Notable Gene Modifications

We know we've got the Meyerdhal modifications, the utterly secret Winton modifications and all the things lurking in the depths of the MAlign's house of horrors. So what are some of the lesser known genetic modifications?

As a starter, in 1873, His Utterly Sublime Excellency, Snodgrass III, ruler of Headache IV, decided to fix his planetary balance of payments problem by prohibiting the importation of coffee. When all that did was produce a bumper crop of smugglers, he contracted with Mesa Genetics for a fix. They produced a genetic modification that turned the caffeine molecule into a red dye, which took a week or longer to wash out of the skin.

His Excellency was washed out of office on a tide of red ink.

JohnRoth wrote:We know we've got the Meyerdhal modifications, the utterly secret Winton modifications and all the things lurking in the depths of the MAlign's house of horrors. So what are some of the lesser known genetic modifications?

As a starter, in 1873, His Utterly Sublime Excellency, Snodgrass III, ruler of Headache IV, decided to fix his planetary balance of payments problem by prohibiting the importation of coffee. When all that did was produce a bumper crop of smugglers, he contracted with Mesa Genetics for a fix. They produced a genetic modification that turned the caffeine molecule into a red dye, which took a week or longer to wash out of the skin.

His Excellency was washed out of office on a tide of red ink.

I don't know man; to me that sounds a bit to close to fanfic.

crewdude48 wrote:

JohnRoth wrote:We know we've got the Meyerdhal modifications, the utterly secret Winton modifications and all the things lurking in the depths of the MAlign's house of horrors. So what are some of the lesser known genetic modifications?

As a starter, in 1873, His Utterly Sublime Excellency, Snodgrass III, ruler of Headache IV, decided to fix his planetary balance of payments problem by prohibiting the importation of coffee. When all that did was produce a bumper crop of smugglers, he contracted with Mesa Genetics for a fix. They produced a genetic modification that turned the caffeine molecule into a red dye, which took a week or longer to wash out of the skin.

His Excellency was washed out of office on a tide of red ink.

I don't know man; to me that sounds a bit to close to fanfic.

Fanfic or no, it was wonderful tongue in cheek irony. Enjoyed it and thanks for a chuckle.

Don

Was San Marino settled by migration from other heavy worlds, or was there a unique modification a laMeyerdahl?

I believe there was some settlement from other heavy worlds, but most of the San Martin was settled by people with a very specific gene modification that has a specific phenotype. (I think it came up in Beauty and the Beast). You can usually recognize a San Martino (one bearing the mod at least) at a glance.

Fox2! wrote:Was San Marino settled by migration from other heavy worlds, or was there a unique modification a laMeyerdahl?

Greentea wrote:I believe there was some settlement from other heavy worlds, but most of the San Martin was settled by people with a very specific gene modification that has a specific phenotype. (I think it came up in Beauty and the Beast). You can usually recognize a San Martino (one bearing the mod at least) at a glance.

Fox2! wrote:Was San Marino settled by migration from other heavy worlds, or was there a unique modification a laMeyerdahl?

Very recognizable IIRC Thomas Jesus and Mateo are described as huge basically standing 170-180cm (5'8"-6') in height and weighing 200kg (440lbs) also Thandi is supposed to weigh 100kg (220lbs). This is compared to modern day American football linemen who weigh 1/4 to 1/2 of what a San Martino would weigh.

saber964 wrote:Very recognizable IIRC Thomas Jesus and Mateo are described as huge basically standing 170-180cm (5'8"-6') in height and weighing 200kg (440lbs) also Thandi is supposed to weigh 100kg (220lbs). This is compared to modern day American football linemen who weigh 1/4 to 1/2 of what a San Martino would weigh.

I would quibble a bit on your percentages, most American football linemen are between 270-325 lbs., with are about 60-72% of an average San Martino.

That said, I imagine contact sports (whatever they are) on San Martin are probably....heavily into contact.

Hutch wrote:I would quibble a bit on your percentages, most American football linemen are between 270-325 lbs., with are about 60-72% of an average San Martino.

That said, I imagine contact sports (whatever they are) on San Martin are probably....heavily into contact.

Actually, I would guess that contact sports on San Martin are not as bad as you might think. San Martin gravity is pretty intense. They have great strength, but they also have great weight. I don't think they would be any happier about being slammed to the ground underneath another heavy San Martino, at San Martin gravity, than does an American football player under Earth gravity. Some probably do it, as on Earth, but they won't be any rougher (comparatively) than Earth contact sports. I imagine it is easy to break even San Martino bones that way.

On the other hand, the image (and sound!) of those heavy bodies slamming at San Martin gravity would be quite impressive to someone from lesser gravity! Wow...

Hutch wrote:

saber964 wrote:Very recognizable IIRC Thomas Jesus and Mateo are described as huge basically standing 170-180cm (5'8"-6') in height and weighing 200kg (440lbs) also Thandi is supposed to weigh 100kg (220lbs). This is compared to modern day American football linemen who weigh 1/4 to 1/2 of what a San Martino would weigh.

I would quibble a bit on your percentages, most American football linemen are between 270-325 lbs., with are about 60-72% of an average San Martino.

That said, I imagine contact sports (whatever they are) on San Martin are probably....heavily into contact.

Forgot a word in my proof reading it should read "1/4 to 1/2 less what" which is close to your percentages

Well, considering that it is Science Fiction Space Opera and the timeline is about 2200+- years from today and about a zillion miles that a way, it would also still seem to reason that gene mods would be a given for just about any type of habitable planet.

Good planets are hard to find. And the story line may have too many of them too close together, but that is just me. None of the aforementioned colony planets would be exactly like Earth. Therefore it seems logical that extensive gene mods are very necessary.

HB of CJ (old coot) My nephew when he played American College Football was 6"6" tall and stripped weighed about 310 pounds. Size 17 American shoes. Now he is down to around 250 pounds and looks skinny. I am 6"1" and only come up to about his shoulder. Yikes!