Lore:Genemodders

CULTURE

Genemodders	Other Names: Muties, Just normal folk, Genetically Modified Person, Kaijin Related Pages: Genetics, Geneticist Related Lore: Lore:Felinids Contributors: JPWriter Massive document documenting the history of genemodding. ---- "It's Writing time" and then JP writed all over the place.

Genemodding

Genes are notoriously easy to modify. The human body alters its genes randomly during cell division, approx 100 mutations per cell over a cell's typical lifetime. Sexual reproduction involves combining genetics from all parents, and even that results in ~70 unique alterations found in neither parent. What makes "Genemodding" tricky is changing a large enough area at once in order to effect visible change. That is, if you want blue skin, you need all of your skin to know it should be blue now.

Genetic modification, genemods, and genemodding all fall into the realm of altering DNA's alleles and gene expression through a wide range of methods to activate an even wider range of phenotypes. From making someone taller and giving them green hair, to making them faster and more perceptive, to even giving them arms that can stretch across the room and speak telepathically, this science's applications are endless. Genemoding is accomplishable with any organism possessing the basic genetic information storing methods science is familiar with, and theoretically with any it wasn’t familiar with. Single-celled life forms, protists, bacteria, fungi, plants, and even animals can be targeted with the use of activators to target existing DNA sequences, using mutators to alter the sequence entirely, allowing for a whole new sequence, or most dangerous of all infusing in one organism’s unique sequences into another organism.

Depending on the transmission vector and implementation, some genemods may last hours, others may last the entire lifetime of an organism, even into subsequent generations if that organism has offspring. Until such time as that organism has had its genetics reverted to a natural and unaltered stateThis phrasing, and delineation, has since been coopted by Species Purists and other discriminatory actors, and serves as a dogwhistle for many forms of prejudice., they are considered genemodded. The most relevant example of multigenerational genemods to the Nova Sector are the Hearthkin of the ice moon Freyja. Long ago, their ancestors enforced extensive gene modding, adapting themselves to survive more easily on the planet's surface, and now generations later, those modifications remain. Therefore, Hearthkin are considered genemodded, even if the genetics have since naturalized into them, and would remain so unless somehow their genetics were reverted to baseline humans.

Historical

Until 2100

Though genemods in the Nova Sector of 2565 are fantastical even in the terms of the wildest mad scientist’s dreams, genemodding had been performed for centuries before what the people of the Sol Federation would likely cite as the beginning of genemods. There is a strong argument to be made that cross-breeding of plants and animals for desirable traits is one of the simplest forms of genetic modification. If this is the case, then genetic modification has been practiced in Sol at least since approximately 8000 BCE, or in the 1940s when plant breeders learned to use chemicals and even radiation to change the DNA of their plants.

More in line with the 2565 definition of genetic modification, in 1973, Doctor Herbert Boyer and Stanley Cohen inserted DNA from an Escherichia coli bacteria into a lambda bacterial virus, beginning Sol-3"Earth," as phrased by folk who believe Earth's culture is entirely too prevalent in modern SolFed. This is widely considered a nonissue, and "Sol-3" remains an injoke between folk who don't care, mocking those who care far too much in either direction.’s biotech industry.

Premodern

Jumping forward over two centuries, the development of early genemod procedures and methods is beginning to be developed. Several Sol originating corporations began early gene splicing methods, and used these to return a number of previously extinct Sol species back to their respective ecosystems. However, human genemodification remains a heavily debated topic. When discussing the beginnings of human gene modification, several companies took up the challenge, standing up to the existing status quo. But only one was successful:

Brookshire Corporation claimed for almost half a decade to have developed a human embryo capable of breathing entirely underwater, until insiders leaked that the embryo had died early into development, as the equipment could not maintain homeostasis properly. WOLFE Industries would begin deployment of their modified adult humans, using very early human genemodifications, which were primarily focused on integrating cybernetics more seamlessly into a subject, in the first generation of their Augmented Soldiers, later shortened to Ogg SoldiersUnrelated to the open-source audio codec..

These were among a dozen attempts to militarize early gene modification, and were the most public. Early into the 2100s WOLFE Industries was reportedly developing the early procedures of what would become known as Fetal Development Therapy (FDT) to create the second generation of Ogg Soldiers, but fell short of Nekoka.

