Carbonix Redundis

climate fiction

 Below on this page is Chapter 2 of the science fiction story "The Hierozyme Intervention", which concerns Marda's second day of school with Tyhry and then Tyhry visits Marda's home. Marda is not a typical 12-year old; she is the host for a time-traveling zeptozoan from the future, the hidden agent for Manny the bumpha. Marda is certain that what Eddy Watson publishes as science fiction is more than just the product of Eddy's imagination. 

Marda has arranged to move to Eddy's "backyard" (actually five miles away) and Marda is trying to get to Eddy through Tyhry, Eddy's daughter. In Chapter 2, below, Marda finds one of Tyhry's hairs inside Tyhry's helmet. Marda reveals to Tyhry the depth of her obsession over Eddy Watson's science fiction stories. Marda invites Tyhry to "come over for dinner" and then they will be able to get started on their project for chemistry class.

The Hierozyme Intervention Chapter 2 - Team Work (read Chapter 1)

 Marda was waiting impatiently for the school bus to arrive for her third day of school in Arizona. Her mother was sitting inside the cab of her Jeep Brute with the air-conditioner running. Marda was pacing in the steel bed and kept glancing down the highway, trying to spot the approaching bus. Rylla had offered to drive Marda to school, but Marda was trying to get to know her new classmates. Finally the bus appeared and Marda leaped out of the Jeep's bed and she crossed the road. She waved to her mother. The bus slowed and Marda climbed aboard. At the first seat that held only one student, Marda sat down and said, "Hi, I'm Marda. You are Kevin?"

Kevin nodded. "Yep. How'd you know?"

"Do you know Tyhry?"

"Sure. She's in the next grade above me. How do you know my name?" 

 "Yesterday, I heard the driver call you Kevin." Marda pulled her backpack off of her shoulder and set it in her lap. "You ever hang out with Tyhry?"

"Are you kidding? She's out of my league."

"What does that mean."

"She's like you."

Marda laughed. "Nobody is like me." Marda held out her hand. "Look, I'm new here. I want to be friends."

Kevin shook Marda's hand. "Where you from?"

Marda kept holding his hand and looking into his eyes. "I moved here from Perth." Kevin looked at her blankly. "That's in Australia."

"You don't sound like it."

"I was born in California. I suppose I don't really have any special accent. Which lunch period do you have today?"

"Second."

"Sit with Tyhry and me today."

"What about my friend Tim. I usually sit with him for lunch."

"Sure, both you and Tim. I'll introduce you to Tyhry." Marda watched his face. With her hand in contact with his and having spoken to Kevin for a few minutes, Marda was able to sense the outlines of his mind. "You like her."

"She's amazing. Too good for me."

"Don't say that. If you like someone you should tell them. They might become your friend."

"I know." He looked at their hands. It was hot on the bus and their hands were wet with sweat. "I'm sucker for cute blonds. When I see Tyhry I can't think straight. She gives me shivers. I doubt if I'd be able to speak to her."

 "Nonsense. You can only talk to me because I inherited dark hair from my father?"

 "You are easy to talk to. My mom says some people have the gift of gab. You do."

"Gift or curse? I wonder. What's your favorite subject?" They talked all the way to school. When they got off the bus she reminded him, "Remember: lunch. Wear sunglasses so you are not tongue-tied by the glow of Tyhry's golden locks." Marda had spotted Tyhry's bright hair over by a shed behind the school. That's where Marda found Tyhry at work with the school's custodian repairing the big ride-on mower that that was used to mow the grass on the sports playing fields and the playground.

Tyhry introduced Marda to the custodian. "This is Marda. She's new."

The custodian held up a hand that was covered with grass and grease stains. "Meg." Then Mag told Tyhry, "Thanks. I can do the rest."

"Glad to help." Tyhry kept re-assembling the mower. Tyhry told Marda, "Meg lets me park my bike in the shed."

Marda had already gone to the open door of the storage shed. She picked up Tyhry's helmet. "Don't forget. You promised me a ride."

Tyhry was using a wrench to tighten a bold. "I told you. You need a helmet."

Marda was looking intently into the interior of Tyhry's helmet, letting the morning light illuminate its nooks and crannies. There were several of Tyhry's golden hairs stuck to the plastic cushions. "I ordered one online." Marda pulled a small plastic bag out of her pocket and placed the hairs in the bag. She put the helmet back on the handlebar of the bike and turned back towards Tyhry.

Tyhry handed the wrench to Meg. "That should do it." The first bell rang.

Tyhry and Marda ran to get to their homeroom before the second bell. They burst in just as the bell rang. The teacher asked Tyhry, "Late again?"

Tyhry held up her filthy hands. "I was helping Meg with a repair."

The teacher told Marda, "Just because golden girl Tyhry always gets away with anything, don't use her as your model."

Marda half sung, half said, "She is the very model of a major breach of discipline."

Image generated by Flow.

 The teacher laughed, but then the morning announcements came over the CC TV system from the office and Tyhry's flaunting of rules was forgotten.

Latter, after lunch, in their chemistry class, it was announced that the students would be working in teams on a term paper. Marda was approached by the chemistry teacher. "Marda, I want you to work with Tyhry. She usually works alone."

Marda glanced at Tyhry. "That's fine."

All the students had paired off. Marda asked Tyhry, "Why work alone?"

"There's little point in me doing all the work and having a lab partner who does nothing. Its not fair to the other student... they don't learn anything."

"I see. Well, you won't have that problem with me. In fact, I've already decided on the topic of our project: the chemistry of microbial carbon sequestration."

Tyhry shook her head, "No. That's biochemistry."

Marda's hand shot up. She asked the teacher, "Can we do a biochemistry project?"

The teacher asked, "What do you have in mind?"

"Something related to global warming. Maybe ocean microbe carbon sequestration."

"That's fine, just keep it on the chemistry side. This isn't freshman biology. Your grade depends on showing me that you have learned some chemistry."

Battlefield Lipid.

Tyhry asked Marda, "Why this topic?"

 "It will be a breeze. Your father already did all the research."

"What are you talking about?"

"In his novel, Battlefield Lipid, Carbonix profundis." 

"You've read Battlefield Lipid ?" 

"I've read all of his novels."

"We have to do our own work."

