Editing Celera Database information

The following are Q&A regarding the research data and Celera Database downloaded by [http://wiki.rpg.net/index.php/Jack_Bennett Merlin] in issue #35.  Information is given in short segments in which the players (Cat & crew) gave questions as to what they'd like to know that might be in the Celera Database...

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===What experiments were done on the Survivors of AA Flight 283 while unconcious?===
No experiments directly. <br> 
Samples were taken for research but no direct experiments on your bodies. The phenominon of them being alive was both confusing and excilerating the the surgeons and technicians on staff. According to electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings and polysomnography the Survivors went first from True Delta unconciousness - often described as the deepest stage of sleep; it is exceedingly difficult to wake a subject in this state. This is the stage in which night terrors, bedwetting, and sleepwalking occur. To the "sleep spindles" and "K-complexes" - with lowered EMG, and no conscious awareness of the external environment.


===Were the Survivors of AA Flight 283 indeed drugged into comas?===
No. Not as far as Seattle Genetics (of Celera) could determine. The induced sleep, now being referred to as the gestation phase was evident when FEMA released initial data and the bodies of the Survivors of AA Flight 283.


===Does Celera have data on how to enhance existing godlike powers, or repress them?===
No, not fully at this time. <br> Soon after the evidence of Godlike abilities, this was one of the key elements the US Government directed them toward. No conclusive segment has been developed at this time.


===What was the process by which Survivor #59 - Maggie Young's powers were transferred?===
The process was developed by the doctors I'd given earlier (don't have their two names on me!) and is referred to as the Vector Process. The vector is seemingly what you refer to as Godlike Energy - believed to be an organism that does not cause disease itself but which spreads infection by conveying pathogens from one host to another. Species of mosquito, for example, serve as vectors for the deadly disease Malaria. This sense of "biological vector" is the primary one in epidemiology and in common speech. <br> (Previous to the Maggie Young effort) In theory with regards to gene therapy, Godlike energy itself may serve as a vector, if it has been re-engineered and is used to deliver a gene to its target cell. A "vector" in this sense is a vehicle for delivering genetic material such as DNA to a cell. <br> This DNA by itself may be regarded as a vector, in this example particular when it was used for cell transformation. A vector in this sense is a DNA construct, such as a plasmid or a bacterial artificial chromosome, that contains an origin of replication. An appropriate replication origin causes a cell to copy the construct along with the cell's chromosomes and to pass it along to its progeny. A single cell that has been transformed with a vector will grow into an entire culture of cells, which all contain the vector, as well as any gene attached to it within the construct. Because the constructs can be extracted from the cells by purification techniques, transformation with a vector is a way of making a small number of DNA molecules in to a much larger one. <br>  <br> Hence, the transference of abilities. <br> If this is the case scientists had planned to observe Maggie while induced into a new Godlike gestation phase again. Following the experiment assuming it's successful the subject could retain the vector as well. Though they had been asked to erradicate it by the parent and guardians. 


===Has Celera researched the different signatures of Godlike Energy and made any progress on using them to idenitify what powers are, ie. signatures that run to a certain color will be a certain type of power?===
Unfortunately non-godlike technicians do not / can not view the Godlike Energy phenominon on the level that Jack (and other survivors?) can. <br> The only evidence they have are the changes to the body, first talked about in the papers originally posted for determining that Godlike were in fact not human any longer (somewhere on the wiki?) and also the Vector process that they've just learned to manipulate, effectively only pushing it around... And in Milos/Maggie's case forcing Milos' Vector to attract and replicate Maggie's.


===Does Celera have any information or theories on what happened to cause this in the Survivors of AA Flight 283 ?===
No. <br> This is theoretical medicine based only on the data they've collected. <br> <br> Something foreign was delivered into the Survivors of AA Flight 283, what that is or where it came from is unknown. Psychologists are also theorizing that it may NOT simply be genetic but must also have been "activated" by the subjects' psychosis.


===Does Celera record any research on the relationship between Godlike Power and Promethium?===
That is not handled by Celera.  <br> The first awareness of Prometium they had was when the deceased "survivors" were brought to Celera only a few weeks prior. They had also been previously unaware of these deceased or the animals.


===Dossieres on various Survivors of AA Flight 283?===
This will be literally case by case. <br> I obviously don't want to give it all away - because I create the new ones for plot purposes. If in-game you want to research something on a Survivor, I'll have you roll (an easy) check to get the info at that time.


===Any information on what various Survivors of AA Flight 283 powers are or speculations on what powers certain survivers might manifest?===
None. <br> They were/are in negotiations with 13 survivors to contract them for full testing but this program is just being set.


===What sort of genetic changes occurred within the Survivors of AA Flight 283 if any?===
See above. <br> Ask more specific questions for more.


