That’s easy for a man to say….

CosmicConservative’s last blog post..WoW update?. # whatever?

For any interested, a very quick and dirty biography of Zsallia can be found right here.

In other words, her egg-producing genes would not benefit from the enhancements, while her body would. This means that her enhancements, including her immortality, would not breed true. The fact that her reproductive DNA was not modified would prove she was originally human.

I believe that this sort of somatic genetic engineering is feasible since I know that there are somatic mutations that do not affect the reproductive DNA, and as such do not breed true.

CosmicConservative’s last blog post..WoW update?. # whatever?

Interesting thoughts, but that’s precisely what we’re trying to avoid. Zsallia is a human being, she’s just been modified resulting immortality and the ability to recover from wounds that would kill an ordinary person. Her abilities fall within the laws of physics- the regenerative process consumes her and her appetite (once she regains consciousness, as in the book) goes wild as she consumes whatever she has to to complete the healing process.

I don’t see a signature being in the works, given the how’s and why’s we won’t discuss here. If you look at the two chapters referenced in the post you’ll see the revelation that she is a human being hits her very, very hard- if she were told she was an artificial creature she’d actually probably be happier, at least at first. What Dean needs is something that makes it undeniable that Zsallia is human, and that her immortality is artificial. What I need is a way to deliver that without being too cliche about it and leaving at list a sliver of doubt for those readers who need it (including myslef). It’s a very thin line.

I can’t say I fully understand the scope of what you are talking about, but if you are trying to come up with a definitive means of demonstrating that a human being is artificial, as opposed to organically generated, then here are a couple of things  to think about.

Human DNA, like all DNA in all organisms, is a hodge-podge of genes and genetic sequences, some of which are dormant, some of which are canceled out by other portions, and some of which are actually detrimental to the organism.

If I were to design a "super human" from the DNA up, I would remove some of those redundant, unnecessary or (particularly) potentially dangerous sequences. If an examination of someone’s DNA were to show that those specific parts were missing, that would be a powerful indicator of artificiality. I would specifically look for areas of known genetic weakness where DNA is known to be prone to error leading to genetic diseases.

Also, if I were to design DNA from the ground up, I would probably succumb to the temptation to "sign" my work. It would probably be pretty easy to insert a section of nonfunctioning DNA which had an encoded "signature" in it. By comparing the artificial DNA to actual DNA, this sequence could potentially be isolated and eventually decoded.

Finally, I would expect a designed organism to have some specific enhancements over organically evolved ones, particularly in areas where evolution has created difficulties for itself. Perhaps the tendons of the individual would have carbon-filaments woven into the fiber. I would look closely at mitochondrial DNA for specific design improvements since that’s the basic energy mechanism for the cell. This not only would provide a "signature" proving artificiality, but could also explain any "super human" abilties of the artificial human.

Or you could just do a BladeRunner and have a serial number embedded in every cell in the body.

CosmicConservative’s last blog post..WoW update?. # whatever?

But otherwise, holy shit, I think maybe Phelps and Trudy may have (just maybe) pointed to the right answer. I just tried to talk to John about it but he was just getting in bed and damn if I’ll bother him on that. The man has to get up for work in the morning, and besides, I may be wrong.

And I really want to hear Dr. Poonawalla’s thoughts, and just emailed him on it.
What a great thread. I’m glad John started it. This really really may help guys. And further thoughts are still absolutely solicited.

(DAMN I love the blogosphere!)

The real question is whether that process is a natural result discernible through scientific analysis available to medical testing, dna results or the erudition of Dr. Kelso.  

The genuine answer abides within the mind of
Zsallia, not Dr. Kelso nor the parasite on the plasma screen.

This is all fiction, right ?

On the other hand maybe Dr, Kelso needs a metaphysician or more classes in neuroscience.