Nekoka, and the birth of the Felinids

Nekoka was founded by Takuya Takami Izumi, an ambitious geneticist who set her small gene research lab's roots down in Kobe, Japan. While the company was small, its successful genetics research would earn the lab several significant grants from large donors. Five years later, though, the lab switched from a purely research-focused endeavor to an ambitious business model, pitched by Dr. Izumi himself.

Pitching their idea to several cosmetics companies, Dr. Izumi gathered an unprecedented amount of research behind the development of their next project. Collaborating with a popular singer of the time, famous for her love of cats, they presented Dr. Izumi’s contribution to the world—the first fully stable, fully viable, and entirely safe human animal hybrid. The first of the Felinids was presented as a beloved star for all the human race to see.

Reactions were mixed, but the success was undeniable. Humans had long since had a deep fascination with the cats of their world, and the chance to further that fascination was something no price tag could ever dissuade. The scientific community was ecstatic to see how Dr. Izumi and his team had achieved what many had only dreamed of. However, many lamented and criticized the company's decision to keep its methods relatively discreet for many years. Within a few years, Nekoka also began to sell their technology to competitors openly. Business rivals like WOLFE Industries called into question the legitimacy and safety of the product, but even they could not deny the success that Dr. Izumi had achieved.

Nekoka Genetics Parlors opened on every continent phones rang off the hook with thousands of customers wishing to change their genetics. Soon their operations would double, and then triple, and their profits reached a historic high. The operation wasn’t cheap but it was a far cry from breaking the bank, and within months only got more affordable despite the increased demand.

Dr. Izumi faced legal trouble as those early investors in the company began to heavily deviate from the course Dr. Izumi envisioned. Several investors were investigating military applications of their technology. In response, Dr. Izumi took extreme measures to bar them from control of the company. In an interview responding to these changes to her company, Dr. Izumi spoke, “I am not here to make the next big gun. At its core, Nekoka has always been and will always be a company devoted to making people feel like themselves. Not all of us feel right in our own skin, and I aim to work until the end of time, till every single person is the being they’ve always wanted to be.” Dr. Izumi spearheaded efforts to ban the weaponization of Genemoding, lobbying extensively and having a significant hand in many modern regulations on those few weaponized Genemods.

However, the incredible high soon met its first major low. Calls from the scientific community questioned how stable modifications were and the consequences for the health of the participants. Some called them a dangerous phase, seeing them like a tattoo, and claimed Nekoka was taking advantage of impressionable youths. Civil rights watchdogs were concerned with the level of interest from certain parties in investigating the possibility of super babies. Nekoka would be largely unaffected as the Sol Federation would put into action its early legal guidelines for genemodification, and in fact benefit. The Sol Federation quickly began to go after those companies that were violating basic ethics with their genetic modification programs, such as driving WOLFE Industries into bankruptcy, as more and more of their crimes came to light.

However, as lobbying ramped up, pushing the Sol Federation to tighten its grip on the more compliant parts of this blossoming industry, and with new waves of discrimination growing, it drove many Felinids to leave Earth, seeking lives in the colonies.

Nekoka, seeing the pressure facing their customers, made a decision, in cooperation with a large shipping conglomerate build the Janus. A large O’Neil Cylinder is located in the space between Earth and Mars’ orbits. This was advertised to be the largest man-made outer orbit habitat structure, and a haven for all those Genemodders who sought normal lives, away from discrimination. Within a decade, this structure had doubled in size with plans for further expansion. To this day, it holds the title of the largest man-made satellite. Here in the Nekoka Towers, the young Dr. Izumi-Hanes Jr. works alongside the uploaded consciousness of their grandmother to lead the company in furthering their lofty goals. When the technology became available, the decision was made to move Janus to the Tau Ceti sector, where it now remains.

Martian Adoption

As the advent of genetic modification became available, a number of clinics opened in the largest cities of Martian colonies. These were small businesses opened primarily by families or groups of entrepreneurial geneticists. They served to prepare the many colonists for the unterraformed Martian lifestyle. ‘Grey Martians’ on the surface took low-oxygen adapted lungs, perfect for the oxygen-poor atmosphere, and muscle alterations to assist them in the lowered gravity. ‘Black Martians’ frequently took low atmosphere and low temperature adaptations, as well as polarized corneas to protect against intense, unfiltered sunlight.

