To: H. Wu/Sup
Isolated glycogen synthase kinase-3 from Xenopus may work better than mammalian GSK-3 alpha/beta currently in use.
Anticipate more robust establishment of dorsoventral polarity and less early embyro wastage. Agree?
Malcolm looked at the next one:
From: Backes
To: H. Wu/Sup
Short protein fragments may be acting as prions. Sourcing doubtful but suggest halt all exogenous protein for carniv. orgs until origin is cleared up. Disease cannot continue!
Thorne looked over his shoulder. "Seems like they had problems," he said.
"Undoubtedly they did," Malcolm said. "It would be impossible not to have them. But the question is…"
He drifted off, staring at the next memo, which was longer.
INGEN PRODUCTION UPDATE 10/10/88
From: Lori Ruso
To: All Personnel
Subject: Low Production Yields
Recent episodes of wastage of successful live births in the period 24-72 hours post-hatching have been traced to contamination from Escherichia coli bacteria. These have cut production yields by 60%, and arise from inadequate sterile precautions by floor personnel, principally during Process H
(Egg Maintenance Phase, Hormone Enhancement 2G/H).
Komera swing arms have been replaced and re-sleeved on robots 5A and 7D, but needle replacement must still be done daily in accordance with sterile conditions (General Manual: Guideline 5-9).
During the next production cycle (10/12-10/26) we will sacri-fice every tenth egg at H Step to test for contamination. Begin set-asides at once. Report all errors. Stop the line whenever necessary until this is cleared up.
"They had problems with infection, and contamination of the production line,' Malcolm said. "And maybe other sources of contamination as well. Look at this."
He handed Thorne the next memo:
INGEN PRODUCTION UPDATE 12/18/88
From: H. Wu
To: All Personnel
Subject: DX: TAG AND RELEASE
Live births will be fitted with the new Grumbach field tags at the earliest viable interval. Formula or other feeding within the laboratory confines will no longer be done. The release pro-gram is now fully operational and tracking networks are acti-vated to monitor.
Thorne said, "Does this mean what I think it means?"
"Yes," Malcolm said. "They were having trouble keeping the newborn animals alive, so they tagged them and released them."
"And kept track of them on some kind of network?"
"Yes. I think so."
"They set dinosaurs loose on this island?" Eddie said. "They must have been crazy."
"Desperate, is more like it, Malcolm said. "Just imagine: here's this huge expensive high-tech process, and in the end the animals are getting sick and dying. Hammond must have been furious. So they decided to get the animals out of the laboratory, and into the wild."
"But why didn't they find the cause of the sickness, why didn't they - "
"Commercial process," Malcolm said. "It's all about results. And I'm sure they thought they were keeping track of the animals, they could get them back anytime they wanted. And don't forget, it must have worked. They must have put the animals into the field, then collected them after a while, when they were older, and shipped them to Hammond's zoo."
"But not all of them…"
"We don't know everything yet," Malcolm said. "We don't know what happened here."
They went through the next doorway, and found themselves in a small, bare room, with a central bench, and lockers on the walls. Signs said OBSERVE STERILE PRECAUTIONS and MAINTAIN SK4 STANDARDS. At the end of the room was a cabinet with stacks of yellowing gowns and caps. Eddie said, "It's a changing room."
"Looks like it," Malcolm said. He opened a locker; it was empty, except for a pair of men's shoes. He opened several other lockers. They were all empty. Inside one, a sheet of paper was taped: Safety Is Everybody's Business!
Report Genetic Anomalies!
Dispose of Biowaste Properly!
Halt the Spread of DX Now!
"What's DX?" Eddie said.
"I think," Malcolm said, "it's the name for this mysterious disease."
At the far end of the changing room were two doors. The right-hand door was pneumatic, operated by a rubber foot-panel set in the floor. But that door was locked, so they went through the left door, which opened freely.
They found themselves in a long corridor, with floor-to-ceiling glass panels along the right wall. The glass was scratched and dirty, but they peered through it into the room beyond, which was unlike anything Thorne had ever seen.
The space was vast, the size of a football field. Conveyor belts crisscrossed the room at two levels, one very high, the other at waist level. At various stations around the room, clusters of large machinery, with intricate tubing and swing arms, stood beside the belts.
Thorne shone his light on the conveyor belts. "An assembly line," he said.
"But it looks untouched, like it's still ready to go," Malcolm said. "There are a couple of plants growing through the floor over there, but, overall, remarkably clean."