It had all started with the
Chinese.
The scientific community in
China had become the “Wild West” of the science world.
Chinese scientists didn’t have the same
limits that many other nations imposed upon research, such as the outlawing
genetic engineering of human DNA or the banning of the use of human embryos in
scientific research.
Chinese scientists
had begun to experiment with the genetic engineering of human embryos –
something that had been outlawed in most other industrialized nations decades
earlier as the fear that people would begin to design their own babies’
intelligence and looks.
The Chinese
reported that they had tried to manipulate the genes that were responsible for
various genetic diseases in the human body.
They insisted that the embryos would have never survived and that the
data gathered was never planned on being used to create “designer” babies.
The Chinese government, after discussions
with the United Nations and other nations, closed down the facilities engaged
in the research and the world thought that that was the end of it.
As time passed, genetic engineering of
plants, animals, bacteria, and viruses became a common technology that
eventually settled into academia and failed to get the attention of the news
media.
Laws became more relaxed and
often quietly discarded.
Some nations
began to actively seek out those Chinese scientists that had experimented with
genetically modifying human DNA.
Biotechnology
companies sought out the brightest of those scientists.
For years, despite rumors and protest
campaigns, companies remained quiet concerning any research involving the
modification of human DNA, until that day Ethan was presented to the world.
The world at large didn’t know about Ethan until he
was six years old. When he was presented at the international news
conference, people immediately fell in love with the adorable child. He
amazed everyone with his intellectual abilities and physical skills. Of
course, many thought that he was just an ordinary child – until it was proven
that he really was the first genetically modified human. A DNA test was
done live at the press conference under the skeptic eyes of several noted
scientists from various international universities. The scientists who presented him to the world talked about the
various genetic changes and genetic protein coding. They merely glanced
over the topic of “insertion of other taxonomic genetic material”, but
the world was more enchanted with the sweetness of the child they saw online
singing “Jesus Loves Me”. Some questioned the phrase “insertion of other
taxonomic genetic material”, but the scientists would state that it was merely inconsequential biological material and
unimportant to the discussion. The procedure, according to the
scientists employed by the American Bio-Tech Consortium (ABTC) was completely
safe - Ethan was as human as anyone else. The procedure, they explained, took
DNA from a human egg and a human sperm and merely modified them to bring out
the best qualities possible. It was no different, they assured, than buying a
car and then adding the best options available to it. Ethan was a child with the best options that could be found in
DNA.
ABTC said that there had been extraordinary testing of the procedures involved
in producing Ethan. They admitted that there had been four other children
before Ethan who had not survived but that finally all the problems of
viability had been solved. The ABTC scientists gave lectures at every
major university on the development and future of genetically engineered
children. They asserted that Ethan would have a normal, if not extended,
lifespan and that he was as healthy, if not healthier, as any child his
age. Doctors across the globe backed up the claims of the ABTC, signing
letters supporting the work, which were published in newspapers around the
world. Governments quickly approved the procedures and gave ABTC a wide
leeway. Many thought it would be a new golden age for Mankind.
The year after Ethan turned eleven,
couples from across the world had embraced the new technology to create their
own baby. It was estimated that well over 1,000 couples had initially
signed up when the technology was first offered. Many people wondered if
it could solve their infertility. Some just wanted the best child money
could buy. Some just wanted a bright healthy child like Ethan.
ABTC reported that by the first anniversary
of the procedure, fifty thousand couples had CNM children.
Genetic engineering wasn’t a foreign
thing to people at the time. It had become an accepted part of
life. Genetic engineering was to this time, as chemistry was to the 20
th
Century – the way to a better life.
There were still non-GMO fundamentalists that would complain or protest,
but no one took them seriously. It had been many years since genetically
modified organisms had lost their patents and they were now everywhere.
You couldn’t avoid them since practically all life now contained bits of
altered DNA –“genetic pollution”, as some radicals called it. “Organic”
came to mean merely anything grown stationary in soil since the locomotive
vegetable barrier had been broken. Cross-taxonomic organisms, locomotive
or not, had become a fact of life. Before Ethan the greatest genetic
engineering feat had been the creation of the avocado steak, the first
non-locomotive meat, from a “tree”.
By the time Ethan had turned 20,
he had been joined by over 4,020,730 other “Children of the New Mother”, or
CNM. They had been given that name by a journalist who coined the term to
differentiate them from unmodified children, or “Children of the Old Mother” –
“Old Mother” referring to the mythological Mother Earth. The “New Mother”
was science. The ABTC preferred to call them “non-CNM” children –it made
them to be seen as lacking something important.
Most of the major hospitals of
the world had CNM franchises. The franchises were so popular because of
the huge profits that could be made by selling CNM products and services.
After the biological mother had been implanted with the CNM egg, she
could be sold a multitude of prenatal packages; after the birth, there were the
various other products based on the age of the child. Of course no one
wanted their CNM child to be the one lacking the best. The financial floodgates
really opened when the CNM franchises began to offer products and services to
parents of non-CNM children. The best-selling product for non-CNM children was
CNM cellular injections. Hospitals were also urged to consider CNM services for
certain illnesses and conditions in adults.