===Was the supposed "Supervirus" threat they proposed based in any factual research if so what is left?===
Yes. It was based on the first experiments of trying to re-create the Godlike Energy (Vector). The genetic material available for this testing was brought to them by FEMA. It is now assumed that this biological material was taken from either the animals or the "deceased survivors" - It went sour. <br>  <br> Ask in person for a PRIVATE LOG on this subject. I will try to type it up for the game this week.


===Has Celera made any progress/breakthroughs in the theories of what is referred to as "Godlike Physics" that [Merlin] hasn't?===
Godlike Physics is the loose term for all Godlike Sciences. All of the above is the specific areas of research that Celera studies. There are other departments within FEMA's contractors that have other research and theories. <br>  <br> The Lucidity Institute is a primary example.


===Who were the primary research scientists incharge of the Survivors of AA Flight 283. Did any of them or there assistants or nurses quit or get dismissed during the Survivors time at Celera?===
I will try to have this info available at the game. <br> I will have YOU roll a D20 at game to determine if any quit, etc...


===Do any employee records show people who might be more sympathetic to our cause then loyal to Celera who might have bene in positions to have useful information/aid for the Survivors of AA Flight 283?=== 
That's not really information that would be in the databases.  <br> It is obvious from the report writing that most of the scientists at Celera were doing this for the fascinating work, eager to do it. This new field of science. So there was never any real negative intent as you can read from the files. <br> Directors and Management however do not file files in the areas you acquired...


===What other attempts to change and manipulate Godlike Energy are documented?===
Outlines for working on the "deceased survovors" are evident but have not been implemented. Animal research was planned, both on the Godlike animals and on hosting non-Godlike animals with the Vector. <br>  <br> This is a brand new science. <br> Celera personel are some of the best in the world in these areas and they were still learning to crawl. Now they will have been faced with further set-backs with Seattle's events and the lose of their subjects.


===Will Genzyme be able to handle the Seattle Genetics materials?===
Genzyme specializes in particularly rare and unusual genetic disorders, so this is right up their alley.


===Why wasn’t Daniel Young there to witness the procedure, If he really was a dad wanting to help his little girl (as opposed to a scared (or mind-controlled) little man who didn't love the monster that used to be his daughter), he'd have been watching like a hawk from the observation deck.===
You don't know all the circustances. This might (is probably) true about Daniel (I hate that guy) but he might also have been out of Seattle when the Progeny hit...  Time will tell. 


===How might the Celera/Seattle Genetics employees be treated for the experiements on Maggie Young?===

Mengele was following Hitler's orders. The separation between enabler and experimenter, and the surgical precision and cleanliness under which Mengele's experiments occurred, doesn't make it so that either man has /not/ committed Crimes Against Humanity. 


===A vector is a delivery system - but in your explanation it's not clear exactly /what/ was "delivered" from Maggie to Milos. It reads like it was just a few cells, but it couldn't possibly be that simple.===

It's NOT that simple.  But to the layman it is that simple. What was transferred?  Nothing.  The DNA strands that the scientists isolated were forced be attracted to the DNA strands in Milos also isolated - Those strands replicated themselves onto Milos' through their process...  The DNA is the Vector for the unknown that is the Godlike Energy. 


===If I'm reading you right, what basically happened is Celera effectively gave Milos cancer. But rather than "leukemia," they gave him "Maggie's Powers." The "cancer" itself is so strong as to spread through Milos' system in a matter of days (at most) and insert itself flawlessly (without rejection or apparent illness) into the pre-existing genetic structure. Am I close to what you meant?===

YES.  But closer to weeks. You found them at the END of the cycle. Think of it as longer term like chemotherapy ... Although the scientific process - that's not the ONLY part of the process from what you will see in the journals of the lead scientist... 


===Clearly, the Godlike Energy is strong - but if it's as simple as all that then there's no real "procedure" - you just inject some cells from one person into another person and /wham/, instant godlike. That can't be right, can it?===

No.  Not in my mind.  It's more like a magnetic draw - once that attraction takes hold almost fusing it then starts growing.
Just because these scietists have done it this once doesn't mean:
*  it can be done again, by them or anyone else
*  be flawed
*  it was the right thing to do


===Or are the Godlike cells themselves not cancerous? Do they need a more direct agency to "catch"? Was Celera's procedure something like gene splicing or gene therapy?===

Yes - it's closer to this. 


===How the hell did they get it to work in a non-embryonic human being ('cause that right there is "You won the Nobel Prize because you've just cured almost every known disease" type of shit right there)?===

You'd think - wouldn't you..?   This COULD be Nobel Prize winning info. Yet they haven't made it known to be considered for the prize... 


