From the looks of it, Dr. Earl Kintain has arrived with a great deal of technological equipment that will help us in our efforts, thought Dr. Sato. The security guard had texted her when they arrived. She was walking in her crutches to greet him. She was still shaken not only from the accident but also as a result of nearly missing this opportunity and the possibility that Tom wouldn’t have approved of her bringing the last remaining member of her team on board. Dr. Kintain’s advanced work was superior and on the cutting edge. She had been struck almost speechless when Tom suggested that Martin go pick up whatever necessary material she had needed for DNA research.
It felt that close to her being empty-handed. Her medical program on board Imagine depended on obtaining these materials especially since her work would rely heavily on experimentation with the original of the species of clones Dr. Kintain possessed. Their research would help them formulate a strain and divergence from any of the more controlled experimentations they would try in terms of cloning methods. It would be kept in its own quarters until her and Dr. Kintain were sure that it could walk and be among humans. If it wouldn’t do anything damaging or strange that would make the rest of the passengers uncomfortable, then it would be allowed to enter other parts of the ship.
“Good morning, Dr. Kintain.”
“Good morning, Dr. Sato. I’m glad that we had a chance to speak despite your accident. Marvin is an excellent pilot and very helpful. I am eager to be part of the Imagine exploration. I hope you are faring much better. I trust your leg is better?”
“It will take a bit. Of course, I have applied the stem cell gene therapy treatment first researched at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.”
As they walked together, crewmembers carried all of his technologies behind them. She described how the method relied on the body’s own stem cells and that involved implanting a collagen matrix made up of bone-induced genes into the stem cells.
“I should be able to heal in two weeks. Originally, the method allowed for an eight-week recovery, but there have been advancements since then. I’m almost halfway there.”
“Fantastic. I am glad to hear. I am sure that, somewhere in the technologies I have brought, we can make sure that your tissue functions as it did before the break in no time either.”
“Thank you. I suppose that all the egg donors that you have worked with may not know they will be supplying the potential for life in our cloning processes deep in the galaxy.”
“I suppose they don’t. Although the six-time limit has been stretched in many places, and the supposed risks to the donors were ill-conceived. Many have donated twice that and have been fine. Now these half-siblings may run around Imagine.”
They entered the ship. She took him to his quarters. As the door closed, she directed the largest pieces of technology to be placed in the adjacent room. It was one of the most reinforced rooms in the entire ship as far as she was told. It would be best to maintain the secrecy of their experimentation with the first human clone that Dr. Kintain had managed to create in as removed and difficult to access a place as possible.
She found herself terribly curious. She wondered how he’d managed to travel with it.
“I can see you are itching to ask so many questions. We carried him here under sedation so that he wasn’t startled by all the new places. He’s never been anywhere else but in our labs in Wyoming. He complied. Now, let me explain what we’re dealing with here. I would put his educational level at this point at a mid-high school. But he advances quickly. He’ll be at a collegial level within a short week in your company and mine. Also, we’ve not only managed to keep the human clone alive, but we have also been able to create an external uterus.… Several in fact. That way we won’t have to rely on human reproductive cloning, since studies have shown the fetus gets rather large and can cause very difficult birthing.
“We’ve also managed to guarantee that all known diseases were not passed on to this particular clone, as we relied on CRISPR and SATI gene editing. He cannot become sick. He can likely outlive many of the humans on board this ship.”
“You mean to say he only has desirable traits?”
“Exactly. Just like the Chinese twins that were modified using CRISPR, his brain has been inadvertently enhanced, including all age-related degenerative disorders.”
“But can we accelerate aging itself by using stem cells if it doesn’t work out well and the clone is rejected by the human population we have on board?”
“Yes, although it might not be easy. He’s a bit stronger than we expected and still growing. And we can’t be sure that his stem cells won’t self-renew, rejecting any ends we hope to achieve.”
“But could we clone the clone initially using the eggs you have brought?”
“Yes, and the other amazing success rate, so far, has been that we have been able to develop the process of in vitro gametogenesis, IVG, creating eggs and sperm in culture dishes where skin cells are reprogrammed to behave like embryonic stem cells and are then IPSCs, as you know induced pluripotent stem cells. We have developed several embryos and implanted our external wombs. Since we are onboard this ship, all known US laws and Earth-constraints may be overrun.”
“Although we must always be able to keep the option of destroying them if we fear the generation of mutations will somehow threaten saving humanity. Does the clone have a name?”
“Yes, we’ve named him Epoh.”
“Nice, not too sinister. When can I see him?”
“He’s been sedated for the trip, but we expect he’ll be hungry in about an hour.”
“I can change my dinner plans. He’ll likely get me to accelerate our DNA cloning plans for those who couldn’t make the trip with us.”
When she met Epoh, he was deliriously hungry. She liked him right away. Mostly because he looked exactly like Dr. Kintain.
“I hope you slept well,” she said.
“I always do,” Epoh said.
She turned to Dr. Kintain and asked him if he’d brought his own food just for the day since she hadn’t yet had a chance to introduce him to the nutritionist, Luis Gonzales. “I ask because he and I have a bit of a score to settle lately, and I doubt that he would find anymore secrecy from me or my immediate staff all that welcome. He’s a bit of a head-counter, I’m afraid. Seems if I round up or round down, it infuriates him. I’ve told him in no uncertain terms that anything he can genetically-engineer, we could throw together in the lab also through our means. I had to, just in case it escapes him that he too may become unessential for the purposes needed on the ship. He’s a bit of a traditionalist also and has some problem with several of us women not exactly being tied down just yet. Oh, and if the list needed to grow longer, well he’s suspicious of what we might be breeding over in our quarters. I have the feeling he walks by crossing himself the entire time.”
“Well, to be honest, I did go to the cafeteria while you were away, but just briefly, and thought about introducing myself, except he looked so busy. I felt unsure as to what he would do about a perfect stranger arriving since we hadn’t met yet and decided it was in bad form. So, yes, thankfully, I did bring enough for a few days. I know his appetite is large. I have a feeling this Luis will think he’s feeding several heads of cattle.”
“Well, Epoh, if your hunger is any sign of what motivates you, I’ll likely be going to bat for you a lot.” Then she turned to Dr. Kintain and said, “Although my guess is that you’re both just as motivated as I am to provide a better life for humanity and driven by other strong motivational drivers also, so eating well can foster those needs. I’m sure we’ll see. Now that most of us can’t be driven by money or rewards, I suppose the desire to be the best and helping others might become strong motivators that we share. Certainly, many of us are motivated by the meaningful and challenging work ahead. I shouldn’t be so hard on Luis, by the way. There’s plenty to be said about how motivated Luis is by exploring human desires like sweetness, beauty and intoxication in the way he makes his foods. I’ll give him that! We’re still not quite able to embody all those nourishing and nurturing qualities in our science lab, but he’s worth trying in the kitchen. I’ll introduce you tomorrow.”