Original Abilities
When Peter Parker was bitten by a lethally irradiated spider, radioactive mutagenic enzymes in the spider's venom quickly caused numerous body-wide changes. Immediately after the bite, he was granted his original powers: primarily superhuman strength, reflexes, and balance; the ability to cling tenaciously to most surfaces; and a subconscious precognitive sense of danger, which he called a "spider-sense."
Several biologists on the History Channel’s Spider-Man Tech stated the effect of a radioactive spider bite (if any) would not be nearly enough to cause a mutation in a human body. However, they said the use of "genetically engineered" spiders from the live-action movie and the Ultimate continuity was more plausible. Instead of radioactive venom, the bite would have to carry a powerful retro virus (similar to HIV) that would spread through the body by taking over neighboring cells and actually becoming ingrained in the person’s DNA. They illustrated this by showing the results of an experiment where glow genes from deep sea Jelly fish were introduced into the embryos of lab mice. The resulting mice were born with the glow gene as a part of their own DNA and glowed light green whenever an ultraviolet light was shone on them.
Read more about this topic: Man-Spider
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