===If it's gene therapy, where they insert the DNA into just a few adult cells (usually white blood cells), do they expect it to be a permanent change (gene therapy usually has to be repeated every few months as the old cells die and the effects wear off)? If so, how is that possible? If not, how have they accounted for that (frozen Maggie cells?)?
Or is it something else entirely, like an organ transplant, like in Aberrant with the MR Node? If it's an organ, how would anyone ever expect that Maggie could retain her powers? Unless it's like the liver, and they could take out about 50% of the organ and expect each half to regenerate. And if it's an organ, how the hell would our own scientists not have noticed that, given the complete physicals the PCs (and Maggie, et al) went through when we set up Hopewell?===

I would say RIGHT NOW - that THIS is a theory that has come from  Genzyme! (nice thinking Jason) because it is an idea I'd thought of. Regrowth and all with cancer, not to mention the dissolution of Arthur Redford's real cancer that he had before the plane...  As you remember there were/are differences in your makeup, genetic and otherwise - hence being called non-homo sapien from the begining. But it has taken all this time and hundreds of scientists to decipher what did what with this "alien" physiology...  Celera has their theory (above) that's shown to be at least partially if not fully valid and Genzyme has there's. How will their's change once you give them Celera's research?  Time will tell... 


===Implied by the statement "forced Milos' vector to attract and replicate Maggie's") Did they just "fool" the energy into going into Milos now?  If so, how? What did they use? A variation on a van de graff generator, a particle accelerator, nuclear reactor, an X-Ray, MRI, chemotherapy or similar?===

Yes.  They used a combination of:  Initial antibacterial chemotherapy to induce immunosuppression followed by a series of exposure to a specially designed van de graff polysomnograph generator. 


===Ultimately, how did they get rid of Maggie's powers? If it's an organ transplant, I think I can understand, or if they "fooled" the energy from one receptor into another. But if Maggie's powers were generated by her cells, particularly if it's an "infection/cancer" type of thing?  I mean, maybe the "power gene" only resides in a few cells, but then how the hell did they find a few cells out of billions? If it resides in every cell, they'd pretty much have had to use chemotherapy to get it all, wouldn't they? If so, what sort of radiation did they zap the girl with, and in what doses?===

The tyrosine kinase inhibitor imatinib mesylate - which directly targets a molecular abnormality in various types of cancer. The dose is adjusted for both patients' body surface area, a composite measure of weight and height that mathematically approximates the body volume. 


===However they did it, does the procedure represent a potential solution to the problem of those Survivors who choose to be criminals?===

Using your own reply...  Yes.  If you want to "rape" them. 


===How long does the procedure take? Is it safe? is it expected to be reliable in all situations or has it only been set up for the Maggie/Milos pair?===

Yes - each case is individual so the same experiment dosages and such might not effect another subject set, or it may kill them.
Is it safe? Unknown.  Reliable? Unknown.  It would have been a short week following Maggie's abduction. Time enough for Daniel to be "convinced" that this was the right thing to do and to get all things set and ready. 


===Or has Maggie not actually lost her powers at all, and we just think she has? When Brian's out cold, his powers go into "regression" and Jack can't see them. What if the shock of this process just pushed Maggie's powers temporarily into "regression" and they need a little while to heal before coming back? Happens to cancer under treatment all the time.===

All unknowns at current... 


===All of this brings up an interesting question: what's the decay rate?  Radiation has a half-life and cells decay. This is obviously not true of everyone (we know that Brian and Arthur don't age, for example), but that might not hold true of Maggie and Milos. Does whatever's been supplying Milos and Maggie with power show signs of micro-aging?  Obviously a few powers last through 2056, but should we expect to wake up one morning powerless as these cells inside us age and die? ===

The game rule term "immunity to age" hints that Brian and Arthur don't age. But that's just theoretical. In the future timeline it's only 25-50 years in the future.  You COULD do more experients to learn the details but at current you may or may not be actually aging.  So the answer is yes. 


===What's the deal with the chips? Jack seems to know about this already, so he might keep hiding that info from the rest of us, but hey. Did Celera put them in us or did someone else? Did Celera even know they were there before we announced it?===

No official record of the chips are noted in Celera files.  Photo images of survivor bodies from admitance show that the "S" logo was NOT on their person! If you recall, the chip was not something immediately identifyable by scanners or whatever... They were found after research and micro-search. 


===Before our first demonstration of power (Maggie with a bed through her wall, right?), did Celera know/suspect we had powers? While we were asleep, for example?===

Yes and no.  Throughout the coma stages they saw signs of survivors exhibiting features and anomolies. Brian for example grew his extra height/weight over the course of the 2nd year at Seattle Genetics.  That was also the time that other survivors like Alex Young were unable to be sampled from any longer. Others still exhibitted odd occurances such as equipment not working near them or going crazy or whatever - depending on their powers that would be, although at the time Celera had no clue what this would become.  Maggie's strength was one of the VERY first true powers exhibitted by Godlike. 


