In their off time from teaching, the science professors routinely performed studies in their various fields. The summer before, both Dr. Shanihn and Dr. Atesll had done some research on one of the oldest genetic mysteries still in existence. There were several genetic code sequences that, as confided to me by Shanihn himself, if used in concurrent gene therapies, would induce the reptilian ability of limb and tissue regeneration without hybridizing the subject. For many years they have spliced large reptilian DNA sections into other animals' and give them regeneration, it had many side effects. It caused the recipient to become a sterile hybrid. Its application was also limited. Because of the nature of the splicing, it had to be done while the subject was still a zygote. If it were to be spliced later on, the resulting cells would be a heterogeneous mixture of spliced and natural DNA. Because of the new DNA, the membrane bound peptidoglycan strands that the cells use to recognize the difference between self and foreign cells were so different that neither type could recognize the other as self and commenced cytotoxic and helper T-cell proliferation as well as stimulating increased phagocytic activity among their macrophages. This nearly always resulted in a self-aborting fetus. Sadly, the survivors were misshapen monsters that were short lived.
Often, I felt pangs of sadness and guilt over those poor creatures. It was easy to empathize with their plight. After all, it was not that different from my own. They were held captive in a role they did not choose. The difference between themselves and I was that of degrees. They suffered as I did, except countless times worse. Upon seeing pictures of these test subjects in a scientific journal, I resolved never to conduct experiments of their kind. Further, I vowed to do everything in my power to stop others from conducting them as well. Thus, my admiration for Dr. Shanihn grew. Not only did he never become involved in such testing, he also was attempting to make them obsolete with his battery of case studies. All of which involved only willing subjects.