6-236: Administration Bureau Executive Conference Facility
Genetic Deviance
Question: are there dwarfs in the Dominion? Does Down Syndrome exist? Or any other deviation from standard genetics?
The answer is yes…and no.
All sorts of genetic anomalies exist – the Dominion hasn’t developed any sort of geneering silver bullet that is spread through the population – this is not the future utopian society of the beautiful. There are dwarfs, there are people with Down Syndrome and all sorts of genetic defects. At the Dominion’s TL 9, some of these are curable, and are cured, and some are not. Like many things in the Dominion, a lot of this is related to social class.
The Eugenics Bureau is responsible for genetic research, and takes a dim view of the private sector or anyone else encroaching on its turf.
Any G-class citizens born with genetic defects (which is somewhat common) may be adopted and raised by the Eugenics Bureau, and will be integrated into society of possible, or cared for in special Eugenics Bureau facilities that their lives may be enriched to the maximum extent possible. The Eugenics Bureau occasionally extends this benevolence to citizens of other classes.
Any obvious trans-human modification (eg turning people’s legs into arms and hands for better adaptability to Zero-G environments) is frowned on in the Dominion, and is not seen. Such geneering and genetic surgery is limited to keeping people close to the determined human norm, eg: Fixing short-sightedness is ok, growing extra eyes on the sides of people’s heads to enhance peripheral vision is not.
Genetic defects are often diagnosed in early-stages of pregnancy and the parents of such children often choose to donate the foetus to the Eugenics Bureau.
See Procreation and Child-rearing for more information.
In summary, incidence of genetic defects in the Dominion is actually reasonably high (so Yes), however for the above reasons, prevalence is not as high in the general population as the incidence might suggest (so No).
Give me a Streetwise roll.
Back to The Party
Adler repeats slowly, “Emerald… Spanial, I assume that is a ship… Gregar.”
She has another mouthful of drink, and raises her glass to Winta, “Take care Emerald,” her eyes flick toward Zayaire, “Don’t let Nothing get to you.”
Thank you for all the ‘random sideline question’ info!
Bang on 13 vs 13 on Streetwise.
Lia will give her an unguarded, utterly wicked grin. It may catch Adler off guard since it’s in contrast to the rather cool, unruffled exterior she has presented thus far. It will spread slowly across her face, giving Adler a glimpse of Lia under the Emerald veneer.
“Oh, Nothing gets to me. The joy of Emeralds is that they appear so easy to touch but you can’t quite seem to possess them. Nothing may rue this evening for a very long time…”