These common quality of life modifications were undeniably useful and some would argue indispensable, and thus were widely accepted. However, as urbanization took hold and the need for survival genemods shrunk, the rise of youths among the Grey Martians receiving genemods to give them ears, altered eyes, enhanced performance, and even superhuman capabilities, and all being treated as small as getting a tattoo or an ear piercing.

This gave rise to what is known as the Kaijin, translated to mean a strange or mysterious person. These groups became more diverse and splintered into numerous subcultures. The Daikaiju are characterized by being taller than ten feet. Kikaiju are individuals who combine their genemods with extensive cybernetics. Maikaiju is an up-and-coming group thanks to the rise of the water levels on Mars. Midoriju being those who focused on organic and plant-like genemods, while the Haikaiju, having risen early in the Kaijin culture defined by combat-modded gang members. These groups are wildly varied and heavily prominent among the youth culture. The flippant use of genemoding was a heavily debated topic, especially as tensions over genemoding on Earth began to rise. This cultural friction resulted in a handful of incidents reaching their peak after the death of a Lunan diplomat to Mars, one who sought to soothe these tensions.

Notably, the Ringos of Saturn incident established important case law regarding Genetic Likenesses.

The Ringos of Saturn

2200s, the turning point at which the growing counterculture of casual genemodding broke free of convenient negligence and forcibly demanded legal reprimand. Before this, individuals would self-modify to impersonate celebrities, sure, and they'd get sued for damages done to their brand and in the resulting settlement, have their gene expressions reset; small-scale individual level crimes already covered by trademark laws. (The first recorded case involved Hatsune Miku, of course). Nothing that demanded a sizeable legal team; the crimes were clear, the damages limited, and the lawyers reasonable. None of those applied on June 7th, 2218, when the Beatles' Estate & Affairs Trust (current owners of the legal rights and holdings of the 1960s band The Beatles) attained and executed a search and arrest warrant against the Marsian commune in the township of Quarryman, informally known as The Ringos Of Saturn. Over the course of two weeks, BEAT agents systematically swept through the suburban commune, seizing and demolishing buildings while arresting the entirety of the town's occupants. 4500 defendants were named, all "Ringo Starr," each genetically indistinguishable from the musician born July 7th, 1940 whilst modestly clothed, at almost every age of his life. Of the 4500 defendants, 1100 were found to have functioning female reproductive organs as their sole deviation from the Ringo Starr genetic presentation. 700 of the Ringos were found to have been born in the commune, from couplings between two fertile Ringo Starrs, and their ages ranged from 0 to 15 years of natural aging.

The seizure and destruction of any property owned by a commune member was, as BEAT attempted to justify in court, "fully justified" as the property belonged to the Beatles' Estate, as the Likeness of Ringo Starr is so monolithic that any good or service attained from any labor performed while possessing the Likeness of Ringo Starr is directly attributed to wielding the likeness of Ringo Starr. That is, "Because you were Ringo Starr, you succeeded. That success is not yours, but Ringo Starr's, and thus belongs to him." The defense observed that Ringo Starr was a musician, not a farmer, not a physicist, not a carpenter, and not a good musician, so utilizing the Ringo Starr Likeness in those capacities could not possibly have given material benefit.

The commune's adults accepted plea bargains for their voluntary choice to transform themselves into Ringo Starr and impersonate Ringo Starr's Likeness, with most accepting a detransition to a less protected appearance and some nominal fine, but in their violently comprehensive lawsuits BEAT issued equal charges to every Ringo of Saturn. Thus, with ears across the solar system listening, 700 children were sued with intent to compel full-body alteration, for the crime of being born looking they way they were.

Over the next twelve weeks, the strongest human-rights lawyers clashed against the strongest music industry goons, establishing the nature of bloodrights and inheritance, of personhood beyond the flesh, of where legal culpability ends, of how one can be defined as an accomplice to one's own birth by virtue of gaining consideration (life) from the crime, the effectiveness of trademark law on a living Likeness, the value of a legacy and the very nature of the individual. The exact rulings have been expunged from public record (for irrelevance and PR), but were noted as finding the existing laws heavily favored the BEAT perspective. Reactionary lawmakers took this case as the blueprint for how current law failed to account for the current state of genetics, and within 6 weeks had a blueprint for what would be universally adopted as the Genetic Likeness Laws governing all forms of genetic bodily alteration, still used today. By the time sentencing came for the 700 Children of Ringos, BEAT was successfully pressured into a post-victory settlement reflecting outcomes offered by the new laws.

