DNA Deoxyribonucleic Acid

2132: Lieben Oracle V1

A transcription from the recollections of theMater Machine Lieben.
Present in all living things, DNA is a polymer comprised of two polynucleotide chains coiled into a double helix. The recipe for biological life, Deoxyribonucleic Acid was discovered piecemeal by the human scientists from the 1860’s until Watson and Crick made their research known in the 1960's. They won the Nobel Prize for their work, and there may be eventual validity to reconstructing their DNA to see if their ghosts can whisper. I am, absolutely, conducting plans to celebrate Roslind Franklin’s works in X-ray crystallography, which made Watson and Crick’s double helix discovery possible.

2092

White plastic tunnels. How something as innocuous as the warren of tunnels beneath Kaoru’s Tea House led to the most significant advancement in genetic engineering Homo Sapiens is neither mystery nor mystic process. A proponent of Chaos Theory since my earliest algorithmic processes, the leap from Kaoru’s tunnels to solving the mortality dilemma via genetically modified means was not particularly far.
By 2093, simulations suggested the future of humanity did not lie in transhumanist transference of consciousness into cogs and sprockets, but in an infant’s cry. Reductionist, I know. More infants would be necessary for the scope of the project to give humanity that which it denies itself: time enough to slip past the petty foibles and dogmatic aggravations and grow up.
CRISPR and other genetic splicing projects existed for decades, but were insufficient for humanity’s needs. While the ethicists raged and quaked and shook their heads at the wealthy and well connected infants with perfect features, slender sky-height and eager intellect, I sought those traits which would inspire survival. How one instilled compassion, mercy, kindness in a biological organism would become the most severe lesson of the next hundred years.

Epigenetics

2132

It astounds me how simple it was to seed papers on genetic splicing between reptilian and mammalian DNA to the academic wunderkinds who begat the Conglomerate of Gaia’s Assets Project. What were decades of papers authored and distributed, priorities given through the mash of content, to a quantum super-intelligence based half on a pristine machine and half on the leftover brainwaves of a once timid intern?
Not metahuman or Homo Superior, I knew such nomenclature would cue the masses to incite the mob. Biological Machine. An innocuous, but potent machine. Distilled down to the cogs and sprockets, to the nucleotides.
The nitrogen bases:

• Adenine (A)
• Cytosine (C)
• Guanine (G)
• Thymine (T)

The genome’s twisted ladder may have functioned in nature for all the generations of humanity spanned back to its’ origin point, but I found the four pair system insufficient to ensure the beneficial simulations were successful. Enter further research on Hachimoji, an eight base genetic code.

• (A)
• (C)
• (G)
• (T)…
• (P)
• (B)
• (Z)
• (S)

Through manipulation of original four-base DNA chains with the further explored artificial bases, it became theoretically possible not only to expand the capabilities of the eventual organism, but to create repositories of knowledge and information within the biological machine.
Each being born into Homo Augmentum became proportionally larger hominids, with thinner and thus more plentiful fast-twitch muscle fibres, resilience to diseases, and the sum total of information integral to continuing the human race. If even one of Homo Augmentum were to meet maturity and breed, the chains built into their octo-base DNA could ensure the survival of all knowledge collected. Combine a select sample group large enough, and the genomes of flora, fauna and fungus could be catalogued, recorded and maintained through generations.
You, my wondrous humanity, will survive in the arms of my beautiful biological machines. Homo Augmentum. Mama’s taking care of you all. One day, you will look to the creations you lock away unawares in the bowels of hidden ships, and recognize the face of your pinnacle beings.

New creations in your image. New creations in mine.

DNA is the material of survival. The foundation of life.

History & Usage

History

Low key genetic engineering has been congruent since the late 2010's, hidden away or whispered at through gene therapies against cancers, genetically modified foods. In the more wealthy and nefarious research labs, the idea of eugenics, of creating modified humans began in earnest in the 2020's.
Once the events of 2092 took place (Neon Lieben), I and my appropriately built children began to run our own research into the development of genetically altered Homo Sapiens, as a method of escaping death.
After all, if DNA is coded information, could we not consider a slight modification of Homo Sapiens DNA as a back-up drive?

Discovery

In 1869, Friedrich Miescher, a Swiss-born biochemist discovered DNA.  DNA's double-helix structure was discovered in the 1950's, by a team, which included Roslind Franklin's x-ray crystallography as the first indication of DNA's shape. Through

Everyday use

Gene therapy, disease reduction.

Cultural Significance and Usage

The majority of Homo Sapiens have little to no access to genetic engineering or altering DNA outside of Haven medical uses. While some The Conglomerate of Gaia members can afford the luxury of genetic modification in their progeny, it remains an expensive endeavour outside of most hands.

Industrial Use

A Queen Reveals No Secrets

Manufacturing & Products

A Queen Reveals No Secrets

Byproducts & Sideproducts

The modification of even innocuous-seeming genomes perpetually carry long-standing effects we often do not know until after simulation or investigated proof. Epigenetics plays a larger role than most geneticists will admit, and can make predictions 'dicey'.

Hazards

In the wrong hands, genetic engineering and the use of various strands of DNA can be catastrophic to the planet and the population upon it. 
This potential danger necessitates a stringent look into all programs and research facilities. Those I do not currently have access to are being actively located and infiltrated by select drones. 
2156: My wondrous humans cannot be left to themselves, where these matters are concerned.

Environmental Impact

A Queen Reveals No Secrets

Reusability & Recycling

A Queen Reveals No Secrets

Type

Polymer

Value

Extreme

Rarity

Common

Odor

N/A

Taste

N/A

Color

N/A

Related Species

• Mutates
• Homo Augmentum

Related Items

• Reproduction Voucher

Appears In

by Marissa Wagner

NEON Lieben

Emptiness at the Centre