsters and alien others. Infertility is a common problem, worldwide, that will eventually affect up to a third of couples. This paper will discuss the role of mutation in nature and provide an overview of mutations resulting in infertility in SF. The science behind some of the narratives will be explained while extrapolations that exceed reasonable poetic license will be pointed out.  \nIntroduction  \nTransformation or mutation in the past was often viewed as an infliction visited upon the individual by the gods as a punishment for some transgression. In the contemporary Science Fiction (SF) scene, such changes are commonly examined with suspicion and abhorrence. Spontaneous mutations are common in nature, and most confer no specific advantage to the individual, and therefore, to the species. The next commonest category of mutations is disadvantageous or even lethal to the entity. A few are actually beneficial, and may advantage the individual to the extent of increasing its chances of procreation. This will favour the passage of the mutation to the next generation who will also enjoy said advantages and will also have higher chances of propagation. A sufficient number of mutations will eventually result in the establishment of a new species.  \nThe effects of mutations depicted in SF are usually far more powerful, producing unrealistic extraordinary and fully-fledged physical and/or mental powers. Indeed, the genre uses the mutation novum as an excuse to explore the effects of such hypothetical abilities and powers, and the subsequent interactions with and effects on the rest of humanity. Examples abound as far back as ancient times, and Donna Haraway (1991) has observed that  \n[T]he Centaurs and Amazons of ancient Greece established the limits of the centred polis of the Greek male human by their disruption of marriage and boundary pollutionsof the warrior with animality and woman. Unseparated twins and hermaphrodites were the confused human material (p. 180) .  \nInfertility is a common problem, worldwide, and epidemiologists estimate that the number of couples in the developed world who will struggle to have children will double within a decade (Ledger, 2009) . One in three couples is likely to suffer infertility in ten years’ time, compared with one in seven today and this is thought to be due to the rising age at first attempt at pregnancy when fertility naturally declines, an increase in sexually transmitted diseases which damage the reproductive organs, a huge increase in obesity which is known to adversely affect fertility, and a declining level of male sperm count and overall sperm quality (Ledger, 2009) . The trope of infertility in SF is too vast to encompass in any reasonable length, and this paper will limit itself to an overview of mutation resulting in infertility in SF. While the genre encourages the writer to investigate aspects of humanity, society or the universe that are impossible to represent through conventional literature, the study of the scientific premises that underlie such conjectures is nonetheless warranted. In this essay, scientific excesses that go beyond the pale of reasonable artistic license will be discussed.  \nA common element in SF is that of fear, a dread of human change into a somehow alien other, and this concern occurs at multiple levels: at the level of the authoritarian state, at the level of  \ngroups of individuals, and also at the level of the actual entity who is at risk of alteration or who may unwittingly thereby eventually, in his or her turn, reproduce equally distorted nonhumans. There is a sense of apprehension, a concern that subversion may overtake us by“operating necessarily from the inside”(Derrida, 1981, p. 24) . There is a sense that individual humans ","cbCaipahIzlhUdfc","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaipahIzlhUdfc","pdf",171692,3,1,10,"English","en",105,"# Introduction\n# Narratives\n## State enforced infertility","[{\"question\":\"How does the paper describe mutation in science fiction compared with real nature?\",\"answer\":\"In the introduction, mutation in science fiction is treated as a source of fear and revulsion, producing highly exaggerated abilities and threats to humanity. In real nature, spontaneous mutations are common but often neutral or disadvantageous, with only a few beneficial changes that may increase reproductive chances.\"},{\"question\":\"Why is infertility emphasized as a common global problem in the discussion?\",\"answer\":\"The text cites epidemiological estimates that the number of couples struggling with children could double within a decade. It connects rising infertility to factors such as later age at first attempt, sexually transmitted diseases damaging reproductive organs, increased obesity, and declining male sperm count and quality.\"},{\"question\":\"What is “state enforced infertility” in science fiction according to the paper?