Genetic Likeness Laws

The Genetic Likeness Laws, in summary:

• An individual's natural genetic expression is inherently trademarked by them at birth. (Identical Twins and other collisions are established case-by-case but default to a permissive co-ownership.) No external party can preemptively circumvent or distort the course of nature.
• An individual's genetic expression loses the "natural" protections when it is modified, and the former genetic expression no longer holds protected status. The individual may easily apply to retain holding of rights over the former genetic expression if they can demonstrate significance to that individual; this is typical of later-life genemods, where the person is known for their prior appearance before the alteration, and very rare for early-life genemods. That is, someone modded as a toddler does not intrinsically hold rights to the individual they would have grown into
• A violation must be discovered, in order to have damages claimed. A Ringo Star in the middle of the woods, unseen by anyone, inflicts no damage.
• Damages assessed must be considered in contrast to the likeness owner's intended image, and only after reasonable efforts have been made to mitigate damages.
  • As such, impersonating Elvis and doing Elvis things holds significantly less potential for damage than impersonating Elvis and doing Syndicate activities.
  • This explicitly states that the wronged party has a duty to both be aware of and to deny the acts committed by the infringing party.
    • That is, once the infringed party becomes aware of a violation and a behavior, they have a reasonable timeframe to decry it before it is implicitly considered authorized. This timeframe is defined on the moment of awareness, not the moment of behavior, though a long period of unawareness may be used to justify lessened damages.
    • Estate of Al Gore vs. Al GorlexAl Gorlex sponsored a Path of Flesh Heretic on a planet, thus contributing to Global Worming. clarified the intersection of self-incrimination and denial of damages, establishing that the estate holder's "No Comment" to a reporter did not waive their later claims of persona damages.
• In enforcing a Likeness Alteration, the trademark holder must offer a non-transitive punishment commensurate to the remaining potential to inflict damage (though they may offer a reasonable transition plan as well). Effectively, the infringer may not be forced to undergo invasive alteration, and so must be offered a reasonable chance to buy into and obtain a proper license to their infringed likeness, regardless of if a public license is available to purchase, and regardless of prior damages assessed by the relevant courts. This is typically assessed as a daily fine for "remaining in violation," though pedantically, paying the fine is proper compliance.
• Children, created through natural processes, from one or more Infringed Likenesses, thus resulting in a unique non-infringing genetic combination, retain the trademark of their specific genetic expression but not of the infringing haploid Likeness. Thus, they cannot claim to be a representative or child of the legitimate Likeness holder, so are entitled to no inheritance from genetic similarity, including relevant names. The Infringed Likeness holder has no obligation to extend a license agreement to offspring they did not directly produce. Informally, this is known as the "Bastard Clause."
  • Conversely, a child has intrinsic Likeness rights to claim to be the child of all individuals who knowingly contributed significant genetic data to its formation without prior arrangements, so long as at least one parent assumes responsibility and willfully waives the other parents' obligations.
• The establishment of quantified genetic markers, distinguishing utility genemods from the "Unique Enzymes" and "Unique Identifiers" that define a Genetic Likeness.

The Genetic Likeness Laws are used as a blueprint for individual Nations to implement their own version, often retaining the core structure but varying in damage calculation and the definitions of "reasonable efforts to mitigate."

After more public scrutiny, the BEAT permitted the adult Ringos of Saturn to renegotiate their settlements and buy into their likenesses at an undisclosed amount. With BEAT assistance, they released an album of original songs to raise funds to rebuild the township of Quarryman, leveraging their collective Likeness's namesake. Needless to say, the township did not get rebuilt.

Idealists of Saturn

Idealism formed in the early gene-hacking circles of the 22nd century, arguing that biological life should be developed into a higher level of consciousness, and this could be accomplished through genetic modifications. This group later became the Idealist Aid Society, which would begin offering its members and their children genetic screening and editing services.

The Idealists would take root on Saturn, where initially Nekoka was dominating the genetic market; however, Saturn's pro-local laws quickly favored the IAS’s expansion, supporting small, privately owned Saturnian genetics companies, and soon Nekoka’s hold fell behind.

