Yes absolutely!!!

To start, most mammals share a similar genetic foundation. An example is the MC1R gene, which acts as a master switch for pigment. This gene specifically regulates the production of black and ginger tones. Because mammalian biology is centered around these specific pigments, browns, blacks, greys, and gingers are most common across the animal kingdom. Mammals lack the genetic instructions to produce vibrant colors like blue or green in their fur or skin.

For a fictional, non-mammalian species, this may be different! But my expertise is mostly about mammalian genetics, so that’s what I’ll cover the most in this post 🙂‍↕️

Punnet Squares — this is a video I found very easily by searching “Punnet Squares” in YouTube. It explains the basic information you need to know: alleles, dominance, and how to use punnet squares

Cat Genetics by Little Hungry Warrior — while this video series is specific to cat genetics, I highly recommend you give it a watch, especially the first video! It explains A LOT about the basics that you may have missed!

Messybeast — this is a very detailed hub for cat genetics, but it can be useful as a reference for fictional species, especially since mammals share a lot of the same genetic foundation

Dog Coat Genetics UK — this is another website, and is similar to messybeast, but meant for dogs. I haven’t linked it because it seems to be experiencing technical issues at the moment!

Sparrows Garden — this another cat genetics site. however, this one contains a cat genetics calculator! it’s a lot of fun to play around with

MGI — this is a website focused on mammal genetics, especially rodents. It isn’t very beginner friendly, so I recommend visiting this one last and once you have a good understanding of terminology!

Finn mouse site — another good hub to learn how particular genes function, this is mouse specific

Horse Jennifer Hoffman — this includes information about horse genetics and has a fun little game to play around with

he has limited access to media, but he’s a fan of spiderman! he likes to draw him

Not a problem at all! I love questions!

Currently I don’t have anything like that, but it’s likely for the future! I’m still in the early stages, so things get changed around a lot, meaning creating an evolutionary series now would quickly become outdated

Apologies for the late reply. This took some time ^^

Disclaimer: Spider (name WIP) is an oc I created just by combining some of my favourite tropes in fiction. He’s not meant to be a completely unique idea, just something that I enjoy creating! Most of this is just a compilation of my own notes. He’s a WIP so things are open to change! Feel free to ask more questions!

The lab that created him is ethically dubious, but mostly good-intentioned. It is a privately funded company that has found legal loopholes to work on this project, which they deem incredibly important. Their private funding allows them to bypass public oversight, and they operate in a jurisdiction with vague, outdated genetic engineering laws. They have also found a way to classify their work under a different, less regulated category: “biomaterial research” instead of “human genetic modification.”

Originally, the project focused on experimentation on the human genome. It was mostly exploratory, with no particular end goal besides discovering the mechanisms of the genome in order to further research on cures for various diseases. The hybrid was created by directly modifying human embryos with spider DNA, likely using advanced CRISPR-Cas9 or similar gene-editing technologies. This work is highly controversial due to the potential for unforeseen consequences and the creation of “designer babies.” Since the subject was an embryo, there was no consent, and the scientists made the ultimate decision about its existence and genetic makeup.

Spider was originally intended, by the scientists who created him, to never grow beyond being an embryo. The most crucial part of the project was that they never intended for the gestation to go full term. The hybrid was a “proof of concept,” a temporary biological incubator for studying specific gene expressions or protein synthesis. They planned to terminate it at the three-month mark, after collecting the necessary data. There had been other animal hybrids before him, but they were never allowed to exist past three months of gestation. All had been attempts to graft various non-human traits onto a human genome, and the scientists were not intending to create a “spider person,” since they never planned for him to develop beyond that stage.

A severe hurricane that led to the evacuation of the lab prevented the scheduled termination. By the time the error was discovered, the hybrid had developed further, making termination more difficult and ethically challenging for some.