Board Thread:Warhammer 40k General Discussion/@comment-7699236-20150618150629/@comment-8881468-20151213131642

1. most marines are being changed prior to puberty/at the onset of puberty.. question about viability of sperm

2. progenoids are their onyl way of reproduciton and then  it is only "primarch dna"

3. The marines are generally interested in genetic purity, which means simply human with no high amount of mutations deviating from the norm.

4. however for their mindset, they tend to recruit the toughest people around, from natural born survivors (see hive gangers, deathworld inhabitants and so on) Warriors, hunters and people that can survive under harsh conditions. Space Marines do not want quantity, they look for quality, for individuality and pragmatism, for creativity and a never give up attitude.

we also know that a fairly small planetary population is enough to sustain a chapter of space marines (as seen in ther blood angels, salamanders, iron hands,space wolves, flesh tearers), heck it can even sustain a legion.

So it is more a question of conditions and enculturation than genetic material.

5. who says that sisters of battle are superior? they are simply orphans taken into a schola progenium and then tested for what they can become/what they may be used as. we could also simply say: those that are narrowminded enough and not really socially adept may be thrown into a power armour and then let loose upon heretics to express their reaction based on a rigid educational program, aka brainwashed and predictable.

6. we also know that artificial lifeforms in the IoM are vat grown muscle but tend to be pretty stupid. There is one instance that shows how the mechanicum and the IoM think about cloning and in vitro fertilization.. "red and black"  basiccqally they are cannon fodder, not more.