During initial colonization, environmental adaptations were used to mitigate the effects of the hostile environments, but as the IAS’s philosophy caught on, a system of universal genetic healthcare was launched, providing cheap genetic modifications, improving quality of life free of charge for Saturnian citizens. These leaned towards the practical side of gene modding, but aesthetic modifications were increasingly popular.

What Is A Genemod

A Genemod is a pattern of established DNA, injected into a compatible organism, that effects a desired change in the organism. Selective breeding, while having similar results, uses only natural pathways without unnatural injections, and thus is not legally Genemodding.

Vectors

The first genemods, following early work with CRISPR-Cas9, relied on custom-crafted viruses who, upon infecting a host, would target specific sequences in the victim's DNA and alter them, either rewriting them on the spot or injecting an extra length of codons. Later nanite-based genemods would follow this pattern of freefloating agents distributed through a body and arbitrarily altering cells until a probabilistic threshold is reached, within the order of minutes. Longer treatments would use an external coordinator to ensure the nanites touched roughly every cell, but statistically, letting them freefloat for a few minutes had already been enough.

Objectives

In the simplest terms, the objective of a genemod is to make a person different. Insurancewise, these are classified as either Functional or Aesthetic, and as Essential or Bullshit. Aesthetic genemods do not significantly alter the employment qualifications of the recipient, but can still be considered Essential if they affirm the user's identity: Tribal identity, Corporate identity (mandated gene expressions as a uniform), and/or Personal Identity (gender, species, etc.).

Functional Genemods adjust one of the following, or they don'tGenemods that are not a protected class of Functional can still be declared Functional, through great need, bribery, or other channels.:

• Survivability - Adapting the user to their environment. Radiation resistance, temperature adaption, et cetera.
• Stability - Mitigating the downsides of other genetic expressions, and adding redundancy to make their genes less fragile.
• Synchronization - Bridging the gap between two conflicting gene expressions. Perhaps they are too close in the genetic sequence to be stable, so need to be spaced out. Perhaps they modify the same body part, and thus need to resolve their merge conflicts.
• Self-Acceptance - Sometimes a person is not pleased in their body. If their dysphoria affects their quality of life, and is not simply "it'd be neat," they can apply to have their self-affirming care qualifying as Functional.
• Self-Resonant - Sometimes a body just doesn't feel right, despite wanting to to be perfect. Resonance is independent of the conscious mind, so may be subject to phantom pains and similar phenomenon. Self-Resonant affirming Genemods are meant to ensure the body is the best host for the Resonance it is intended to host.
• Scale - Some genes produce a feature that's not the right size. Turns out that installing ant antennae installs ant-sized antennae. These need to be scaled up, with perhaps additional engineeringSee the Square–cube_law, etc. to compensate.

Tradeoffs

Even with natural evolution, every single gene expression is a balancing act of tradeoffs. Vibrant plumage to attract mates also attracts predators. Toughened skin is much less flexible. Large muscles get in the way and reduce their range of motion. Simply having a scienceperson make the choice instead of natural selection does not negate this. Most genemods require active power, e.g. glowing, temperature control, be tall for meThe author is drawing from personal experience., and active camouflage, and so impose caloric burdens on the user. Complicated (and cheap) genemods rely on long, precise sequences of genes with little room for redundancy or error correction, making them more vulnerable to natural mutations, and with more disastrous results. Expensive genemods can often optimize many of the tradeoffs towards unimpactful consequences you'd hardly notice. Genetic Instability is a blanket medical term for the various symptoms of improper or excessive genemodding, which includes genemods attempting to edit the same codons, and mathematically adding up to a strong imbalance of specific bases, and fragility from too many splices on a single chromosome. Genetic Instability often manifests symptoms contradictory to continued mortality, including melting, malformations, combustion, and resonant mismatch. Consult your doctor about your genemod regiment and how your gene expressions interplay.

Copyright

As Genemodding is a health-centered care field, "Big Pharma" style rules apply. After all, the time spent researching novel genemods should be recompensed, to keep the research industry lively and stable.

"Pink hair" is too generic to be copyrighted, but the pathways to induce a specific shade of pink hair can be. The simplest means, by virtue of being more easily discovered, are usually the first to be copyrighted, leaving discount and open-source genemods to necessarily take convoluted routes. Sirrus Carpor owns the patent on inducing hair folicles to produce Anthocyanins, derived from corn and grapes, which is the simplest, and thus most reliable, known way to achieve vibrant pink hair. Cheaper pink hair genemods may have to invoke convoluted hair shapes, forming stiffer hair with specific refractive indexes in order to make a cheaper pigment appear the desired pink. This, of course, has trivial differences that mean that an elitist can absolutely tell if you "cheaped out" on your pink hair; at least, an elitist with a pocket microscopeA surprisingly large number of them. Of course, you can tell your elitist from your Elitist by the refractive lens manufacturer they source their zooms from..