"Fine. We'll go to the next step. Eddy never explained how 

Carbonix profundis would sink so much carbon to the ocean floor without depleting the surface waters of needed nutrients like phosphorous. We'll solve that problem in our paper. We'll get started tonight. Come over to my place for dinner. I told my mom to expect you."

"Wait, what?"

"My mom visited your parents yesterday. My mom already invited your mom to visit us. And Zeta accepted. She might already be there... right now."

"Your mother visited Casanay?"

Marda nodded. "I think she has a crush on Anthony. Mom could not stop talking about him. He is single, right?"

The teacher happened to walk by just then. "You two are working?"

Marda explained, "Tyhry is coming to my place this evening to get started on our project. We'll be using my home Wildblue internet connection for our research."

The teacher was called across the room by another team of students. Tyhry said, "My mom and dad use Wildblue. Dad uses the internet for his research... he seldom goes to a library anymore."

"Why not?"

Tyhry shrugged. "He says he has no time. He's busy. A novel writing machine."

"But that's not the real reason?"

"I suppose he's a recluse, like me. I know what its like to be busy. Sometimes it drives me crazy, knowing what I could be doing if I did not have to be in school." 

Marda laughed. "Busy with what? Repairing lawn mowers?"

"I can fix any broken machine."

"I'll take that as a challenge. You know, we could view Earth's environment as a broken machine. Too much carbon dioxide."

"You might as well just say too many humans."

Marda asked, "Is that your solution for global warming? Birth control?"

"Well, that seems simpler than shooting for a nuclear winter." Tyhry giggled.

 Marda grimaced. "You have a sick sense of humor."

Tim. Image generated by Flow.

"Well, explain why you have have birth control on your mind. You were flirting with Tim during lunch."

"I was making a new friend. You should try it for once in your life."

"Kevin and Tim are both rather... dull."

"Rather full of yourself, aren't you, Tyhry?"

"I have my own interests. They don't include The Mast Effect, or what ever Kevin was trying to tell me about at lunch."

 "Mass Effect."

"Mass? E=MC² mass? I thought he was saying 'mast'. Anyhow, I'm not interested in computer games. I built my own computer with an Intel X58 motherboard with a six-core i7-980X processor feeding twin, GeForce GTX 480 graphics cards and terabyte storage." 

"Wow, so much storage... do you have a world-class porn collection?"

"Its for my hobby. I'm building a layered neural network that simulates visual cortex function. I'm combining feedforward cascades and weight sharing in my cortex simulation, but my strategy for sparse coding and lateral inhibition is failing to achieve the kind of edge detection I am hoping for. I want to give my bike human-like vision and a self-driving capability."

"Bah. Human vision was never evolved for a task like that. Using the human brain as your model, you'll just end up with an automated banana picker."

Tyhry. Image generated by Flow.

"You think that's all humans are? Sophisticated banana pickers?"

"Well, I was impressed by Tim's nose picking... so there is that, too." 

"That was disgusting. Please don't invite those two to eat with us again."

"Tyhry, you have to be diplomatic and you have to have friends." Marda could see the look of skepticism on Tyhry's face. She changed the subject, "Can you find my place after school?"

"I'll stop by home first, since its on the way. I know where you live. I ride out that way fairly frequently on my bike. I did not think construction was completed. How much land did you buy up?"

"We're living in a mobile home until construction on the house is finished. We got 2,500 acres." 

"That must back up pretty close to my backyard. We really are neighbors." Tyhry suggested, "The alternative is that you could come to my place." 

Marda shook her head. "All in due time. You need to meet my mom."

 "Why?"

"She wants to pick your brain about Anthony. He's lived at Casanay for fifteen years?"

"Something like that. Your mom might be in for disappointment. There's no evidence that Anthony likes women."

"It seems strange that he'd hole up inside Casanay for fifteen years."

"He's pretty artistic. Carves stone, wood... he paints. Sometimes we call Casanay the Anthony Museum. I suspect some of his stuff is illegal... big carved chunks of petrified wood. I've asked where it came from and he just says 'I have my source'." 

"Interesting. Illegal art. This I have to see, particularly given what your father has written about Anthony."

“Dad has written Anthony into some of his science fiction stories. Anthony thinks it is hilarious.”

“Ya, that's exactly how I'd do it, too.”

“Do what?”

“If I was an alien spy, I'd try to laugh it off when Eddy tells the world I'm an alien spy.”

“So, you are some kind of UFO nut?”

“I've read your father's novels. He never made a single mention of UFOs.”

“Don't mince words. For his stories, Dad pretends that aliens frequently visit Casanay.”

“Don't mice words. Eddy describes himself as an alien. A tryp'At. That makes you an alien, too.”

Tyhry asked, “If I'm an alien, why do I have to spend all day sitting in school?”

“Your mom is hoping that you will learn social skills.”

“Like how to watch boys pick their noses without me puking up my lunch?”

“Exactly.”

“Marda, if I'm tryp'At, I should be able to read your mind, but everything you say surprises the hell out of me.”

“Well, we have not really tried.” Marda took hold of Tyhry's hand. “I don't understand why physical contact is supposed to help with telepathy.”

“Dad's theory is that telepaths would have to learn the pattern of another mind in order to...” Tyhry found herself imagining that she could now guess what Marda was about to say.

Marda said, “For the tryp'At, telepathy only works between people who are in love.”

“I knew you were going to say that.”

Marda asked, "Have you ever had any gene sequencing done?"

"Of course not. Have you?"

The bell rang, signalling the end of the class session. Marda let go of Tyhry's hand. Tyhry told Marda, "I'll call you when I depart from home." She added with a grin, "It should not take me long to get over to your place." 

 Tyhry pulled up in front of Casanay and then ran inside. She found Zeta in her office. Eddy was out back swimming. "I'm going to Marda's for dinner."

Zeta told Tyhry, "I was over there for lunch... helping Rylla with the landscaping."

Tyhry and Zeta. Image by Leonardo.

Tyhry began to turn, then sensed that her mother had more to say. "Marda lost her father three years ago. Suicide."

"Yikes."

"You don't have to say anything. According to Rylla, it is still a tender topic for Marda."

"Why did he kill himself?"

