Mutant Read Online Free PDF

diseases peculiar to one species of plant or animal becoming prone to leap the existing barriers which normally keep those diseases from occurring in other species, such as man. When this jump has previously occurred in nature, the results are usually catastrophic. I remind you, the Spanish flu epidemic in 1918 that killed twenty-one million people may have arisen from a virus normally found in swine, and the origin of AIDS in man is a simian, or monkey virus which vaulted the species barrier, probably in the 1930s, killing fifteen million so far. More recently the ‘bird flu’ strain of influenza has appeared in humans—”
    “Really, Dr. Sullivan, you’re being outrageous!” interrupted Morgan, his face flushed with anger. “You presume to hijack our attempt to show responsible behavior in our pursuit of bringing the benefits of genetics to humankind in a safe—”
    “Oh, don’t you be telling me about the benefits of genetics,
Mr.
Morgan,” she protested in her full Irish brogue, flashing her thousand-watt smile once more at her audience and finessing her emphasis on the
Mr.
with a playful wink.
    Laughter filled the room.
    You bitch! he silently cursed, fuming at her snide way of reminding everyone that he couldn’t claim to be a doctor of anything.
    “Dr. Sullivan,” called out one of the reporters. “You alleged that these naked DNA vectors are infectious. Could you elaborate on that, please?”
    “Of course. It’s the third issue I’m coming to,” she continued, ignoring Morgan, who blustered helplessly at his end of the table, “and in my mind the most contentious of all—the ongoing effects of naked DNA vectors
after
they’ve been used in the process of gene insertion which I alluded to earlier.”
    “Now wait a minute,” the flustered CEO managed to spit out. “I insist all of you remember that you are here as our guests, and as such should respect
our
agenda!”
    No one in the room paid him the slightest attention, least of all Kathleen Sullivan. His employees, still all in a row behind him, looked nervously at him and at one another, appearing uncertain of what to do.
    “When genetic engineers make a vector,” she continued, “they first combine the gene they wish to transfer with strands of DNA from viruses or bacteria adept at invading the targeted host, or intended recipient of the transfer.” She spoke quickly, obviously aware that her stay could be cut short. “They construct these carriers, or vectors, not only to assure invasion of the host organism and insertion of the gene into its DNA, but also to include bits of what we call promoter DNA, a segment which maximizes expression of the gene in its new host, thereby guaranteeing the appearance of whatever trait it carries.” She collected another group of papers from the table and began to deal them out. “This one suggests how naked strands of these man-made DNA vectors can subsequently escape intact from the host into the environment as the result of cell death, excretion, or secretion.” She passed out another article. “We all once thought that these discarded entities were inert unless they were within a living cell or virus and that they would quickly break down once exposed to the elements. Here is recent evidence to the contrary, showing that they can exist much longer in soil than previously expected.” She proffered a third batch of documents. “Other research indicates that they in themselves have the capacity to infect species other than their intended host and incorporate their DNA into the genes of accidental targets. Outlined in these pages is a single study which demonstrates that vectors have found their way from the gut of laboratory mice into their liver, spleen, and reproductive organs. I think you’ll find it a particularly disturbing read, and the obvious question—could the same thing happen in humans—has never been looked at.”
    Those men and women who hadn’t had copies handed to them moved