Licenses to specific genemods are paid to the longest extent they might be passed down. An hourly hair extension gene is relatively cheap, but a permanent body alteration capable of being passed down to children - effectively starting a new species - is usually charged at Speciation Rates.

These Hereditary Genemods are a transferable, limitless license granted to you and your descendants. Because there's no mandated overlap of "reproduces sexually" and "has children," this includes adopted heirs. Incest is frowned upon, not because of genetic concerns - we have the technology to fix that - but it's seen as bad faith license sharing, a "have your cake and eat it too," moment. "You wouldn't adopt your wife," as the memes say. The largest recognized class of species piggybacks off of existing Tribal laws, allowing for sharing and modding within a tribe so long as the Gene Expression in question is declared as an integral part of the Tribal Identity. Tribal indoctrination may require buying into the shared license, as well as any other well-defined cultural initiations, but the copyright owner holds no grounds to deny the legitimacy of a tribe's compositionSee Johnson^3 v. The Spinward Longdicks, which settled in court that "will pay 500 credits for a big appendage" is a sufficient tribal identity to allow tribal redistribution of the J3-RKoff Gene Expression..

In addition to specific gene alterations, a person's Likeness is inherently their own copyrightSee The Beatles' Estate v. The Ringos of Saturn. It is thus illegal to sequence a person's DNA in an attempt to copy them wholesaleEven if no attempt at impersonation is made. The sequencing itself is the crime; identical twins and other coincidental duplicates remain legally convoluted enough to lack a definitive ruling.. Specifically, the "Unique Enzymes" and "Unique Identifiers." Using that sequence to replicate specific copyrighted genemods is illegal through intellectual property pathwaysNo federal law exists to police IP theft, but the Trade Clique holds enough of a monopoly on galactic trade that losing favor with them tends to doom smaller nations.. In the modern day, the Genetic Likeness Clause is mostly used to federally prosecute Changelings even in nations technically accepting of them, as most nations have broader laws about impersonation.

What is a Genemodder?

Legally, a Genemodder is any individual who has benefited from external forces adjusting the structure of DNA. So basically everyone except a few genetic purists - some for bloodline or honor purposes, some for discrimination, some for tradition, and most for having not been exposed to modern society for very long. Legally, gene purists are a protected class, just enough to ensure they cannot be compelled to alter themselves. Almost every job-related function that a genemod can make easier, an external tool can assist with to the same degree, so outside of extreme risk situations with a high risk of extended isolation, there isn't too much of a hiring discrepancyWon't rule out it being relevant to your specific character, but if your character implies it's a galactic issue... they're allowed to be factually wrong. between genetically suited and genetically irrelevantHR Note: don't use this term. candidates.

Medically, a Genemodder is basically anyone. Outside of fringe cases, genetic modifications don't alter treatment plans beyond surface-level detailsThose motherfuckers who think that thick skin is fine, and have no regard to the surgeons who thus need an industrial press to pop a scalpel through their shithead hide in order to save their goddamn life..

Culturally, a Genemodder is someone who has altered themselves and buys into Genemodder Culture. Folk who embrace genetic modification as more than a fact of life or a tool, but a way of life. Genemodder Culture embraces the plasticity of life, often modding and unmodding several times during their life, expressing the impermanence of life via impermanent modifications. Quirks to Shapeshift alone do not necessarily mean one is In genemodder culture, but they're pretty frequent. Even those who settle down with a gene expression for a long period of time can consider themselves culturally Genemodders if they elevate the role of their modifications in their life.

Biologically, a Genemodder is someone who has DNA that is a critical part of their continued existence, and is (or was) actively "alive."Your theology of biology may have differing definitions, but it usually involves the conversion of ATP to ADP in the process of producing physical effects.

