toward Melanie.
‘Come on, Kevin!’ Melanie complained. ‘I didn’t develop the techniques I
use the way you did. There are lots of people who could have done my
job, but only you could have done yours. It was your breakthrough that
was key.’
‘No arguing you two,’ Candace said. ‘Just tell me how it’s done. I’ve
been curious from day one, but everything has been so hush-hush. Kevin’s
explained the science to me, but I still don’t understand the
logistics.’
‘Kevin gets a bone-marrow sample from a client,’ Melanie said. ‘From
that, he isolates a cell preparing to divide so that the chromosomes are
condensed, preferably a stem cell if I’m correct.’
‘It’s pretty rare to find a stem cell,’ Kevin said.
‘Well, then you tell her what you do,’ Melanie said to Kevin, with a
dismissive wave of her hand. ‘I’ll get it all balled up.’
‘I work with a transponase that I discovered almost seven years ago,’
Kevin said. ‘It catalyzes the homologous transposition or crossing over
of the short arms of chromosome six.’
‘What’s the short arm of chromosome six?’ Candace asked.
‘Chromosomes have what’s called a centromere that divides them into two
segments,’ Melanie explained. ‘Chromosome six has particularly unequal
segments. The little ones are called the short arms.’
‘Thank you,’ Candace said.
‘So . . .’ Kevin said, trying to organize his thoughts. ‘What I do is
add my secret transponase to a client’s cell that is preparing to
divide. But I don’t let the crossing-over go to completion. I halt it
with the two short arms detached from their respective chromosomes. Then
I extract them.’
‘Wow!’ Candace remarked. ‘You actually take these tiny, tiny strands out
of the nucleus. How on earth can you do that!’
‘That’s another story,’ Kevin said. ‘Actually I use a monoclonal
antibody system that recognizes the backside of the transponase.’
‘This is getting over my head,’ Candace said.
‘Well, forget how he gets the short arms out,’ Melanie said. ‘Just
accept it.’
‘Okay,’ Candace said. ‘What do you do with these detached short arms?’
Kevin pointed toward Melanie. ‘I wait for her to work her magic.’
‘It’s not magic,’ Melanie said. ‘I’m just a technician. I apply in vitro
fertilization techniques to the bonobos, the same techniques that were
developed to increase the fertility of captive mountain gorillas.
Actually, Kevin and I have to coordinate our efforts because what he
wants is a fertilized egg that has yet to divide. Timing is important.’
‘I want it just ready to divide,’ Kevin said. ‘So it’s Melanie’s
schedule that determines mine. I don’t start my part until she gives me
the green light. When she delivers the zygote, I repeat exactly the same
procedure that I’d just done with the client’s cell. After removing the
bonobo short arms, I inject the client’s short arms into the zygote.
Thanks to the transponase they hook right up exactly where they are
supposed to be.’
‘And that’s it?’ Candace said.
‘Well, no,’ Kevin admitted. ‘Actually I introduce four transponases, not
one. The short arm of chromosome six is the major segment that we’re
transferring, but we also transfer a relatively small part of
chromosomes nine, twelve, and fourteen. These carry the genes for the
ABO blood groups and a few other minor histocompatibility antigens like
CD-31 adhesion molecules. But that gets too complicated. Just think
about chromosome six. It’s the most important part.’
‘That’s because chromosome six contains the genes that make up the major
histocompatibility complex,’ Candace said knowledgeably.
‘Exactly,’ Kevin said. He was impressed and smitten. Not only was
Candace socially adept, she was also smart and informed.
‘Would this protocol work with other animals?’ Candace asked.
‘What kind would you have in mind?’ Kevin asked.
‘Pigs,’ Candace said. ‘I know other centers in the U.S. and England have
been trying to reduce the destructive effect of complement in
transplantation with pig organs by inserting a human gene.’
‘Compared with what we are doing that’s like using leeches,’ Melanie
said. ‘It’s so old-fashioned because it is treating the symptom, not
eliminating its cause.’
‘It’s true,’ Kevin said. ‘In our protocol there is no immunological
reaction to worry about. Histocompatibility-wise we’re offering an
immunological double, especially if I can incorporate a few more of the