Randomly engineered?

[jacobmuller]

I wrote out a racial template for a geneered combat bioroid but its physical and mental stats were not fixed. The makers included acceptable design variations as part of the manufacturing process - variations make the group stronger.

Totally daft, I told myself, but it's a game.
Then I read this - so even a clone can be random... (yes, not precisely in the way I waffle-stat'ed my bioroids but, any excuse in a storm:)

Plus Tortoiseshells rock.

[johndallman]

For the designed bioroid, the term is "parametric design" - there could plausibly be variations to the design to be selected either during tissue growth, or in assembly. Quite a lot of engineering with metal has been done this way since TL6; it seems reasonable for THS bioroids.

And yes, some things would have "random" elements inherited from the emergent aspects of the natural biological creatures that parts of bioroid designs are based on. Your cat fur patterns are aspects of that, as are the actual layout of individual hairs in any mammal, the precise pattern of blood vessels, fingerprints, and so on.

[Flyndaran]

Many complex traits are to a degree random as well as genetic.
Sexuality, handedness, etc.
You can stack the deck to get very high reliability, but I doubt it would be easy to get near 100% one way or the other.
Then there are issues of viruses and parasites shoving foreign D.N.A. into the mix and adjusting even your mental traits.
Toxoplasmosis is one example.
Variation is almost inevitable. It's getting everything the same that's the hard part. :)

[jacobmuller]

It makes you like the smell of cat pee so you'll end up living in a house over-run by semi-feral incontinent cats, half-buried in cat-poop and spoiling cat-food but you'll not notice the smell LOL

Mind you, on a more serious note, "Recent research has also linked toxoplasmosis with brain cancer, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and Schizophrenia."
And I thought my problems were from lack of sleep.

[Phil Masters]

However, going by Wikipedia, the mechanism of any behavioural effects of toxoplasmosis are unclear, but don't seem to come from any funky DNA modification. It's probably just tweaking dopamine levels.

[Flyndaran]

It's effects are quite real, BUT it's more of a statistical thing from what I gather.
For example, anxiety disorders are more common among those with it, but you cannot tell by any test if your problem has anything to do with it.

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by Owen Smith

So if I go on a murder spree and then claim my paranoid schizophrenia is caused by my toxoplasmosis, it's not likely to stand up well as a defence. Sigh, I had such plans...

I would imagine the mental disorder would be a better defense.