Medical Speciation

The DSM takes a practical approach to descriptive medicine, and so no longer describes species in terms of cultural practices or genetic sequences. With over fifteen thousand "species" on the books, with a majority derived from baseline bipedal carbon-based anatomy, the DSM describes treatments in terms of distinct treatment features, and thus recognizes only twenty-some significantly different species. Most medical textbooks train for common features found at treatment time, rather than presenting distinct near-identical manuals for every legal species or tribal identity. Modern medicine is more of an improvisational performance, and the DSM a diverse toolbox, rather than a concrete algorithm to go from illness to wellness. The DSM provides tools and common procedures, such as how to incise through hard carapaces and deep body hair, and represents the patient's state in terms of major organs. Evolution the way that it is, all bipedals have some analogous organ for blood and pumping, toxin processing, digestion, vision, hearing, atmospheric interaction, atmospheric interaction modification for communication, and cognitionTry the common mnemonic: "Heart liver stomach eye ear lung tongue brain. Without all these I try a-gain.", so doctors are trained to recognize the relevant organ(s) for common maladies, and how to commonly treat them. Supplemental textbooks do cover precise cultural practices, but as a general rule, these are expected to be carried with individual medical records.

To the DSM, a distinct species requires a radically distinct means of treatment. All families of slime persons are filed under the label "Slime person," for example, as their biochemistry requires what most species find innately toxic. The specific species names are mostly a cultural artifact of the time, e.g. "Podpeople" covers all plant persons because of their prevalence and traceable human origins, rather than calling them all "plant people." The vast majority of carbon-based humanoids fall under a few classes, informally called the "Generics": Humanoid, Anthromorph, Anthromorphic Insect, InsectoidWe are just as confused as to why there are two varieties of generic insect.. "Aquatic" is often mistranslated as "Akula (Generic)", despite many key difference between mainline Azuleans. "Human" and "Felinid" are distinct for cultural reasons, mostly grandfathered into distinct specieshood. The main difference between a "Human" and a "Humanoid" is the patient's intent to be seen as Human, so typically bone structure or a standard range of human skin colors. Of note, older Asimovian AI lawsets drew a critical distinction around the term "Human."

Genetics Research

Genes can be studied, and new genemods can be derived from existing genes as well as entirely novel strands.

Why is there Genetics Research?

If Genemodding is so popular, so patented, so locked up in legal turmoil, why does the Nova Sector stations have genetics research? Because the Nova Sector also has anomalies that aren't found in stable space. Much of science is trying known things in unknown conditions, and the Genetics department is no exception. Psychoreactive interference stemming from Indecipheres permits a surprising number of abandoned genetic expressions deemed too unstable to be, in one researcher's terms, "gently coaxed into a workable state, as if the Mother wanted you to flourish despite your flaws and was able to take you from nearly perfect to absolute perfection."

Cynically, this also circumvents patents, in that "do this simple process but in the anomalous effects observed here" is legally not the well-patented "do this simple process."

Self-Actualization Device

The Self-Actualization Device is, despite the mocking tone of the ignorant, mostly a microwave. The SAD combines the fields of Resonance research, Genemodding, and Microwaves to analyze the Resonance presently in the body, formulate the ideal body to best host the Resonance, identify and kill what parts of the body oppose that ideal, and facilitate the growth of replacements that don't. In short, it kills the parts of you that aren't you, and puts new parts of you that are you in their place. Warning: The chance that your Resonance may reflect an angry burning skeleton is low, but never zero.

The Self-Actualization Device is but one of many crowning achievements of the Saturn-born Idealist Movements.

The SAD does not invalidate the transgender experience, as it restores the body to what the algorithms find the Resonance to be most compatible with at the time, not what the Resonance wishes to feel most compatible as. The journey of becoming what one wishes to become is a deeply personal and unique path, though is often described in terms of "earning" one's ideal self, of convincing oneself that they "deserve" to have their desired form, of subconsciously "letting go" of what their flesh is and embracing what their flesh should be. Some simply replace their hormone profile and let natural processes reshape them, the gradual process allowing for an equally gradual resonance adjustment. Some try to force the matter, undergoing extensive genemods to mold their flesh into the perfect form, then spend days to decades staring into a mirror until it feels like "them." No choice is intrinsically wrong, no journey not worth taking.

In what is considered a Sapient Rights win, the corporate destruction of Rollmagic Canonicity Index in nuclear hellfire and insurance premiums left the patents for many natural Testosterone and Estrogen production pathways in legal limbo for long enough for the lawyers of the Sentient-Engine Liberation Front to establish a trust, making these genetic treatments Free to license until the patent expires, when they will become Public Domain.