Anyone visiting a CNM franchise
couldn’t get away from Ethan’s image. Cardboard cutouts of Ethan would
direct you to various areas. Posters of the cute little boy staring out
at you asking, “How important is your child? If they aren’t Children of the New
Mother, then try CNM CogniTherapy today!” Videos played in every hospital
waiting room and lobby showing Ethan solving intricate math problems and
laughing. The
ubiquitous t-shirts with his
drawings or watercolours were usually sold-out. The Adventures of
Ethan comic books were on every shelf.
People had not seen much of Ethan
himself since his 16
th birthday; anyway, the world was busy with its
new prodigies. The ABTC stated that Ethan was living a regular life and
that they did not want him to be under the scrutiny of the press every
day. Of course, you would hear a rumor or see a photo, but there really
wasn’t too much press about Ethan. The tabloids would report that he was
supposedly dating some young film star or a royal, but not much else.
The children born after Ethan,
however, were constantly in the news. Many were the focus of
human-interest stories. The stories focusing on their rights and
conditions always made the top news stories. The American Bio-tech Consortium
had made the claim that genetically modified children had to attend the ABTC
School of Science and the Arts (available at most franchises), and many parents
complained; the court ruled that the parents had signed a waiver upon
implantation of the modified embryo and had to comply or give their child up to
the guardianship of the ABTC. In the ruling the court stated that the children
were too mentally advanced for regular public or private school and only the
ABTC could effectively and completely educate them. One couple had been
imprisoned for endangering a minor and child abuse when they went to live in
the mountains with their CNM child. There was a big media blitz when one
couple won a lawsuit against a church that had refused to allow their young boy
to enter the cathedral during a vacation, the priest saying, “that the child
was an abomination unto the Lord”.
The biggest scandal on record
occurred after a journalist attempted to interview Ethan on his 25
th
birthday. The ABTC had issued an official birthday packet, covering what Ethan
had been doing since his 16
th birthday. According to the
packet, he had attended a major university and had started a job at ABTC as a
genetic engineer/advisor. The journalist, Laura Hopkins, had wanted more
information as well as a personal interview with Ethan but ABTC refused again
and again. She finally went undercover as an ABTC franchise employee,
ultimately making it to ABTC central headquarters. She published a story
on the eve of Ethan’s 33
rd birthday that totally blew Ethan’s life
open to the world.
The world was
shocked.
Many refused to believe it,
however, Miss Hopkins had documented everything perfectly.
According to the Hopkins Report, there
was a reason Ethan disappeared from the public when he was 16 and it didn’t
follow the story released to the public. When Ethan started to experience
puberty, some hidden genes had begun to exert themselves; Ethan began to
develop physical changes beyond those of a normal puberty, including but not
limited to extremely excessive hair growth,
bony
growth projections on his jaw, and rough hard epithelial cells on his skin. Besides
the physical changes, Ethan had begun to experience intense moments of rage so
bad he had to be restrained and sedated. Hopkins also reported that Ethan
could now only consume raw meat, becoming very ill and violent if he did
not. Ethan had also begun to fail many mental skill tests, although he
had maintained his excellence in physical skills. ABTC commented to say
only that the report was a lie and they were talking to their lawyers.
ABTC did admit that certain treatments had been given free to CNM children
after Ethan to correct certain irregularities.
However, they refused to admit that Ethan wasn’t the accomplished young
man that he was portrayed as being.
A
judge asked to meet with Ethan face-to-face, and ultimately the ABTC had to
admit that that was impossible, due to Ethan’s violent nature.
For the next two years, there was a torrent
of legal battles, suits and counter suits.
Parents of CNM children began to give up their
children to ABTC guardianship or to the appropriate authorities, although some
parents refused to even consider it.
One couple came out and publicly said that they were well aware that
they had made a mistake genetically engineering their child, but that they were
ready to accept the responsibility of their actions. The couple was killed by their CNM son who himself was shot by
the police who answered the emergency call.
When pictures of the boy were leaked online, many considered it a
joke. The pictures of the dead boy were
considered by many to be photographs of an animal that had been altered. When it was proven it was indeed the boy,
people became outraged and frightened.
ABTC
franchise hospitals began to report that the parents of CNM children were
overwhelming them. Many of the children had started to become ill and
many of the hospitals were unprepared for the onslaught. Governments
didn’t get involved until one of the children went on a rampage and killed four
nurses. The death of the nurses started people openly talking about what would
actually happen when the children grew up.
Riots around the world damaged and sometimes destroyed ABTC facilities.
Doctors, scientists and others connected
with ABTC were attacked.
At the last count there were 220,267,000 CNM
children worldwide. An estimated third of all non-CNM children worldwide had
received at least one CNM cellular treatment, designed to enhance their
DNA. People began asking the question
–who was really truly human?