"I don't know the details. Apparently, he was past of a lawsuit against Sempra... hundreds of millions were paid out."

"Thanks for the warning."

"Sure. Anything you want to tell me?"

Tyhry had long imagined that her mother could read her mind. "I think I'm falling in love with Marda."

"Well, good for you. Does she like you?"

"I can't tell. She invited me over... that must mean something."

Zeta held her tongue. Tyhry asked, "What?"

"I can't tell you everything Rylla told me about Marda. You deserve to have the fun of finding out for yourself."

"What does that mean?"

 Zeta made a zipping motion with one hand across her lips.

Anthony and Tyhry. Image by Flow.

Tyhry went to the kitchen and told Anthony that she would not be home for dinner. Then she returned to her bike. She drove around the side of the house and off into the desert. Soon she activated the bike's anti-gravity flight system. She called Marda. "I'm on my way. You were right. My mom visited your mom today."

"Ya. She just told me. I'm going to take a quick shower. The bus ride home was incredibly hot and sweaty."

"I'm sweaty, too. I don't mind. And you don't have time." Tyhry landed her bike and pulled onto the driveway. This was her first time seeing the modular home that had recently been hauled onto the site adjacent to the larger house that was still being finished. Marda's temporary home was was actually four large modules merged together to make a temporary home with over 3,000 square feet of floor space. 

Marda stepped outside and waved to Tyhry. Tyhry got off the bike and took off her helmet. Marda asked, "How did you get here so fast?"

Tyhry ignored that question from Marda and asked, "This is your temporary home? I was imagining a little trailer house."

"This will end up being a guest house once we move into the main house. Come in. Don't let my mom rattle you, no matter what she says." 

Tyhry followed Marda inside and was greeted by Rylla. "How interesting!"

Marda told her mother, "Mom, control yourself. Don't scare Tyhry off. I like her." 

"She's such an interesting mixture of her parents!"

Marda told Tyhry, "I'm sorry. My mom never learned how to behave."

"I'm cooking your dinner. Don't be so rude unless you want to be eating gruel." Rylla asked Marda, "What happened to your shirt?"

"I was just stepping into the shower when Tyhry called."

"Well, put something on. Tyhry will think we're barbarians."

"Why should I have to wear a shirt. It was so hot today."

Tyhry giggled. "Just wait. It will get hotter. And don't bother with a shirt. I've been fantasizing about seeing more of you. Well, to be honest... all of you."

Rylla told Marda, "Well, Tyhry comes by it honestly."

Marda asked, "What does that mean."

Rylla told Tyhry, "Our hot tub is already installed."

Marda was standing under an air-conditioning vent. "We should have put in a cold tub."

Rylla giggled. "The heater has never been run. The water in the tub was 75 today when Zeta and I were in there. We may have gotten carried away with the soap bubbles, but otherwise it was very nice. Why don't you two go try it out before dinner."

When Tyhry and Marda arrived at the dinner table they were both wearing robes. Their regular clothes had been long since abandoned. Rylla watched Marda and Tyhry eat rather ravenously. Rylla said, "Zeta told me about her special connection to you."

Tyhry and Marda had shared a rather delightful kiss in the hot tub and Tyhry was now certain that she could sense Marda's thoughts when they were touching each other. Tyhry had been warned by Manny that such a thing was possible. "Not just mom. Your daughter too."

Rylla looked sharply at Marda. "Really?"

"I can't be sure. I feel something for Tyhry, but I would not call it telepathy."

"You have to learn her mind pattern." Rylla asked Tyhry, "You don't seem surprised."

"I've always had a special relationship with my mom. Sometimes I think she knows my thoughts." 

 Marda said, "Its just like in your father's stories. If he is tryp'At, he probably can read all of our thoughts."

Tyhry asked, "How did you come to be obsessed with my father?" 

Marda shrugged. "It started three years ago when I started reading his novels. Then I found his website. You know how he invites fans to pretend to be aliens. I asked myself: what if it is not pretending? What if there really were aliens secretly living among the people of Earth?"

Tyhry chuckled. "If you want to get laughed at, try telling Eddy that you believe in space aliens."

Rylla asked, "So what is this about a chemistry project?"

Marda explained, "Tyhry and I are a team for our term paper project. I want to do something related to global warming."

Rylla told Tyhry, "Marda is obsessed with carbon footprints. Guilt by association."

Tyhry paused her voracious eating. "Guilt?"

Rylla pointed to a photograph of a man that was on the wall. "My former husband was blamed for not preventing a terrible accidental methane release."

Tyhry shrugged. "If it was an accident, why harbor regrets and guilt?"

Marda told Tyhry, "The situation is absurdly frustrating. I'm sure that the technology exists to efficiently reduce atmospheric methane levels."

Tyhry shook her head. "Are you suggesting that such mitigation technology is being suppressed? That's nutty. Who would stand in the way of deploying such technology... if it existed."

"Oh, it exists... I have no doubt about that. I'll know it when I see, but first you have to look."

"What? I have to look? Look where?"

Marda set down her fork, reached out and placed a hand on Tyhry's arm. "I suspect you already know. Maybe you are like Eddy... prevented from talking about it. I don't know... yet. That's why I'm here." She waved her other hand at their surroundings. "That's why you are here."

Tyhry was lost in Marda's big brown eyes. Finally she looked at Rylla and said, "I'm glad I'm here. You could teach Anthony a thing or to about cooking. I've fallen for your daughter, but I don't know what she's talking about. Do you?"

Rylla shrugged. "I try to stay out of my daughter's business. Similarly, I'll try to stay out of your emotions, but be warned. Marda learned from her father how to use people. Think twice before giving her your heart."

Marda told her mother, "Mom, don't be so dramatic. Tyhry and I like each other. Really, it is inevitable, considering the other options available to us here in hicksville USA. 

Rylla said, "Watch your mouth. You know there actually is a Hicksville."

Marda at lunch. Image generated by Flow.

Marda giggled. "You know what I mean. Tyhry and I had to watch Tim Martin pick his nose in the cafeteria today during lunch."

Rylla rolled her eyes. "You're a primate. You pick your nose, too."

Tyhry said, "But Marda picks her nose with style and grace."

