The Pholus Mutagen

[Steezie]

The year is 2013 and a scientist steps nervously out onto a stage facing a crowd of thousands of reporters, fellow scientists, and government representatives.

He begins his presentation, slides depicting a completely new life form and its various functions. This life form, which he has named the Pholus Mutagen, can only exist in the body of another. His audience is confused, why would anyone create a parasitic life form?

The Mutagen is a microscopic organism that can only live inside a live host. Genetically engineered to have a massive appetite, it feeds on the waste our body produces and the pathogens that make us sick. Once injected with a seed population of the Mutagen, a person goes through an adjustment period of several days where they become sick. The Mutagen multiplies, spreads, and adapts.

Once the adjustment period is over, they are now exponentially resistant to disease and other forms of sickness. Their immune system is incredibly strong and their body's own repair systems function with far greater speed and efficiency as the Mutagen attempts to preserve the host for its own survival.

What would the the implications and concerns with such a creation?

 

[mpok1519]

Very interesting question; the creation of artificial life has always been a hot topic button issue ever since the discovery of cloning. Artificially creating a lifeform with salubrious abilities should seem like a good thing.

I'd be worried about the microscopic pathogen mutating int something else; if you've ever seen the movie "I am Legend", the premise of the movie was something very similiar; bioengineers reverse engineered a small-pox pathogen that eliminated cancer. The problem was that it mutated into a virus that turns you into a vampire zombie.

~shrug~

if science fiction predeeds science fact, I'd say this is one of my concerns; even though its pretty wild.

Also, duing the time period when that person's body is adjusting towards the new lymphocyte(Im guessing thats what it'd eventually turn into, although thats probably a misused connotation), some people with immune defeciencies might be at higher risk than other.

 

[Nathan45]

Do you play sid meyer's alpha centauri? lol

 

[Nathan45]

Also, this wouldn't work.

There's no reason the mutagen would preserve it's own host for it's own survival, because it's not a single entity, presumably it's a bunch of microorganism parasites. A favorable mutation would be a mutation that eats you better rather than a mutation that keeps you alive for the next generation, natural selection doesn't plan ahead.

The only way that the organism would keep you alive would be if it was somehow programmed to eat it's own whenever it's own came up with the wrong mutation, similar to what the immune system does to cancer cells.

 

[Eudaimonist]

What would the the implications and concerns with such a creation?

No concerns at all. Such an invention would be a boon to mankind.

Oh, and other implications are:

"The Pholus Mutagen reduces ecological disruption due to high mineral production in your bases. More important, all your units gain bonuses in xenofungus squares as if they were native units, and any native units you build gain +1 lifecycle."


eudaimonia,

Mark

 

[Nathan45]

alpha centauri was an awesome game anyway, "All I ever wanted to know I learned in the cloning vats" LOL best sci-fi ever.

 

[morningstar2651]

The year is 2013 and a scientist steps nervously out onto a stage facing a crowd of thousands of reporters, fellow scientists, and government representatives.

He begins his presentation, slides depicting a completely new life form and its various functions. This life form, which he has named the Pholus Mutagen, can only exist in the body of another. His audience is confused, why would anyone create a parasitic life form?

The Mutagen is a microscopic organism that can only live inside a live host. Genetically engineered to have a massive appetite, it feeds on the waste our body produces and the pathogens that make us sick. Once injected with a seed population of the Mutagen, a person goes through an adjustment period of several days where they become sick. The Mutagen multiplies, spreads, and adapts.

Once the adjustment period is over, they are now exponentially resistant to disease and other forms of sickness. Their immune system is incredibly strong and their body's own repair systems function with far greater speed and efficiency as the Mutagen attempts to preserve the host for its own survival.

What would the the implications and concerns with such a creation?

Brrraaaaaaaaains

 

[mpok1519]

I played alpha centauri. I absolutely hated it! Too complicated, and Commmand and Conquer 1 was better. =P

 

[mpok1519]

yes, braaaains!

The man-engineered lymphocyte might turn into something that turns you into a parasite. Or vampire zombie.

Whatevers.

 

[FaithLikeARock]

Good idea in theory, but it's not only unlikely but even if it could be done, it's very risky. No two immune systems are exactly alike or work in the exact same way unless you're identical twins. The side effects, the unknown effects, the entire idea has a chance of causing a chaotic world wide disease. Also before you simply release this you'd have to test it on other humans and the ethics of that is a bit debatable.

 

[mpok1519]

Its a very interesting idea though.

Yet, within tomes of science fiction, and within life in many ways, whenever man tries to command the unknown, it has some noticeable negative side-effect.

But, in the story of Frankenstein (bad example, i know), the positive thing we learn is to have no fear from our discoveries, only undaunted reconciliation with our insecurities to make what was once wrong, right.

Whether or not Dr Frankenstein did that is up for grabs.