Daniel Suarez - Change Agent: A Novel

B efore we begin, have you any questions about genetic editing, Mr. and Mrs. Cherian? The counselor took a whopping bite from a vada pav sandwich as he clicked through their file.

The young Mumbai couple exchanged uncertain looks. In their late twenties, well-groomed, and dressed in crisp business casual clothes, they appeared a step above the cramped, dingy, and windowless office around them. Nonetheless here they were. The wife appeared especially ill at ease.

The husband shook his head. No questions at the moment, no. He looked to his wife reassuringly. Patted her on the knee.

She spoke up. How does the procedure work?

The counselor answered with his mouth full. Ah, an inquiring mind.

She narrowed her eyes at him.

The husband cut in. My wife and I are both attorneys. Given the legal status of this enterprise, we were understandably reluctant to research the topic on our own devices.

Well then... The counselor finished chewing and wiped his fingers on a crumpled napkin. I have something that should address your questions. He noisily rooted around in his desk drawer and in a moment produced a device the size and shape of a paperback book, which he placed on the cluttered desktop between them. When he pressed down on the device it unfolded into a pylon shapesporting several lenses facing forward and back. It booted up, white light glowing within.

The wife drew stylish mirror glasses from her purse and donned them to shield her eyes. A glim? You think wed allow you access to our retinas? This is out

No retinal scanning, I assure you, Mrs. Cherian. Merely a brief in-eye presentation.

The husband looked to his wife. They have our DNA, love. Retinas are the least of it.

Neelo, I want our embryo transferred back to the clinic.

My love, we

This place is a rat hole. A defunct export office by the look of it.

All part of the disguise, Mrs. Cherian. We must not attract undue attention from the authorities. But rest assured, our labs are well fundedrun by the largest genediting syndicate in the world, Trefoil. None are more sophisticated.

My love, remember: they came highly recommended.

She grabbed her bag as if to go. Neelo, we are law-abiding people.

Weve discussed this, cherub. Principled positions are admirable, but other parents are doing this. We as well must do everything we can to prepare our son for the world in which he will live. He gestured to the glim on the table. Why dont we watch the presentation and see how we feel afterward?

She sighedand reluctantly removed her mirror glasses.

The counselor beamed. Very good. Please look forward. It will find your retinas in a jiffy.

In a moment, from their perspective, the air above the desk filled with a highly detailed 3D model of the double helix of DNA. It rotated there, an utterly convincing virtual objectseemingly as real as the desk. Yet the floating DNA existed only as a rich, plenoptic light field projected directly onto their retinas and unseen by anyone not targeted by the glim.

Light field projectors like these had largely replaced physical televisions, computer screens, and mobile OLED displays in the last decade or so. Beaming imagery directly onto a viewers retinas instead of spraying photons all over the place had many advantagesauthentic augmented reality being one. Environmental sustainability another. Privacy another still.

A female narrators voice came to them via a focused acoustic beam. Initially developed in 2012, CRISPR technology is a search-and-replace tool for modifying DNAthe blueprint of all living things.

The word CRISPR appeared with the letters expanding into full words in turn.

Shorthand for clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats, CRISPR derives from a naturally occurring process in bacterial immune systemsand it has been adapted by modern science to permit targeted genetic edits of plant, animal, and human embryos.

The 3D animation showed a labeled RNA molecule enter the scene.

The process begins by seeding a guide RNA with both a target and a payload genetic sequence...

Labels identified them in turn as they were inserted into the RNA molecule.

This guide RNA is then injected into an embryonic cells nucleus...

The RNA clamped onto the double helix of DNA, unzipping it.

... where it reads the embryos DNA. Wherever a match for the target sequence is found...

The 3D image highlighted a match between the RNA target sequence and a segment of the cells DNA.

... a natural cutting protein acts as a molecular scalpel, severing the DNA chain...

The animation showed the double helix of DNA cut.

... removing the matching segment...

The animation showed it being removed.

... and inserting a copy of the payload DNA in its place.

The RNAs payload sequence copied itself into the gap, and the DNA quickly rejoined.

In this way human embryos may be safely and reliably edited in vitro to correct deadly heritable genetic disorders.

Moving music swelled as the scene dissolved to a life-sized 3D projection of a beautiful but despondent little African girl with cloudy blind eyes. She looked as real as if she sat in the room with them.