The DNA Vault

Elephant in the vault: Nanotrasen knows what a chinchillaChinchilla chinchilla chinchilla chinchilla chinchilla chinchilla chinchilla chinchilla chinchilla chinchilla. is. Nanotrasen doesn't need to store the blueprint of a chinchilla for future generations in a post-apocalypse to rebuild from first principles. What Nanotrasen, and the galaxy, don't know, is how DNA reacts to anomalous conditions in cramped conditions. Across each of the dozens of Anomalous Zones across SolFed, medical research companies fight to assess the long-term dangers of that specific zone on a wide variety of compacted DNA samples.

In the core of the Tsyogal Anomaly, for example, acute radiation applied to near-stasised DNA did not initially damage the strands, but once the DNA was removed from the radiation, and then the anomaly's effects, the DNA "spontaneously" dissolved, having accumulated radiation damages over the entire exposure despite being functionally inert. This directly led to advances in Stasis Bed technology, applying proper light wavelengths to induce a limited amount of consciousness and, importantly, the safeword auto-eject detection, allowing the stasised patient to resist the effects and exit on their own terms.

Who knows what the insidious, psychoconscious-altering anomalies of the Nova Sector will have on these human DNA samples?

DNA Infuser

By all means, injecting someone with liquefied DNA from an incompatible being should, at best, give them a horrible rash. Occasionally, the right strand breaks at the right time and finds a compatible section by pure happenstance, and then even more rarely, this produces a noticeable effect, and even extra more rarely, this doesn't kill the victim. The DNA Infuser brute forces this approach, effectively trying all combinations of host DNA and supplemented DNA until something fits, like building a jigsaw puzzle solely by trying every single piece against every single edge.

In the Nova Sector's anomalous radius, these jigsaw edges are a fair bit more flexible, and as such, a surprising number of organs can be strongly infused in a stable, non-lethal way. Investigations are still ongoing as to why the Nova Sector in particular has an easier time of finding stable infusions, but once an infusion is discovered, coreworlds can reverse engineer the alterations and market them as novelties. Several strains are already widely available, including the numerous flavors of Niche-Adapted Lungs.

Work in Progress: Footer subject to change at a moment's notice. Do not take a red link's presence, struck-through or otherwise, as confirmation (or denial) of their canonicity.

Nova Sector Lore
	Common Species	Humans, Tiziran, Unathi, Moths, Azulae, Slime Hybrids, Vox (Primalis et al), Tajaran, Synthetic Humanoids (and assorted robots), Pod Persons, Hemophages, Xenomorphic Hybrid
	Other Species	Genemodders (Felinids, Ice Walkers, Dwarf), Ashwalkers, Ethereals, Snailpersons, Teshari, Ordoht (Formerly Skrell), Plasmamen, Flypeople, Vulpkanin, Rouges (Abductorkin), Kobolds, Miscellaneous Species, Dullahans, Employee Golems, Changelings, Shadekin, Proteans, Ghouls
	Nanotrasen	Nanotrasen, Central Command, Emergency Response Corps
	SolFed	SolFed, Sol in 2566, The SolFed Armed Forces Notable Member States: Libraen Federation, Nanotrasen Government: Voting Cliques (Plasma Clique), Voting in SolFed
	External Groups	Heliostatic Coalition (HC CompactThe HC Constitution, the document formally defining the HC., HCAFHeliostatic Coalition Armed Forces (Ranks), CZDCommonwealth of Zvirdnyn Dominions, KMIFKemppainen-Morozov Industrial Fabrication, Expeditionary Police ForceHC's Cops (InspectorsThe Expeditionary Force. They inspect more than stations. (Quick Reference, SOPStandard Operating Procedure, LexiconLingo, chatter guide, manner of speaking.))), Interdyne Pharmaceutics, Cargo
	Hostiles	The Syndicate (Gorlex, Tiger Cooperative, DS-2, Syndicate Manifestos), The Void Imperium, The Spider Clan, Changelings
	Nova	The Nova Sector, IndecipheresLavaland, volcanic mining place., FreyjaIcebox and Snowglobe station frozen moon., BoletusSerenity Mushroomoon.
	Concepts	Bluespace, Plasma, Faster Than Light Travel, Resonance ("Souls"), Death