Codex Entry 1: Asari Biology and Culture
The asari are a well-traveled race, owing to both their age as a spacefaring race and their unique biology which allows them to live for as long as 1,000 years.
Asari are a mono-gendered species of a kind that are wholly unique to the physiologists of other alien species, capable of shifting their physical appearance somewhat to adopt traits that they find interesting or desirable. Due to their contact with other gonochoristic species, their culture has shifted to reflect 'facets' of the world around them, with physical characteristics that match the three facets; Feminine, Masculine, and Neuter, with matching physical traits. Many asari prefer the feminine or neuter facets when interacting with the wider galaxy, reflecting the now feminine status of their oldest god Athame, though those showing masculine traits are not unheard of.
One of the most apparent factors of asari physiology is their ability to accept the genetic code of any race for the purpose of reproduction, 'melding' with genetic donors, regardless of their species or sex, to modify the genetic code and add it to their own, always producing an Asari child from the union. This process makes them one of the most prolific species in the galaxy, as well as potent biotics, due to the fine control that they have over their molecular biology. The leading belief is that this melding gives the child the best traits of the 'father', making it desirable to pursue relationships with other species. Relations where both parents of a child are Asari are known as 'still-blood' relationships, and are looked upon with some suspicion, even outright scorn at times, for supposedly not giving a child the best chance to diversify their genetic makeup.