===Who organized this? You hinted in your other email that Milos might be working under someone else's orders - does anything in the file suggest who that might have been?===

No.  As far as the files go Milos organized this experiment with cooperation from Celera facilities and the administration. 


===Who paid for the research/procedure, that sort of thing?===

The Bill and Linda Gates foundation.  -  Seriously - investors of Kings Farm. 


===If Survivors are not considered human.this is an important note to clarify. Is this the official government opinion of survivors? If so...then how is it possible for Brian to be Vice-President? If this is the opinion of the AMA and associated groups, it has no backing unless supported by the US Government.===

This is from leading scientists in the fields of biology and genetics. Several that work for Celera and Seattle Genetics. And yes the AMA.  It does not have official backing by the US Government yet. 


===Is there something about this Survivor DNA that is able to draw energy from an unknown source - say, a different form/wavelength of energy for each unique Survivor DNA sequence? And the Celera scientists managed to find a way to splice together the Maggie Survivor DNA and the Milos Survivor DNA so that Milos' "Survivor cells" could absorb both "wavelengths"?===

Yes. 


===If so, this brings up some interesting avenues of research outside of Celera's purview - areas of physics, not biology. Radiation and wavelength measurements, running skin samples through a particle accelerator or testing for radioactive decay, observing other phenomena while Survivor Energy is being exercised...===

True. Yes.  I've always been interested in that direction. 


===There's a /lot/ to learn about the actual energy itself. Does Celera have any notes on that (or on companies in industry that might be doing research on that)? If not (or even if so), I think we're going to have to get in touch with a few national laboratories and see if we can't figure out what this Godlike Energy is...===

No - for Celera and Seattle Genetics it's too early to have done that  This is info they have JUST theorized/uncovered. So you guys are getting it in real time only weeks after they've came upon it from research with Maggie and Milos and others...  Looks like it's research time to find appropriate labs. 


===Do they, in fact, expect the change to be temporary, with seasonal therapy to replace the dying "donor" cells, or do they expect this to be permanent?===

This is experimental. They don't know. They're HOPING for it to hold...  But since the collapse of Seattle their research was halted. And now you're taking it away from them. 


===If they /do/ expect therapy to be ongoing, where are they keeping the stash of frozen Maggie cells?===

Off site.  Location is with their lead technician (the guy who's journals I'm writing) 


===Also: how long do they anticipate the turnover period being? A week? A month? Three months? A year?===

This is experimental.  They don't know. They're HOPING for it to hold...  But since the collapse of Seattle their research was halted. And now you're taking it away from them. 


===If they /don't/ expect the change to be temporary, is it because, like a cancer, the combined Milos/Maggie Survivor DNA has started to replicate on its own and spread throughout Milos' body without additional help?===

This WAS the goal. But...  This is experimental. They don't know. They're HOPING for it to hold...  But since the collapse of Seattle their research was halted. And now you're taking it away from them.


===Some Survivors have a different physiology, to the extent that they may be plant-based life forms now, but what's the theory from Genzyme? That "Survivorism" is like cancer or that there's an organ somewhere inside (at least some of) us that's the receptor for the power?===

Two theories.
*  the lead theory is that it's cancerous-like
*  secondary but they believe that the piece of tech in the spine may BE that "organ"...
Both are still theoretical. 


===So, a fairly standard chemo-type treatment on both sides of the equation, in other words (the exact chemicals and radiation wavelengths adjusted, we'll assume, to account for the uniqueness of the Survivor physiology). It's a wonder that either one of them still has hair.===

Correct.  But the low dosage and short time needed didn't push it that far.


===Yes, Maggie and Milos' "Survivor DNA" seems to be aging? If so, at what rate? This relates, partly, to the "turnover period" I was asking about in my gene therapy question, earlier, and it's partly a "how long will the powers as a whole last" issue. ===

"YES" meaning - that Yes there is a decay rate for GODLIKE ENERGY overall. Just because Brian has immunity to aging doesnot mean he will live forever... a LONG TIME for sure but not forever. That synchs with our campaign, being a little more realistic in nature with the powers.  As for the decay rate of Maggie and Milos' DNA - it's still in the experimental phases. They just don't know yet. 


===So, okay, maybe this is a better way of getting at it: why the base of the spine? Just because it's hard to spot?===

Furthur information is not available here...


===Why the tattoos? What purpose do they serve in the government's eyes?===

That's the lead technician's fun reasoning. Or perhaps he was manipulated? 


===Brian actually grew in-game; the power triggered in response to a Celera guard attempting to block his way back into the building. Did you mean that Brian grew while he was sleeping and shrunk down again before he woke up, or do you just forget that this happened in game? ===

GM error.







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[[The AMERICAN GODS]]