Errors of the Human Body

Wake up...

Wake up...

Hello?

Is this Geoff?

Yeah.

This is Samuel here, we were expecting you this morning?

Oh, Samuel... ah. I completely passed out.

Okay, we'll see you soon.

Hi, Geoff Burton for Samuel Mead, please.

Injecting room here, got your stereomicroscope.

Quarantine room for incoming animals.

Microscope room with confocal imaging station

- all the usual stuff: Spinning disk confocal,

twophoton confocal, upright confocals with dipping lenses,

all the laser lines you could wish for.

Anything to make science beautiful.

We've got a cold room, we've got a microbial culture room;

the autoclaves are downstairs.

There's a...

How's your accommodation, Geoffrey?

Oh, fine, fine.

I was just wondering where my office is going to be?

Oh, we don't really do 'offices' per se.

We're more communal than that.

Of course, we can loan you a lab for the length of a given project.

Right...

Look who I found.

- Doctor Burton. - Doctor Fiedler.

Rebekka's come a long way since she was interned with you.

Yes, so I hear.

I'm sorry I can't leave this right now.

- We'll catch up later. - Great.

- Shall we continue? - Yes.

That way.

Now, there's something else we need to do...

Sorry, I didn't...

Anyway, let's get your security pass sorted out.

Son of a bitch...

Geoff...

How are you?

I'm fine, you?

I'm good. I'm setting up the new research lab.

The one in Munich right?

No, Dresden... remember?

So, you must be happy?

What's that supposed to mean?

- It's nothing, forget about it... - Hey babe! I'm home.

Hold on for a second.

So... what's up?

I heard about your news.

When were you planning to tell me?

I was going to tell you, I really was.

Fm in my second month,

I wasn't quite sure and I didn't tell anyone else.

Well, Joe and Karla knew.

Oh, no. That was Ben.

Right. Ben.

He was excited about the baby so he just told them.

You know...?

You're angry?

No.

Of course.

No. I'm not angry...

I'm just, I don't know. I gotta think about it.

Think about what?

Well, what do you want me to say? Congratulations?

I dunno. Maybe you can be happy for me.

What do you want? Why did you call me?

I don't know why I called.

I miss you.

I have to go.

Geoffrey Burton comes to us from U-Mass,

where his research into early detection

of embryonic abnormalities has certainly proved one of the more,

ah, fiercely-debated topics in the scientific community this decade.

Now, I don't need to tell you what the implications of this are.

The proverbial 'cure for cancer' has always eluded us.

But the potential of pre-natal discovery

certainly brings the possibility a few steps closer.

And Geoffrey has now come here to continue

his research in a rather less politicized environment,

and he's going to speak to us this morning

about the state of his work to date.

When you're ready...

Thank you.

Will you now all please join me in welcoming Geoffrey Burton.

Thank you, thank you, Samuel...

I never intended to become a geneticist.

My PhD. was actually on bacterial biochemistry.

But, as I'm sure many of you know, I was drawn to this

by my experience with my own son, whose condition led me to focus

my research on screening embryos for traces of rare genetic mutations

such as his.

I want to make one thing very clear:

this is not eugenics. I'm not trying to develop

new techniques to pre-screen people with brown eyes,

or dark skin, or freckles. I like freckles.

Diversity -

one of the things which defines us as a species is to be celebrated.

Mutations which endanger human life are not.

For example - here we see the subject in the earliest stages.

The disease is non-contagious in the traditional sense,

yet at the same time, unusually virulent.

I've allowed myself the conceit of calling it Burton's Syndrome.

What made this syndrome noteworthy was its sudden appearance

in what appeared to be a perfectly healthy subject.

Within a matter of days,

the symptoms had manifested as a number of neoplasms,

exponentially multiplying and growing in size.

These, ah, tumor-like

appendages eventually covered the entire body, as we can see.

Respiration became increasingly difficult.

They began to affect the internal organs -

crushing the heart, constricting the lungs...

Brain activity ceased shortly thereafter.

From first symptoms to death, the entire process took little over a week.

What made this unique was that this was not an acquired disease -

like a virus, but a seemingly random genetic mutation

occurring in gene RIPS on chromosome twenty.

All right. Let's take a closer look at some tissue samples...

May I sit here?

People don't want to know the way things happen.

This fish, for example - no one wants to think of it suffocating in agony.

We just want to fry it, eat it, forget.

Same with science.

People want the cure, but not the research.

It makes them uncomfortable, knowing how you got there.

What you had to do, to what.

It's true.

I would like to live a million years just to see what we evolve into.

Do we become telepathic? Do we get wings?

I would like wings.

And you? What would you like?

I don't know. I'd like to be a time traveler,

you know, travel through time backwards and forwards...

Chiba! Are those incubations done yet?

Hello, I'm Jarek Novak.

Geoffrey Burton. We actually met yesterday.

I almost liberated your mouse.

- I didn't know it was you. - It's me.

Your lecture, I really liked it. Great images.

Thank you. I guess.

I was thinking

maybe you'd like to look at some things I've been working on?

In kind of a similar vein, you know?

Yeah. Why not.

- Good. We should have a drink. - Sure.

What about tonight?

Will you excuse me a minute? Excuse me. Sorry.

- No thank you. I quit. - You quit?

Yeah.

I guess it has been a while since I've seen you last.

Yeah, that was your choice.

I'm sorry. You know, I...

I don't want it to be awkward.

I don't either.

You know, I have been watching you, though.

I've been watching your rise.

Read all your papers. Very impressive.

You're the one who got Samuel to approach me, right?

You know, I... I felt like I'd hit a wall with my research.

And, you know, I heard what you were dealing with in America,

so I thought perhaps you'd like to come over.

I don't know, to be honest, I didn't expect you to say yes.

What have I said yes to?

I can show you.

- Let's go back. - Good, cos my ass is cold.

Have a seat.

Okay, so.

Now here...

This is a typical regeneration cycle.

About ten weeks from amputation to full regeneration. Yes?

Yes.

Okay, so now watch this one.

Did you see?

Ah, missed it.

I'll play it again. Watch closely.

You're kidding, right?

That's not possible.

When I inserted the Easter Gene, I found it accelerated

the natural regeneration capacity of the axolotls,

way beyond anything I could have imagined.

But since then, I've refined the genetic code further.

Wait a minute, what 'Easter Gene'? What are you talking about?

Look...

I labeled only the transplanted Easter Gene cells with the GFP.

They were localized in the wound area,

but then they completely took over. Look for yourself.

That's ah...

I've even had success regenerating

severely damaged brain and spinal tissue.

I mean, can you imagine the possibilities for this in humans?

- Jesus Christ... - Exactly! Easter.

Why haven't you published this?

I dunno.

A discovery's not a cure.

Even so, I mean...

- It won't even uptake in mice. - What happens when you try?

Nothing.

I've been stuck for six months now.