Chapter 3

28. October 2009 by admin.

Preface
Chapter 1
Chapter 2

Fear.  Danger.

Michael was getting cold.  Boston in the fall is not exactly tropical.  He felt regret for leaving his raincoat behind in the lab.  He was trying to think what could possibly be the connection between a scientific experiment, its conclusion, a phone call, and a death of a friend and colleague.

Art and he agreed that until the experiment’s result are conclusive; there will be no word to the press, or to anyone else for that matter.  He knew for sure that he kept his part.  He hasn’t told anyone.  In fact, he never even told Barbara.  Perhaps he should have, he was thinking.  But did Arthur keep his side of the agreement?  Was it possible that Art opened his mouth and got himself killed?  But why?  Why would anyone kill over the results of an experiment?  Yes, what he found was groundbreaking, it was outstanding.  But still, the role of junk DNA isn’t exactly cure for cancer?  Is it?

Michael started to play the sequence of events in his mind.  He was hoping that he would find no connection between his dead friend and his experiment.  He was hoping that his friend was killed in an act of random violence, a robbery, or more likely, that Art was in some financial trouble over his gambling habits, or a really upset lady friend.  He knew that Art was no saint, but it was much easier for him to believe that the death of his friend was unrelated to their relationship or their work.

He was trying to think about the experiment.  Years ago, in one of his failed experiments, Michael found out that aging DNA was still synthesizing correct protein molecules.  But the very same experiment showed also, that new DNA showed changes in the junk areas.  In fact it was obvious, that the old patterns which looked random were suddenly more ordered.  At the time, Michael dismissed it as random changes.  Since those changes were inconsequential to the formation of cellular structures, he didn’t see this discovery as important.  It always bothered him though.  What if the changes were not random?  What if the changes were reflecting changes in the organism?  What if changes in the DNA were caused by an illness?  Was it mutation?  Scientists always believed that DNA remained constant during the course of life of all organisms.  Is it possible that this assumption was incorrect?  Were these changes moved on to the next generations?  This thought alone was mind blowing, but at the same time, some was relatively simple to prove or disprove.  Michael actually proved it, and more, in his first experiment.

In the old failed experiment, Michael discovered changes in junk DNA over time.  He assumed that mutation was responsible for the changes.  Sun rays, ultraviolet radiation in the lab, chemicals, maybe even cellular phones.  He didn’t that even with all factors reduced to nothing, change still took place.  In fact, he proved that even weeks apart, junk DNA still changed.  Not by much, but still, there was a traceable change from one sample to the other.  Weeks apart, significant DNA change.

Later on, Michael repeated the experiment with other organisms.  He tried the same with microbes, monkeys, guinea pigs.  The results were all the same.  Junk DNA showed traceable changes in all organisms overtime.  No exceptions.  He even did something mildly unethical and tested his own DNA, only to show the exact same results.  There was no doubt, junk DNA was changing overtime with no apparent reason.

Michael knew at that point that there was something out there.  He also knew that for as long as he was living and breathing, he will be looking for the answers.  He also told Arthur.  He told Arthur for two reasons.  Arthur was the pragmatist between the two of them; he would know what possible applications this discovery could have.  In addition, Art had friends.  Art had access to funds.  He had access to lots of funds.  Art could actually mean the difference between resources to run experiments, instruments, lab animals, assistants, and nothing at all.  Art could spell success much better than he could.

In retrospect, Michael should have known that something was up when Art turned atypically silent for quite a few minutes.  In fact, he didn’t speak at all for some time.  He ripped a couple of pages from a lab paper block and started scribbling.  When he was done he said one sentence only.  He said: “Mike, I will get you all you need to run the experiments, and you will tell nobody about this, not even Barbara”.  Michael complied.  Well, until today.

It was raining slightly, and it was getting colder.  Michael Moore was shivering ever so slightly.  He was thinking about Barbara.  The sound of a siren was heard in the distance.  An old man was taking his old dog for a walk.  Most people were sleeping.  The sound of a slowing car was heard.  Michael tensed in anticipation, but it wasn’t Barbara.  He was getting nervous, cold, and as he was just realizing, hungry.  Across the park he could see a large car driving slowly.  It was an SUV.  He was almost ready to dismiss it as some drunk, and then he looked again.  Smart girl, he thought, when he realized that Barbara was smart enough to take her mother’s car rather than her own.  Just in case, he thought, we need to disappear for a while, whoever knew them would look for either his Toyota or her Chevrolet.  Nobody would look for a black Mercedes SUV, brand new with all the additional features most only dream about.

He came out of the dark, walked over to the park corner.  Barbara saw him right away, slowed down, and waved.  He opened the door and jumped in the car.  “Drive” he said.  “Where are we going?” she asked.  “Anywhere”, he answered, “quickly”.

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