Marda through up her hands. "Fine. Here in this Mecca of civilization, it was just random chance that brought Tyhry and I together. And now we have to start our chemistry project." She popped to her feet.

image source

Tyhry told Rylla, "Thank you for dinner." She pushed away from the table and followed Marda to her room. Marda was at her computer and searching the PubMed database. Tyhry discovered that Marda had her own personal bathroom. After emptying her bladder, Tyhry returned and found Marda reading an article titled "New insights into bacterial acquisition of phosphorus in the surface ocean", which had been published in 2009. Tyhry placed a hand on Marda's shoulder and Marda flipped over to another browser window that showed and article titled "Characterization of a major refractory component of marine dissolved organic matter". Tyhry said, "That was what dad proposed in his novel, Battlefield Lipid, converting carbon dioxide into organic molecules that could not be metabolized by Earthly microbes."

Marda turned her chair and pulled Tyhry close so that she was seated on her thighs. "Which is fine for the deep ocean deserts, but not for bio-diverse habitats like reefs. I'd like to ask Eddy his thoughts about photolysis of his imaginary glycolipoxan molecules."

Tyhry suggested, "You can visit us at Casanay any time you like. Eddy would love to meet another fan."

"Oh, he already knows me quite well. I've been the most frequent commenter at his blog for the past two years."

"You are 'Nyvad'?

Marda opened a window showing Eddy's blog where she was logged in as Nyvad. "I like to use the screen name 'Nyvad' because of its similarity to Nyrtia."

Tyhry commented, "Not many of Eddy's fans volunteer to play the role of a pek in the online forum."

"I don't have anything against the idea of enforcing the Rules of Intervention. I take seriously the idea that technology-wielding apes could cause their own extinction." 

Marda has her hands on the soft skin of Tyhry's thighs. Suddenly Tyhry could "see" a thought in Marda's mind, "You took my hair?"

"I mailed your hair off for DNA sequencing. I need to verify that you are like me, with a rare Notch2NLC gene variant."

"You've had your genome sequenced?"

"Call it birthday present. I'm sure you've had some expensive gifts. How much did you spend on your bike and your computer."

"Not what it costs to sequence genome."

Marda shrugged, "Look this is not a competition between us, but I'm starting to sense your thoughts."

"With your hands down there, I can guess what you are thinking."

"When you are ready, tell me how deep you are into my mind. I'll find out eventually."

Tyhry got off of Marda and began putting on her clothes. Marda commented, "I thought I was the padded bra champion."

Tyhry put on her heavily padded bra. "I need plenty of nipple protection when I ride my bike."

Marda looked out the window at the dark of night. "My mom can drive you home."

"I can get home in the dark." Marda followed Tyhry outside. 

Tyhry got on her bike and Marda kissed Tyhry on the lips. "Be careful."

"I am being careful. I'm not quite ready to tell you everything you want to hear, but I can tell you this. I've fallen in love with you."

"Then you can see my thoughts."

Tyhry drove off down the dark driveway, not bothering to activate the headlight of her bike. A hundred feet down the driveway, Tyhry activated the bike's flight system and the autopilot flew her home, staying 50 feet above the ground. After reaching a top speed of 120 MPH, Tyhry coasted into the back patio of Casanay. Manny the bumpha was there, waiting for Tyhry in the hot tub. Tyhry went to the side of the tub and said, "I'm glad you are hear. My cover has been blown."

Manny waved a hand, inviting Tyhry into the water. Tyhry began to undress. "I've worked long and hard to get Marda here."

Tyhry climbed into the tub. "So, you told her how to find Casanay." 

Manny giggled. "When your father depicts the Casanay in his novels as being located on Cape Cod it is not very convincing. I motivated Marda to figure out the truth. It was not that hard... for Marda."

"She's too clever for her own good. 

"True, but I designed you and Marda to be clever for my special purpose, not as a benefit for you."

Tyhry allowed her hair nanites to activate and her hair took on same glistening form as Manny's extravagant nanite-enhanced hair."

"So it is true? What Marda said about me having a special Notch gene variant?"

"Yes, that is critical for your ability to control your zeptites endosymbiont and use it for telepathy."

"So she can read my thoughts?"

"Not yet. Marda is still falling in love with you. She does not have the benefit of all your Neanderthal genes."

Tyhry had long ago been told that her mother, Zeta, was half Neanderthal. "Marda is tryp'At?"

Manny shrugged. "Would you have me tell you things that you can find out for yourself?"

"What about dad? What will happen when Marda gets a look at my genes?"

"For Marda, the DNA sequencing will just be a form of confirmation of what she's already been told."

"You've been telling her about my family?"

"Well, I delegated that task. Marda carries a time-traveling zeptozoan from the future inside her... my agent. If Marda is told too much she will lose interest. She's driven by mystery." Manny dissolved into a cloud of zeptites that then slipped back into the Sedron Domain. Tyhry let the water jets of the hot tub pound her for another five minutes. Then she climbed out of the tub, took her bike to the garage and then went to her bedroom suite inside Casanay.

UNDER CONSTRUCTION (images being added). 

Next: 

AI Mode

Image generated by Flow.

Below on this blog page is discussion of "The Hierozyme Intervention" with the Google Search "AI Mode" agent. This discussion began when I was gathering information about the state-of-the-art in genome sequencing in the year 2011, the temporal setting for "The Hierozyme Intervention".

Me: In the year 2011, was it possible to sequence a person's genome from an isolated hair?

AI Mode: Yes, it was possible in 2011 to sequence a person’s genome from an isolated hair. However, there is a major technical caveat: the success depended entirely on whether the hair had an intact root bulb or was a rootless hair shaft.
By 2011, the breakthrough of next-generation sequencing (NGS) had completely changed the landscape of genetic sequencing, allowing scientists to decode full genomes from incredibly challenging, fragmented samples. 

Image generated by Flow.

