BookV. Anne Smith.
Summary: Carolyn's parents did not, after all, make genomics history by synthesizing her genome in a lab. She has known she is the "Human Hoax" ever since a high school genetics exercise revealed she has trisomy X--a chromosomal abnormality--yet no synthetically constructed genome would have such clear traces of natural conception. Many years later, as molecular biologist, she hopes her colleagues never learn of her embarrassing origins. But when someone ransacks her office and lab, she finds professional embarrassment is the least of her worries. Someone believes she has the results of her parents' last, secret experiments, and is willing to kill to get them. But all she has from her parents are their genes--can she find what else they may have left her before somebody else does? In a not-so-distant society, where corporations wield as much power as nations and the line between corporate employee and state authority is blurred, the chase is on. Carolyn may have just too little time at hand to unravel the mystery of her parents' final days and to realize the deep consequences for the future of mankind. This fast-paced novel is followed by an extensive science chapter where the author provides a non-technical primer on modern genetics and on the speculative biology behind Carolyn's code.
Contents:
Intro; Contents; Part I: The Novel;
1: A Code for Carolyn: A Genomic Thriller; Chapter One; Chapter Two; Chapter Three; Chapter Four; Chapter Five; Chapter Six; Chapter Seven; Chapter Eight; Chapter Nine; Chapter Ten; Chapter Eleven; Chapter Twelve; Chapter Thirteen; Chapter Fourteen; Chapter Fifteen; Chapter Sixteen; Chapter Seventeen; Chapter Eighteen; Chapter Nineteen; Chapter Twenty; Chapter Twenty-One; Chapter Twenty-Two; Chapter Twenty-Three; Chapter Twenty-Four; Chapter Twenty-Five; Chapter Twenty-Six; Chapter Twenty-Seven; Chapter Twenty-Eight; Chapter Twenty-Nine; Chapter Thirty Chapter Thirty-OneChapter Thirty-Two; Chapter Thirty-Three; Chapter Thirty-Four; Chapter Thirty-Five; Chapter Thirty-Six; Chapter Thirty-Seven; Chapter Thirty-Eight; Chapter Thirty-Nine; Chapter Forty; Chapter Forty-One; Chapter Forty-Two; Chapter Forty-Three; Chapter Forty-Four; Chapter Forty-Five; Chapter Forty-Six; Chapter Forty-Seven; Chapter Forty-Eight; Epilogue; Part II: The Science Behind the Fiction;
2: The Biology Behind Carolyn's Code; Introduction: The Complexity of Genomes; From Gene to Protein; "It's Not Junk"; Chromosomes and the Human Hoax The Code: Synthetic Biology and Synthetic Genomes The Rise of Genetic Engineering; Synthetic Genomes; Carolyn's Code; The Two Axes of Aging; Mitochondria and Free Radicals; Telomeres and Cellular Senescence; A Longevity Treatment; Some Final Words