[Tozen]

The X-Men (famous mutant characters) are for comic books. How it usually goes in nature, mutations are bad. Once in a rare blue moon, they are good. Often in some odd, unexpected, or plus versus minus type of way.

And actually, hybridization between near species or more robust mixing between more genetically unrelated pairs tends to be better for more useful adaptations.

[Rury]

A lot of research has been done on this, and the vast majority of mutations are neutral, and have no affect on an organism. That is not good, nor bad. Somewhere between 75 to 90 percent of our own DNA, is nonfunctional, and never used.

But in any case, increasing the mutation rate, does increase the chance of bad mutations of happening, since it increases any kind of mutations from happening.

[klipt]

Radiation causes mutations.

Exposing yourself to excessive radiation is much more likely to cause cancer than superpowers. (In addition to a bunch of neutral mutations that do neither.)

[smegger001]

>And actually, hybridization between near species or more robust mixing between more genetically unrelated pairs tends to be better for more useful adaptations.

Unfortunately we already killed off, or out bred all other members of genus homo. Though to be fair our ancestors do seem to have got on with them so maybe we just absorbed them more than drove them to extinction?