The Methuselah Gene Read Free

that may have induced.”
    â€œWhat you’re saying is that it’s an overnight AIDS death?   Not a decade?   And all because you attached a tree gene to it?”
    â€œThat’s a rough way of putting it.   A modified virus acquired a longevity gene that it attempted to use as a defense mechanism to make up for being neutered.”
    â€œYou’re. . . kidding.”
    â€œDo I look like I’m kidding?   Jim’s body tried using its own natural defense mechanism, but was quickly overwhelmed after the virus didn’t die on its own.   Of course I’m just theorizing.   We may never know what really happened, now.”
    â€œI’ll tell you what happened.   Your Methuselah gene went to bed with the Devil, and got itself a new lease on life.   Namely, death.”
    â€œHow did you know I was calling it Methuselah?”
    Darryl huffed surprise.   “You were?   Well, it makes sense, doesn’t it?   Anyway, it sounds like you created a monster, and then it screwed you in more ways than one.”   He stared out the window at a large oak tree rising beside the path in front of us.   “How is the news going to cover this story?”
    â€œWith as little information as possible.   Tactar is hoping to keep the FDA and the FBI out of the investigation.”
    â€œSo do you think whoever took your stole your research knows the truth?   And how do you know Jim didn’t just dispose of everything while under the influence?”
    â€œI don’t know.   I’m told it’s being investigated, including the possibility of murder.   They’re saying murder’s unlikely, though, and they won’t tell me why.”
    â€œWhich is why they reassigned you, hoping it all blows over?”
    I nodded once, then stopped myself.   “Only thing, our project was canceled before Jim died, which is curious to me.”
    â€œHow so?”
    â€œThere’s just something about the timing.   Who knew what, and when.   Industrial espionage is big in our industry, as you might know.   But then again, the results for our project just weren’t panning out, either.   Instead of prolonging life in the worms we tested, if anything it decreased their life spans.”
    Darryl tapped his chin, still staring up at the oak tree.   “Well, ya know, if you could figure out how to stop this death wish your gene’s now whispering, and just keep the shortened lifespan, you’d have more than just a Satan bug.”
    â€œExcuse me?”
    â€œThink about it.   A virus that doesn’t kill you or affect you in any other way except to shorten your lifespan by ten or twenty years.   Bingo, population problems solved.”
    â€œBut that’s the exact opposite of what I was trying to do.”
    â€œHey, you said A and B equals God knows what.   Reversals happen all the time with aberrant cells, from what I hear.   Look at cancer.   Isn’t that a genetic disease where cells that are supposed to die acquire immortality instead, and start multiplying?”
    â€œRight, the tumor cells develop morbid superpowers by genetic mutation, and somehow survive normal autodestruct mechanisms by manipulating their telomeres, the complexes of DNA and protein that protects the ends of each chromosome.”
    â€œWell, there you go.   Why couldn’t your tree gene be made to manipulate these telomeres in such a way that people age faster than expected?”
    â€œTo what purpose?”
    â€œTo what purpose?   Hell, to sell more cosmetics and cosmetic surgeries!   And vitamin pills and pricey health foods.   You’d become paranoid at age thirty instead of forty or fifty, when your friends start noticing your wrinkles, hair loss, and sagging jowls.   Die off younger, and the government saves billions in Medicare, too, for everything from prescription drugs and walkers to