Sciencing the Science Out of it

Posted on Mon Sep 7th, 2020 @ 9:44pm by Ensign Michael Sloan & Lieutenant Sovar
Edited on on Mon Sep 7th, 2020 @ 9:46pm

Mission: Mission 3 - 100
658 words - 1.3 OF Standard Post Measure

It was said that Thomas Edison failed a thousand times before inventing the light bulb. Ensign Franklin David felt that pain now more than at any other point in his career. The Vrav had a unique algae that had been adapted to a degree that a small miscalculation anywhere in the genetic code would prove disastrous. That is until they ran into a breakthrough. Simulations were beginning to show a possible solution, a very common space amoeba that grew in certain carbon nebulae had shown itself to be the best candidate. When certain genetic sequences were altered and exposed to gamma radiation similar to a blue giant star, the amoeba became a genetic match for the algae. As soon as the simulation came back positive, Ensign David stood and said, "Sovar, Sir, I think I have something that will work."

Sovar looked up from his personal data display device. He'd been reviewing portions of the algae's genome, but the promise of 'something that will work' was enough to pull him away from it. He left his own station and approached the ensign, a promising young man with all the unbridled, undisciplined enthusiasm of a human scientist. "You may proceed, ensign."

After tapping a few commands to replay the simulation, Franklin offered some commentary. "This amoeba, found in most carbon-based nebula, has a striking genetic similarity to the algae that the Vrav cultivated on the oasis planet," he pointed out when the DNA comparison appeared on the screen. "The two organisms share 89.0582% of the same DNA," he showed. He then replaced few sequences of the amoeba's DNA with those matching the algae before exposing it to gamma radiation. Explaining the results, Franklin showed, "It's not just matching the nucleotides that is the key, otherwise any plant based organism would work. It is, however, the gamma radiation. Only certain organisms exhibit such a chemical change when exposed. It seems to be the key we have been missing, though more research is needed to confirm."

"The genetic similarity may suggest the amoeba is some form of ancestor to the algae. Amoeboid cells have been shown to be the foundation for several more advanced organisms on Vulcan," Sovar said. He replayed the simulation twice and then broke out the data unpinning it on to a separate display. He leaned forward to hunch over it, essentially reviewing the ensign's work and openly checking it for errors. "Do you hypothesize that the altered amoeba DNA will be sufficient to bridge the gap in our attempts to reproduce the algae?"

"That is my hypothesis," Frankiln nodded. "Without a true medium that can be used to test, I'm afraid that we're limited to hunches and best estimations." Tapping the final result page of the simulation, the scientist stated, "Id feel more comfortable if that were a bit closer to a 100% match, but that is the best that a rushed scientific method can produce for now. Perhaps with more time, more answers can be found, but time is a luxury."

"That is my hypothesis," Franklin nodded. "Without a true medium that can be used to test, I'm afraid that we're limited to hunches and best estimations." Tapping the final result page of the simulation, the scientist stated, "I'd feel more comfortable if that were a bit closer to a 100% match, but that is the best that a rushed scientific method can produce for now. Perhaps with more time, more answers can be found, but time is a luxury."

"Time is a parameter, ensign," Sovar said. He stood up straight and nodded. "But I take your meaning. Do you feel sufficiently comfortable with your hypothesis to move forward with experimentation? I need not remind you that resources are limited."

“Yes, sir,” Franklin nodded. He would have liked to see the margins be trimmed a bit but nebulas were a relatively common occurrence and DNA protein was even easier to synthesize out of anything that had once been alive.