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Credits
Title: Lecture for New Personnel: How to Deal with Anomalous Organisms
Author:hyoroika09
Year: 2018
Ahem, hello there. My name is Sonoda, assigned as the head researcher here. Today, I have the pleasure of serving as the first lecturer for the newly hired staff in the "How to Deal with Anomalous Organisms" lecture series. I may not have many chances to directly interact with you all in the future, but I look forward to getting to know you better.
So, thank you very much for taking time out of your busy schedule to attend today's session. First of all, I would like to congratulate you all on becoming brand new members working with us and with our many eccentric creatures.
Let's get right to the main topic. The purpose of this lecture is to provide you with basic knowledge about the "anomalous" organisms you must deal with in the future, and to acquaint you with our various technologies and what to do if the worst should happen. An orientation, so to speak. Today is the first lecture, so it's more of an introduction, so please take it easy and don't get too anxious.
Okay, before I begin the lecture, I would like to ask you a question first. What do you consider to be an "anomalous" organism?
You have probably encountered a number of creatures that you have never seen before since you arrived here. Giant moth larvae, tentacle-waving tulips, Actias aliena with luminous wings, Turdus cardis capable of perfectly mimicking any sound, pegasi, unicorns, winged humans…
These creatures, although we cannot say for sure, probably do not exist in the natural environment. Actually, there are professionals in all sorts of fields among you, but this is the first time you have seen them, is it not? Oh, please tell me if this is not the case, because we must go and capture them.
Excuse me, I digress. They are indeed quirky and idiosyncratic. But are they "anomalous"?
As you all are well aware, our planet is home to a wide variety of creatures as unique as the ones you have encountered here. Extreme tolerance to salt, acid, and radiation; longevity; symbiotic relationships between different species; smaller and more powerful organ systems than anything we create － Each and every organism on the Earth possesses these incredibly unique characteristics. But we don't call them "anomalous". Why is that?
Let me change the subject for a moment.
There is no autonomy in biological evolution… This has become common knowledge in these days, nor should it be something that I need to reiterate to you, the researchers.
Eh? Oh, no, I'm not trying to deny neo-Lamarckism. Really. It's just that in today's lecture, the logic would be more appropriately developed by using Neo-Darwinism, which states that evolution is done by mutation occurring by chance and natural selection, without the existence of a DNA-based directionality.
In any case, our ancestors came into existence as unstable, self-replicating carbon compounds as far back as some four billion years ago, and continued to evolve unconsciously through a cycle of selection and survival. According to the neo-Darwinist view, there was no initiative on the part of the organisms themselves in this evolutionary process, which has been the established practice for a long time since the birth of life.
Until about 250,000 years ago, when we humans came into being.
The origin of humans, like all other organisms, is a matter of chance, and nothing special can be found in itself. But there was one thing about us humans that made us critically different from other species.
Uh, no, I'm not claiming that humanity is a superior species to other creatures. I rather believe that all living things are equally valuable and that ranking them is nonsense. Organisms are very closely dependent on each other. It is not possible for one to be absolutely dominant over the other. And you will not be able to say that the human race is the most superior once you start working here.
Let's get back to the topic at hand. What makes us humans so peculiar is that we are the only species among all species that has ever tried to look at the fact that we have evolved.
Until then, organisms had been living blindly, just to ensure that they, and the genes that made them up, could survive longer than anything else. Only recently, however, have we humans begun to ask ourselves why we are alive, and to search for the answer. In other words, we humans traced our roots and finally discovered evolution.
I said earlier that all organisms are equally valuable, but I don't think we can equate human evolution with that of other organisms, since Homo sapiens has figured out that we are an organism and how we have survived our four billion year journey.
Now that we know about evolution, what can we do next?
The answer is that we can let evolution take direction at our own will.
We can now intentionally create organisms by using various approaches to their main unit of life, the genes. Some of you are experts in genetic engineering, and even those who are not have some familiarity with simple genetic engineering, don't you? When we discovered the blueprint of life called genes, we became able to modify them to control the course of evolution. As if we were gardeners trimming the dendrogram of life, which until now has been only loosely drawn for the purpose of sustaining life.
Do you get the idea now? That's right. This is what makes them "anomalous".
Many of the organisms in this facility are outliers, deviating from the conventional understanding of a four billion year long continuum of life that takes place in an unselfconscious manner. For they have been tampered with by humans, and their evolution is clearly dictated by the will of someone else.
Well, I can see why you might look at me with disappointment. You are trying to tell me that this is a very common practice.
You are right, of course. The intentional modification of organisms by humans has been done universally. For instance, genetic modification has become a common technology in recent years, and existing domestic animals can be regarded as organisms whose characteristics have been deliberately altered by humans. Therefore, you may be dissatisfied if I simply say that they are anomalous. So I would like to focus on the level of modification.
Transgenic animals and livestock, they certainly have a human intervention to them. No doubt about that. But the work done on them is far from that of gardeners; it is the work of amateurs. Shears with imperfect enzymes, grafting without certainty, and the enormous amount of time required to produce the desired specimens. The Earth, a garden where so many different forms of life thrive, is simply too large for them to grasp and manage it all at this point in time.
But alas, I think it is inevitable. Doing research on life in the general society is quite challenging as a result of the ethical and financial issues involved. I know this because I used to be very troubled by these matters.
That is why you are all here. Aren't you?
You are not satisfied what you have achieved outside of here. You thought that there must be something more, that the potential of life is not this limited, that you can create something greater. And that is why you have taken our hands.
Yes, our vast knowledge and skills can assist you in realizing your previously impossible desires. We are at your disposal to provide the technologies you want to use and the information you want to refer to. There are no ethics that bind you, nor depletion of samples or finances. All types of laboratory equipment, all sorts of experimental reagents, and all kinds of laboratory specimens are available to you. Here you can plunge your scalpel into the mysteries of life as far as you wish, and if need be, completely redesign them.
Oh yes, exactly. We are just like you. The people who work here really love creatures. To incise them, to expose them, to rewrite them, to create them.
And we know you do, too.
I guess I should greet you all once again.
Welcome to the Japanese Organism Improvement and Creation Laboratory.
We are honored to have you join our efforts.
I apologize for the lengthy preface. Now, it is time to explain about anomalous organisms using actual examples. Today, I would like to present a lecture based on "The Development of Labor-Specific Humans by Applying the Neural Mechanisms of Social Insects" which is currently being researched by yours truly.
Please wait a moment while I prepare the slides.