\",\"answer\":\"The paper explains that some SF narratives depict governments sterilizing or otherwise preventing reproduction in selected high-risk individuals to preserve the genetic status quo. It illustrates this with examples such as voluntarily sterilized astronauts in Clarke’s “Rendezvous with Rama,” and contrasts the idea with modern fertility-preservation options like cryopreservation.\"}]","Mutation and Infertility in Science Fiction | PDF",1787646142,25,{"code":4,"msg":32,"data":33},"ok",{"site_id":25,"language":24,"slug":34,"title":13,"keywords":35,"description":14,"schema_data":36,"social_meta":87,"head_meta":89,"extra_data":91,"updated_unix":29},"mutation-and-infertility-in-science-fiction","",{"@graph":37,"@context":86},[38,54,69],{"@type":39,"itemListElement":40},"BreadcrumbList",[41,45,49,51],{"item":42,"name":43,"@type":44,"position":21},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":46,"name":47,"@type":44,"position":48},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":50,"name":12,"@type":44,"position":20},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",{"item":52,"name":13,"@type":44,"position":53},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/mutation-and-infertility-in-science-fiction/140918/",4,{"url":52,"name":13,"@type":55,"author":56,"headline":13,"publisher":58,"fileFormat":61,"inLanguage":24,"description":14,"dateModified":62,"datePublished":63,"encodingFormat":61,"isAccessibleForFree":64,"interactionStatistic":65},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":57},"Person",{"url":42,"name":59,"@type":60},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-08-28","2026-08-25",true,{"@type":66,"interactionType":67,"userInteractionCount":20},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":68},"ViewAction",{"@type":70,"mainEntity":71},"FAQPage",[72,78,82],{"name":73,"@type":74,"acceptedAnswer":75},"How does the paper describe mutation in science fiction compared with real nature?","Question",{"text":76,"@type":77},"In the introduction, mutation in science fiction is treated as a source of fear and revulsion, producing highly exaggerated abilities and threats to humanity. In real nature, spontaneous mutations are common but often neutral or disadvantageous, with only a few beneficial changes that may increase reproductive chances.","Answer",{"name":79,"@type":74,"acceptedAnswer":80},"Why is infertility emphasized as a common global problem in the discussion?",{"text":81,"@type":77},"The text cites epidemiological estimates that the number of couples struggling with children could double within a decade. It connects rising infertility to factors such as later age at first attempt, sexually transmitted diseases damaging reproductive organs, increased obesity, and declining male sperm count and quality.",{"name":83,"@type":74,"acceptedAnswer":84},"What is “state enforced infertility” in science fiction according to the paper?",{"text":85,"@type":77},"The paper explains that some SF narratives depict governments sterilizing or otherwise preventing reproduction in selected high-risk individuals to preserve the genetic status quo. It illustrates this with examples such as voluntarily sterilized astronauts in Clarke’s “Rendezvous with Rama,” and contrasts the idea with modern fertility-preservation options like cryopreservation.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":52,"og:type":88,"og:title":13,"og:site_name":59,"og:description":14},"article",{"robots":90,"canonical":52},"index,follow",{"doc_id":7,"site_id":25},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":93},[94,98,102,106,111,116,121,124,129,132,135],{"id":21,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":95,"show_sort_weight":96,"slug":97},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":48,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":99,"show_sort_weight":100,"slug":101},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":53,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":103,"show_sort_weight":104,"slug":105},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":107,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":108,"show_sort_weight":109,"slug":110},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":112,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":113,"show_sort_weight":114,"slug":115},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":118,"show_sort_weight":119,"slug":120},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":11,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":12,"show_sort_weight":122,"slug":123},30,"research-report",{"id":125,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":126,"show_sort_weight":127,"slug":128},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":130,"show_sort_weight":127,"slug":131},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":133,"show_sort_weight":22,"slug":134},"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":136,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":137,"show_sort_weight":107,"slug":138},19,"General","general"]