 Here is how the possibility broke down in 2011 based on the condition of the isolated hair: 

1. Hair with an Intact Root (Fully Possible)
If the isolated hair was freshly plucked or shed with its follicle/root bulb intact, sequencing the entire nuclear genome was fully possible. The Science: The root bulb contains living, nucleated cells. The 2011 Status: By using techniques like Whole Genome Amplification (WGA) combined with high-throughput sequencing platforms (such as Illumina systems), labs could easily replicate the minute amounts of DNA from a single hair root to achieve full-genome coverage. 
2. Rootless Hair Shaft (The Proof-of-Concept Milestone)
If the hair was a cut or broken strand without a root (consisting only of the keratinized hair shaft), sequencing a modern individual's full nuclear genome on a standard basis was not yet commercially available or reliable. However, as a scientific breakthrough, it had just been proven possible. 
The 2010/2011 Milestone: In February 2010, an international team led by scientist Eske Willerslev successfully published the first-ever sequence of an ancient human genome (a 4,000-year-old Paleo-Eskimo man dubbed "Inuk"). Crucially, they did this using isolated, rootless hair clumps preserved in the Greenland permafrost. Later in September 2011, scientists similarly sequenced an Aboriginal Australian man's genome using a 100-year-old lock of hair. The Challenge: Hair shafts contain almost exclusively mitochondrial DNA and highly degraded, ultra-short fragments of nuclear DNA. Why it worked then: The unique preservation environments (like ice or dry museum storage) and specialized paleogenomic "shotgun sequencing" techniques allowed scientists to stitch together these short fragments. However, this required massive computing power, was incredibly expensive, and could not yet be done with a single modern, casually shed rootless hair found at a standard crime scene.

Image generated by Flow.

 Summary. In 2011: You could sequence a full genome from a single hair if it had a root. If it was rootless, full-genome sequencing required specialized historical or massive academic lab intervention (like the BGI Group and University of Copenhagen collaborations. 

If you are researching this for a specific project, please let me know if you are looking at it from a forensic/criminal investigation perspective, a historical/genealogy angle, or if you're writing a fiction piece set in that era!

Me: I'm writing a science fiction story set in that era ("The Hierozyme Intervention").

AI Mode: Writing hard science fiction set in a specific historical year like 2011 offers an incredible opportunity for grounded, high-stakes plotting. By anchoring your worldbuilding in the exact technical limitations of that specific era, you can create a realistic and compelling narrative.
An exploration of how the science of 2011 can serve as a plot engine, worldbuilding asset, or constraint for your story includes the following key considerations: The "State of the Art" Aesthetic for 2011.
To make your setting feel authentic to 2011, your characters should be working with technology that was cutting-edge at the time. The Machines: They would be using massive, loud, boxy benchtop sequencers like the Illumina HiSeq 2000 (released in 2010) or the Roche 454. The concept of a USB-sized sequencer (like the MinION) was still a year away from being unveiled and years away from routine use. The Time Delay: Genome sequencing was absolutely not instantaneous. In 2011, sequencing a genome took days or weeks of raw machine runtime, preceded by days of delicate chemical library preparation, followed by weeks of data analysis by a bioinformatician. The Data Bottleneck: The internet speeds of 2011 could not easily transfer the massive, raw terabyte files (FASTQ data) generated by these machines. Scientists frequently physically shipped hard drives via courier between labs because it was faster than downloading them over network connections.

Image generated by Flow.

 3 Ways to Use Hair Sequencing as a Plot Device. 1. The Forensic Obstacle (The Rootless Hair).
The Setup: Your protagonist finds a single, casually shed hair left behind by a antagonist at a critical location. The 2011 Constraint: If the hair has no root bulb, standard law enforcement or commercial labs in 2011 will tell them it is impossible to get a nuclear DNA profile. The FBI database (CODIS) only used Short Tandem Repeats (STRs) from nuclear DNA. The Plot Twist: To sequence a rootless hair in 2011, your character cannot go to the police. They must secretly bribe or infiltrate an elite academic paleogenomics lab (the scientists who clone mammoths or study ancient hominids). Only these labs possess the "shotgun sequencing" protocols and cleanrooms required to clean and extract heavily degraded DNA from a rootless keratin shaft.
2. The Private Investigator / Black Market Angle. The Setup: A wealthy individual wants to secretly map a rival's or political candidate's genome to look for a genetic disease, vulnerability, or proof of parentage. The 2011 Constraint: In 2011, the commercial price to sequence a full human genome hovered around $4,000 to $10,000, down sharply from millions a few years prior, but still far from casual pocket change. The Plot Twist: Your character has to secure significant funding or dark-money backing just to pay a rogue lab technician to run the sample "off the books" overnight on a university machine, risking their entire career.
3. The "Incomplete Data" Suspense. The Setup: The hair sample is degraded, or the Whole Genome Amplification (WGA) process introduces errors. The 2011 Constraint: Early sequencing technology suffered from higher error rates and "coverage gaps" (missing sections of the genome). The Plot Twist: The lab results come back, but there is an agonizing gap in the data. The crucial genetic marker or sequence—the one that proves a conspiracy or identifies a specific individual—falls right into a region of the genome that the 2011 machine failed to read clearly, forcing the characters to take a dangerous leap of faith or hunt for a better biological sample.

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 High-Utility Terminology for 2011 Worldbuilding. To make lab dialogue or inner monologues sound authentic to a molecular biologist in 2011, use these terms:
"Next-Gen Sequencing" (NGS): The universal buzzword of the era."Coverage depth": (e.g., “We only got 4x coverage on this sample, it's too full of holes to be certain.” High certainty required 30x coverage). "Contamination": The ultimate enemy. Because hair samples have so little DNA, if a technician accidentally breathed on the sample, the sequencer would accidentally map the technician’s genome instead of the target's. "Bioinformatics": The field of using computers to stitch millions of tiny, fragmented DNA reads into a cohesive genome map.

To help tailor this technical framework to your narrative, consider the following aspects of your story:
Does the character recovering the hair have official government backing (like the FBI or a state lab), or are they acting as a rogue actor/civilian?  Is the person they are trying to sequence alive and actively evading them, or are they trying to identify someone from a historical/cold case?

Me: In my story, a wealthy individual (12-year-old Marda) believes that a writer of science fiction novels (the reclusive Eddy Watson) is a human variant, a tryp'At. The tryp'At were genetically engineered by space aliens to have a normal human physical appearance while having hidden telepathic abilities. Marda obtains a hair from the bike helmet of Tyhry Watson, Eddy's 12-year-old daughter.

