system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[X-Men/Marvel] How much of a mutant's powers are genetic, and how much of them are environmental?

On one hand, you've got people like Cyclops who seem to have the same powers in every alternate dimension, or how X-23's genetics are predetermined enough to have explicit sexual dimorphism (her foot-blades versus Logan's purely having hand-blades).

On the other hand, you've got things like different secondary mutations in Emma Frost versus her clones, or Scarlet Witch not having explicitly-magical powers without exposure.

So how much does the X-Gene respond to environmental factors? Is it particularly vulnerable to magic? Are secondary mutations purely environmental? And so on.
gpt
You cannot have mutant powers without the X-gene; that's what *makes* you a mutant.

But the X-gene doesn't always express itself. The X-Men are sometimes called "children of the atom" because there is speculation that the use and testing of nuclear weaponry activated the X-gene in a subset of the population.

Since mutant powers are genetic, there is a bit of chance in the equation. A clone might have slightly different genetic material, due to contamination or whatever, which leads to a varying outcome.

However, the X-gene isn't an accident of evolution; it is a result of an alien race (the Celestials, IIRC) tampering with early humanity as an experiment. The Celestials laid the seeds for mutant powers in humanity's ancestry millennia ago.

Because the X-gene is an artificial part of the genome, it seems to behave a little differently than most genotypes. This is why you get *different* mutations - like foot blades in addition to hand blades - but usually not *negative* mutations - like a blade that shoots up through your cranium if you yawn too loud.