Chromosome 6 (1997)
By Robin Cook
Chimera; Organ harvesting; Thriller; Transgenics
Thriller about transgenic animals created to provide organs for rich clients.
Medical examiner Jack Stapleton is astonished when the body of Carlo Franconi disappears from the morgue, and his confusion doubles when it reappears riddled with bullets and without head, hands, or feet. During his examination, Jack begins to suspect that Franconi has had a liver transplant. Samples from the liver provoke more questions than they answer, as initial tests indicate that the liver was fully compatible with Franconi (thus provoking no immunological response) and that he wasn’t taking anti-rejection medications. Other tests indicate, however, that the liver was infected with a primate parasite, and while the liver tissue shares histological compatibility and blood type with the victim, the DNA is distinctly primate. Jack’s investigation leads him to Equatorial Guinea, where he discovers in the remote town of Cogo that the biotechnological company GenSys has been conducting organ transplants from genetically engineered bonobo monkeys. GenSys hired molecular biologist Kevin Marshall to create bonobos whose sole purpose is to provide organs for subscribers who may potentially need them should future disease cause organ failure. Kevin creates these “doubles” by switching bonobo chromosome 6 with the humans’ shortly after the monkeys’ conception. The transplants are a biological advance because they provoke no immunological response from the new host, and thus there is no danger of rejection or death. Belatedly, Kevin discovers that chromosome 6 contains developmental genes as well, and is horrified to discover that he has created in these genetically engineered bonobos a race of protohumans that resembles early Neanderthal ancestors.
Kevin’s discovery prompts a crisis of conscience: can he morally justify the creation of these protohumans for the purpose of life-saving organ transplantation? Clearly, Kevin feels unable to clone a human whose existence is meant solely as a preventative health measure for the human DNA donor, yet he is less disturbed when he considers the bonobos as primates. He must ask at what point on the evolutionary spectrum it is morally acceptable to engineer these “doubles”; after all, the bonobos are initially selected for the experiment because they share over 98% of human genes. Later, he is faced with deciding what to do with the protohumans – release them, induce infertility, or terminate them. Moreover, the unpredictable results of creating transgenic animals with human chromosomes becomes apparent when the bonobos begin to manifest distinctly human characteristics. These transgenic animals ultimately manifest uncharacteristically violent behaviors which endanger the scientists. Xenografts from the transgenic animals also threaten the human hosts, as the primate parasite has now been introduced into human populations. Previously unseen in humans, the parasite could genetically mutate and spread to other human hosts. Ultimately, the unpredictable variables in the doubling and the xenografts indicate that transgenic animals are not the viable, long-term approach to disease prevention.
Evaluation: Poor writing mars this medical thriller.
– Natalie Champ