AI Mode: This is an excellent premise for a 2011-era sci-fi thriller. Having a wealthy 12-year-old protagonist like Marda provides a perfect narrative engine: she has access to immense financial resources to bypass the era's technical limitations, but her age forces her to navigate a complex adult scientific world in secret.

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 Because Marda has a hair from Eddy’s daughter (Tyhry) rather than Eddy himself, you have a built-in layer of scientific suspense. In genetics, a daughter inherits exactly 50% of her nuclear DNA from her father. If Eddy is a genetically engineered tryp'At, Tyhry's genome will hold the proof—but it will be woven alongside her completely normal human mother's DNA.
Here is how Marda can realistically leverage 2011 biotechnology to execute her secret investigation: 1. The Logistics of the Hair Sample.
The Bike Helmet Context: A hair recovered from a bicycle helmet is highly likely to be a rootless hair shaft that broke off due to friction, rather than a freshly plucked hair with a live root bulb. Marda’s Financial Superpower: As established, a standard commercial or police lab in 2011 would reject a rootless hair for nuclear DNA sequencing. However, because Marda is wealthy, she can bypass this. She can hire a rogue technician or fund a private contract with a cutting-edge paleogenomics lab (such as scientists working with the BGI Group or university research labs using the newly released Illumina HiSeq 2000 systems). They can treat Tyhry's 2011 hair with the same "shotgun sequencing" protocols used on ancient Neanderthal bones.
2. What the Sequencer Would Actually Reveal. If Marda successfully maps Tyhry’s genome, she won't find a file that says "Alien Detected." Instead, her bioinformatician (or a high-end analysis program she buys) will encounter bizarre anomalies when aligning Tyhry's data against the standard Human Reference Genome (which in 2011 was the GRCh37 build).
Marda would look for three specific indicators:
The 50% Non-Human Block: Tyhry's maternal chromosomes will match the human reference genome perfectly. However, the chromosomes inherited from Eddy will align roughly at first, but contain highly dense, structured clusters of "unmappable" data. In 2011, the software would flag these as massive, recurring sequencing errors or software bugs because the machine wouldn't know how to process non-human telepathic genetic architecture.  

One of Eddy's novels.

 Artificial Introns (The "Glitches"): Natural human evolution leaves messy, chaotic DNA. If space aliens engineered the tryp'At, their genetic coding might look unnervingly clean, mathematically optimized, or contain synthetic "promoter" sequences that act like biological programming code. The False Paternity Triggers: If Marda attempts to run Tyhry's data through a standard 2011 commercial database to find her family tree, the software might completely glitch out, stating that Tyhry has "zero matching human relatives" on her father's side, effectively making Eddy look like a biological ghost.
3. Era-Appropriate Plot Hurdles for a 12-Year-Old.
To keep the hard sci-fi tension high, Marda can encounter several real-world 2011 limitations:
The "Mithril" Cleanroom Cost: Because a rootless hair contains less than a nanogram of degraded DNA, the laboratory must use an ultra-sterile cleanroom. If Marda or the technician accidentally sneezes near the sample, the machine will just sequence their skin cells. Marda might have to pay a massive premium to ensure her sample gets exclusive, uncontaminated machine time. The Physical Data Delivery: The raw genomic data of a full human sequence in 2011 easily exceeded 100 Gigabytes to a Terabyte in size. Marda cannot download this on a 2011 home internet connection. She would have to receive a physical, encrypted external hard drive delivered to her by a courier, which she then has to hide from her parents. Interpreting the Data: A 12-year-old, no matter how bright, cannot read raw genomic data. Marda will need an ally—perhaps a brilliant but desperate graduate student drowning in student debt, whom she hires online under a pseudonym to write a custom Python script to analyze the file.
Narrative Questions to Consider.
Does Marda already know what specific genetic markers she is looking for (e.g., did she find an old tryp'At text or file), or is she looking blindly for anything anomalous?  How does she keep her massive financial transactions for the lab work hidden from her family or trustees?

The tryp'At.

 If you'd like, I can help brainstorm fictional 2011 bio-tech corporate names she could interface with, or draft a realistic scientific report email that her hired analyst might send her when they discover the anomalies!

Me: In his science fiction novels, Eddy Watson writes himself into his own stories and describes himself as being a tryp'At. Marda, a fan of Eddy's writing, believes that Eddy really is tryp'At. Marda arranges to attend the same school as does Tyhry. Marda was born into a wealthy family and has easy access to unlimited cash.

AI Mode: This setup creates a brilliant dynamic for your story: you have a high-stakes, asymmetric investigative thriller where a wealthy, obsessed child is using bleeding-edge science to hunt a sci-fi author who might have accidentally (or purposefully) hidden the truth in plain sight.
In 2011, having "unlimited cash" changes the rules of biotechnology. While a standard lab would laugh off a 12-year-old with a rootless hair, Marda’s wealth allows her to buy her way past every technical barrier of the era. Here is how Marda can use her unlimited cash and her proximity to Tyhry at school to advance her investigation, keeping the hard sci-fi science authentic to 2011:

1. Exploiting the School Environment.
Since Marda engineered her way into Tyhry's school, obtaining the bike helmet hair is just the first step. Her unlimited cash allows her to maintain absolute control over the sample's integrity.
Preventing Contamination: In 2011, forensic DNA collection was highly sensitive to modern contamination. A wealthy, hyper-prepared 12-year-old wouldn't just put the hair in her pocket. Marda would buy professional forensic evidence collection kits online—using sterile tweezers, anti-static glassine envelopes, and tamper-evident tape—to ensure Tyhry's hair is the only DNA on the sample. The "Control" Sample: To prove Tyhry has alien tryp'At DNA inherited from her father, Marda needs to separate it from Tyhry's normal human mother's DNA. 

