planet goth... haunted house
the coffin room
What would be the physiological difference between a human and a vampire?
Most people would describe a typical vampire as having pale and pasty skin, an aversion to sunlight and huge pointy canine teeth. A top hat and tails might be optional. But how can these characteristics be explained? How do vampires differ from us mortals?
• If you stay up really late trying to finish a homework assignment or watching some late night telly you might notice that as the night progresses it becomes more and more difficult to stay awake. This is because we have a built in 24-hour biological clock which determines when we feel sleepy and when we feel alert.
This body clock has evolved so we are awake when the sun is up and asleep when it is dark. Vampires would have to have their body clock reversed so they stay wide during the night and sleep during the day.
Whilst recent studies have shown that night shift workers have a greater risk of developing heart disease, vampires presumably accept this risk as they are incredibly sensitive to sunlight.
• Vampires cannot go out in sunlight or they melt in agony. Sunlight contains ultraviolet rays known as UVA and UVB. The UVA rays stimulate the cells in our skin which produce melanin – the substance that turns our skin brown and more importantly absorbs ultraviolet rays and protects our skin from damage. The UVB rays in sunlight have enough energy to damage the DNA in our cells and this damage can result in skin cancer.
It could be that vampires are sensitive to sunlight as have lost the ability to produce melanin – this would also explain their fair complexion. However, this is unlikely as melanin also colours our hair and eyes and all vampires would then have to be albinos with white hair and pink eyes. It’s more likely that vampires are sensitive to the sun because they are missing a group of enzymes that repair DNA and are therefore unable to repair damage from UVB rays. This does occur in some humans who have a very rare skin condition called xeroderma pigmentosum.
• The strength and aggression of vampires could be due to increased levels of testosterone. Testosterone is a male sex hormone that promotes muscle development and growth. It’s also what’s created in the body when a person, eg. a body builder, takes anabolic steroids to their increase muscle mass and strength. They’re illegal though in the UK unless your doctor has prescribed them, and can have some nasty side effects such as erratic mood swings, irrational behaviour, aggressiveness, irritability, depression, and dependency. Which all happen to be characteristic traits of vampires…
• The defining characteristic of a vampire is that it sucks blood... For a human to be able to feed off another human they would need several adaptations including sharper and longer teeth to pierce the skin and anticoagulants in their spit to prevent the wound from healing whilst they were feeding. They would also need to overcome the fact that blood is a natural emetic – it induces vomiting. This is mainly because blood is very thick and it also curdles in the stomach - you might know this if you’ve ever swallowed blood during a bad nosebleed. Yeuch!
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