Real Name : Dirk Morgna

Sun Boy has the great power of transmutation. However, there's a limitation to his powers. The transmutation only works for 60 seconds unless the atoms react with other atoms. Essentially, he's a weaker Firestorm with no flaming head (not even red hair!). 

1.) How does transmutation work?
2.) How can it only last a minute?
3.) What does it mean about Sun Boy's body that he's able to do this?

Janet Van Dyne's life changed forever by meeting Dr. Hank Pym. Janet's father wanted Pym to help him on a scientific project he had been working on but Pym refused because it was out of his specially. Dr. Van Dyne's worst fears were realized when an alien came to Earth via his experiment. The alien was no mere trouble with tribbles it was much worse as a gigantic green monster ripped though the city. 


Distraught over her fathers death, Janet ran to Pym for help. Seeing her dedication to the cause of fighting ne'er-do-well's Pym let her in on his "little" secret and tells her that he's ready to have a partner to fight crime and she's the gal for him. (Ops, I mean for the job. Yeah, just for the job. Right.)

Look at all those pretty squiggles and fancy equipment. There must be some science going on; Indeed, there is! So, Pym's plan to have Janet be wasp like is to take specialized wasp wing cells and implant those under Janet's skin and antennae specialized wasp cells and put them in her head under her skin. Now, these will lay dormant until she uses the shrinking gas. Once she shrinks Janet will grow the wings and antennae of a wasp. To see the science behind shrinking go to Ant-Man: Origin Part 1. 

Wow! This is some complicated biological science. Dormant cells that are triggered by a gas, implanting specialized cells to grow in a new host. Lets see if any of this is possible!
First, can we take specialized cells from on species and have it grow in or on another species?
Cross-species xenotransplants, that's the biological term for what Dr. Pym did to Janet by transplanting wasp specialized cells into her. There is a long history of cross-species xenotransplants starting in the 17th century when using animal blood in transfusions were first attempted. Sense then, transplants have been attempted using skin, kidneys and hearts. Some have been successful, most have not. There are a lot of factors to cause failure such as infection from viruses, bacteria and diseases. However, there has been one surprising success that has hit the news in the past couple of years which is earmouse. Earmouse has a human ear growing on its back by injecting human ear cells to grow there, much like what Pym did to Janet to grow antennae and wings. 

Unfortunately, I was unable to find any evidence of insect to human or insect to animal xenotransplantation. This is largely due to the fact that the DNA that comprise insects and humans are too different. The reason pig research in this area is due to how similar our DNA is with theirs. 
References:
http://www.aaos.org/news/aaosnow/jun09/research3.asp
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3246856/

Secondly, how is it that Wasp has antennae and wings when she shrinks but not when she is normal size? The biological term for this is epigenetic modification. Each specialized cells must know when to go to work, so there are conditions that can "turn on" or "turn off" the expression of certain genes. So, when Janet shrinks something must be happening in her genes to indicate the growth of her wings and antennae. There's nothing that indicates that we can shrink in this way so nothing to indicate how shrinking would trigger these cells. I propose that the wing and antennae cells are specialized to recognize shrinking maybe the closeness of nucleus to electrons in the atom in that area of the genes is able to activate their expression. 
References:
http://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/epigenetic-influences-and-disease-895

Although it is unlikely for someone to become the Wasp in this way her origin is deep in biological concepts that are alive and well today. Both major topics discussed are heavily researched and as we know more we making someone like Wasp will be more likely.

Marvel's Tales to Astonish # 27
1962
Written by: Stan Lee and Larry Leiber
Drawn by: Jack Kirby 

This review only covers the information provided about the character in Marvel Masterworks Ant-Man Volume 1. (TtA 27-52)

Part 1 covers only the power of shrinking and growing. Part 2 will cover Pym's ability to communicate with ants. 


Dr. Henry Pym is a scientist working on a shrinking and growth serum. The picture to the left shows Pym testing his shrinking serum on a chair in the lab and then enlarging it back to normal size with the growth serum. 

Pym thinks it is a good idea to start live trials on himself! I do not think this is normal scientific protocol. Usually, there would be rat testing or some other small mammal before there are human trials. However, sure of himself, Pym shrink himself successfully to the size of an ant. 
Pym did not plan well because he failed to prepare a growth serum he could quickly use after shrinking. So, he had a bit of an adventure outside of the lab. He found himself falling down an ant hill and fighting with some ants. 

As you can see the the left, Pym was able to easily handle an ant to get away. 

In the end, it was an ant that saved him as it "understood" him and scaled the wall to allow Pym to get to his growth serum by the window. I do not think I have ever had an ant "understand" me. Then again, I have not been the size of one to try and communicate with one. 

I must tip my hat to him for his great discovery in the Marvel universe. Unfortunately, in this universe this tale is a bit far fetched. How is it that a liquid or gas is able to shrink someone? This is not the same as when you wash a shirt for the first time and it comes out a little smaller. That only happens after the first wash, not every time. 

Look at the atom to your left. The nucleus is very small compared to the size of the whole atom. In fact it is about 100,000 times smaller than the rest of the atom. In comparison, think about the size relationship between an orange and the Earth. The orange being the nucleus of course. Within the rest of the atom is a very large electron cloud. Electrons are not that large they just orbit around taking up a lot of space. The key to shrinking and enlarging again would be controlling the space the electrons occupy in an atom. Reduce the electron space in an atom and you could shrink. So, Dr. Pym's serums must be able to manipulate the space that electrons occupy within an atom. To my knowledge, this technology has not beed developed. I think I found a new summer project to work that will revolutionize our world! 

DC's Metal Men 2007 
Duncan Rouleau (w & a)

Metal Men are the their elements personified!

Look at previous posts about the Metal Men to see how this can be. This article is focusing on just Tin and Copper

DC's Metal Men 2007 
Duncan Rouleau (w & a)

Metal Men are the their elements personified!

Look at previous posts about the Metal Men to see how this can be. This article is focusing on just Iron and Mercury.