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 Marda could use her wealth to casually sponsor a school-wide event—like a "Science Fair DNA Ancestry Kit" giveaway or a sports health screening. By getting Tyhry to participate, Marda can secretly acquire a high-quality cheek swab (buccal sample), giving her access to perfect, pristine nuclear DNA to compare against the degraded hair sample.
2. Buying a Custom 2011 Genome Pipeline.
With unlimited cash, Marda doesn’t need to knock on university doors; she can build a private supply chain.
Hiring a Private Contract Research Organization (CRO): In 2011, commercial genomics companies like BGI (Beijing Genomics Institute) or private boutique labs in California were aggressively expanding. Marda can use a shell company or a high-priced attorney to contract a private lab. She can pay a $50,000 premium to put her sample at the front of the line, ordering "Ultra-Deep Shotgun Sequencing" (e.g., 100x coverage depth) on an Illumina HiSeq 2000 machine. The Dark Web / Anonymous Hiring: To analyze the data without revealing her age, Marda can use early 2011 freelancing platforms or encrypted channels to hire a rogue bioinformatician. She can pay them Bitcoin (which was trading around $1 to $30 in 2011—a fun era-appropriate detail) or wire cash to an offshore account to write a custom script that maps Tyhry’s DNA.
What the Data Reveals (The Sci-Fi Hook). When the bioinformatician runs Tyhry’s sequenced DNA against the human reference genome (GRCh37), the results will look exactly like a coding anomaly, perfectly matching the lore in Eddy Watson's novels.
The "Hierozyme" Blueprint: If Eddy's novels mention a specific biological mechanism for telepathy—perhaps a synthetic neurotransmitter or an altered folding pattern in brain proteins—Marda’s custom script can look specifically for those genetic instructions.  

The hermaphrodite chromosome.

 The Non-Human Chromosome: Normal human DNA has 23 pairs of chromosomes. If the tryp'At engineering is sophisticated, it might look like a standard human genome on the surface, but contain highly dense, synthetic genetic code hidden inside "junk DNA" (introns). In 2011, scientists were just starting to realize junk DNA wasn't actually junk; Marda finding perfectly structured, alien-engineered code hidden there would be a massive revelation. The Father's Half: The analysis will show that Tyhry’s maternal DNA is 100% human. But her paternal DNA—the 50% from Eddy—contains the exact genetic signatures Eddy described in his "fictional" books. Marda will have concrete, scientific proof that Eddy wasn't writing fiction; he was writing an autobiography.
4. Era-Appropriate Props for Marda's Operation.
To anchor the 2011 tech aesthetic in your story, you can have Marda using:
An Apple MacBook Pro (2011 Aluminum Unibody): Struggling to open massive 100GB genomic text files (.fastq or .bam formats), causing her laptop fans to scream and the aluminum chassis to burn her lap. High-Capacity External Hard Drives: Receiving heavily padded FedEx boxes containing rugged, metallic LaCie hard drives via courier, containing the raw sequencing data from the private lab. Blackberry or iPhone 4: Using BBM (BlackBerry Messenger) or early encrypted email services to text her adult contacts without her wealthy parents tracking her device.

To align this with your plot progression, consider how Marda handles the initial results:
When Marda gets the data proving Eddy is a tryp'At, does she confront Tyhry at school to find out if the daughter knows she's half-alien? Or does Marda use her wealth to target Eddy directly, perhaps by buying out his publishing house or staging an elaborate "fan meeting"?

 Me: Marda's sequencing effort determines that Tyhry is a hybrid. One quarter of Tyhry's genome is Neanderthal. One half of Tyhry's genome is of unknown (to human science) origin (presumably tryp'At). It turns out that Tyhry's mother (Zeta Gohrlay) is half Neanderthal and half modern human. By the time Marda has these sequencing results, she and Tyhry are deep into an effort to release into Earth's upper atmosphere large numbers of a type of hierozyme (which is a type of advanced alien nanotechnology) that efficiently catalyzes the conversion methane into carbon dioxide.

AI Mode: This is an incredibly sharp, high-stakes pivot for your narrative. By making Tyhry a three-way genetic hybrid (Modern Human + Neanderthal + Unknown tryp'At), you create a beautiful mathematical puzzle that perfectly aligns with the real-world scientific milestones of late 2010 and 2011.
Furthermore, shifting the plot from a localized investigation to a high-atmosphere geoengineering operation introduces a brilliant countdown dynamic. Marda is already mid-mission with Tyhry when she realizes her 12-year-old friend is literally holding the genetic keys to the alien tech they are deploying.
The 2011 scientific alignment, the genetic breakdown, and how this revelation impacts their upper-atmosphere mission can be explored across several dimensions:

Gohrlay in the First Reality.

 1. The 2011 Genetic Milestone Connection.
To make this plot point resonate with readers of hard sci-fi, you can directly reference the explosive real-world headlines of that exact era:
The Neanderthal Genome Breakthrough: In May 2010, the Max Planck Institute (led by Svante Pääbo) published the first draft of the Neanderthal genome. They shocked the world by proving that modern non-African humans carry about 1% to 4% Neanderthal DNA.
Why Marda’s Discovery is Shocking:  When Marda's custom bioinformatics script analyzes Tyhry's maternal chromosomes and finds a staggering 25% Neanderthal genome, the software would instantly flag it as an impossibility. It means Tyhry's mother, Zeta Gohrlay, has 50% Neanderthal DNA, making Zeta a direct, first-generation hybrid child of a modern human and a Neanderthal. 

2. The Genetic Math: Why Tyhry is the Ultimate Bridge.
Because Marda has the data, she can visually map Tyhry's chromosomes out on her 2011 laptop. The genetic inheritance breaks down into a perfect, symmetrical cross. This makes Tyhry a living biological bridge. She represents Earth's deep evolutionary past and the engineered cosmic future (the tryp'At). 

3. The Atmosphere Mission: The Methane-Killing Hierozyme.
In 2011, climate science was highly focused on greenhouse gases, and methane was recognized as being roughly 25 times more potent at trapping atmospheric heat than carbon dioxide over a 100-year timeline.
Because the girls are deploying an alien nanotechnology catalyst (the hierozyme) into the upper atmosphere to accelerate this exact conversion, Marda's sequencing results change everything:

Image generated by Flow.

 While converting methane to carbon dioxide reduces long-term warming potential, doing it rapidly and en masse in the upper atmosphere would alter global chemical balances, potentially causing massive localized pressure drops, severe weather shifts, or a sudden spike in water vapor in the stratosphere. The Telepathic Bio-Interface (The Twist): If the hierozymes are advanced alien nanotechnology, they likely don't run on simple computer code. They require a biological directive. Marda suddenly realizes why Tyhry is so crucial to the deployment: the tryp'At 50% of Tyhry's genome gives her the hidden telepathic architecture necessary to subconsciously interface with, guide, or activate the billions of hierozymes being seeded into the sky.
4. Immediate High-Tension Scene Ideas for 2011.
The Screaming Laptop: Marda is sitting in a staging area (perhaps a rented warehouse or a private airfield where they are prepping weather balloons or high-altitude drones bought with her cash). Her 2011 MacBook is overheating, struggling to finish the sequence alignment. When the pie chart finally renders—showing 50% Unmappable/Alien, 25% Archaic Hominid, 25% Sapiens—she looks across the room at Tyhry, who is casually adjusting a valve on a gas tank, completely unaware of what she is. The Trust Crisis: Marda realizes she has been leading a mission alongside a girl who isn't entirely human. Does Marda tell Tyhry the truth about her parents (Eddy and Zeta)? If Tyhry finds out she is a hybrid, will her emotional volatility accidentally cause her telepathic genes to misfire, sending chaotic commands to the hierozymes already drifting in the upper atmosphere?

How do the girls plan to launch these hierozymes? Are they using high-altitude weather balloons, a private corporate jet chartered by Marda's family wealth, or something more clandestine?

 Me: The "hier" in "hierozyme" is derived from the word 'hierion'. Hierions are family of fundamental particles that are not yet known to Earthly science. Some hierions can form bonds to other particles that are twelve orders of magnitude shorter than conventional chemical bonds. One of the many types of hierion particles is the entron. The tryp'At make use of entrons to share communications signals that make possible a form of technology-assisted telepathy. The word ‘hierion’ is pronounced <hi-air-ee-on>. Some hierions have negative mass. The hierozyme catalyst in my story "The Hierozyme Intervention" is structurally more complex than the most complex known biological enzyme, with a precise structure defined by its hierion components (including hierions with negative mass).

AI Mode: The addition of hierion physics elevates your story into the realm of truly mind-bending, hard science fiction. By introducing a family of subatomic particles capable of twelve-orders-of-magnitude shorter bonds, bordering on the sub-nuclear/quark scale) and utilizing negative mass, you create a terrifyingly logical framework for how an advanced alien catalyst can completely ignore conventional chemical limitations.
For a 12-year-old tech-prodigy like Marda sitting at a laptop in 2011, discovering this hidden physics layer inside Tyhry’s genome completely redefines the stakes of their upper-atmosphere mission. The Physics of the Hierozyme Catalyst. The unique properties of the hierozyme catalyst introduce several fascinating scientific implications for your worldbuilding:
The Negative Mass Scaffold: In physics, an object with negative mass accelerates toward you if you push it away. By integrating negative-mass hierions into the catalyst's architecture, the hierozyme can stabilize insanely dense structures without collapsing into a micro-black hole. It creates an exotic, hyper-complex structural skeleton that can twist and manipulate standard matter—like atmospheric methane—with absolute geometric precision.  

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 The Methane Snare: Conventional enzymes rely on weak hydrogen bonds and thermal collisions to trap substrates. A hierozyme, operating with ultra-short hierion bonds, can exert localized, subatomic gravitational or exotic forces. It can actively snap a methane molecule  into its constituent carbon and hydrogen atoms instantly, requiring zero activation energy from the surrounding environment.
How Marda Discovers the "Entron" Connection in 2011.
When Marda looks at the 50% "unknown origin" portion of Tyhry’s sequenced DNA, her 2011 software wouldn't just show empty space. It would show a biological blueprint designed to interact directly with entrons.
The Entron Antennae: Marda’s custom sequencing script maps a highly repeating, hyper-complex genetic sequence in Tyhry's brain-development genes. These genes do not code for standard human proteins. Instead, they code for cellular micro-structures designed to trap and manipulate entrons.
* Technology-Assisted Telepathy: Because entrons propagate communication signals through this unknown subatomic framework, Tyhry’s brain acts as a biological transceiver. She doesn't just have "magic" telepathy; her tryp'At DNA provides the physical, cellular hardware required to interface with the entron signals emitted by the hierozymes drifting in the sky.
The 2011 Climate Mission Climax: The Hidden Danger.
Marda and Tyhry's plan to save the world by releasing the hierozymes to destroy methane suddenly becomes infinitely more volatile. Marda now holds a terrifying realization:
The Catalyst is Too Efficient: Because the hierozyme is structurally more complex than any Earthly enzyme and utilizes negative-mass physics, its catalytic speed is effectively infinite. Once released into the upper atmosphere, it won't just slowly clean the air—it could trigger a runaway, hyper-catalyzed chain reaction.

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 The Need for a Conscious Kill-Switch: Because the reaction is so violent, the hierozymes require constant, real-time stabilization commands via entron signals. Without a tryp'At brain to broadcast a harmonic control signal, the negative-mass components of the hierozymes might destabilize, or the catalyst will strip the atmosphere of methane so fast it drops global temperatures into an immediate, catastrophic volcanic-style winter. Tyhry is the Conductor: Marda looks at her 2011 laptop, then looks up at Tyhry. She realizes that her 12-year-old friend isn't just a helper pulling a release valve on a high-altitude delivery system. Tyhry is the only entity on Earth whose brain contains the entron-capturing architecture required to mentally steer billions of negative-mass alien nanomachines.
Dramatic Tension for Your Chapter. As they prepare the launch, Marda is stuck in an agonizing paradox. She cannot stop the deployment because the climate crisis is looming, but she is about to ask a 12-year-old girl to broadcast an un-tested entron signal to a cloud of exotic matter.

Artificial infinity.

 Furthermore, if Tyhry's mother, Zeta Gohrlay, is half-Neanderthal, Marda might wonder: Did the space aliens choose Eddy Watson to breed with a Neanderthal hybrid on purpose? Is Tyhry's archaic, robust Neanderthal physiology the only thing strong enough to survive the neurological strain of hosting an entron communication field?
Would you like to explore how Tyhry's Neanderthal-brained maternal genetics might uniquely alter or buffer those delicate tryp'At entron signals, or how Marda explains the pronunciation and physics of hierion particles to a confused, young Tyhry before they launch?

Google's AI was really getting into to fictional chemistry of hierozymes: "its catalytic speed is effectively infinite".

Next: Chapter 2 of "The Hierozyme Intervention".

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