What, the, absolute, duck! INT2024 ---non Writer

"It's just a duck, an aquatic bird. There's nothing that weird about it. They have been there in Europe going back to the middle ages".

Dr Randall waved the paper at his student. "And how do you explain it? Where in the taxonomy do you place it? We know all life is interwoven, everything has its roots on the phylogenetic tree, you don't just have something fully formed and complex just appearing, so where did it come from. The implications for evolutionary development are profound if such stuff just happened like that".

"But sir, it has a fifth base, I repeated every test I could. I noticed that it was Z-DNA - a left handed helix, and then tried to figure out why. And we retested from multiple ducks, they all have it". Biology undergraduate William Jake had a look of guilt and defeat. "I think it is purine, sir".

"OK, lets say it is, then is it still a double helix? How would even the polymerase reaction work"?

"I don't think, well I assumed"...

"Hang on, let me think"... Randall interjected and began pacing, which was difficult in the small office crowded as it was with books and papers.

"Look, look, this will take some time and..." Dr Randall went white and sat down again suddenly. "William, were all the ducks housed here in the Biology lab"?

"Of course sir, we had seven of them. But they were all euthanized after the experiment was completed, we don't have them now".

"William, are you familiar with the work that Mary Ellis was doing"?

"Um, we used to date, last year, but it never went anywhere, but no, not really, I mean, I knew she was in the lab, but I only saw her doing in vivo stuff, nothing on live animals, and she went home unwell. I don't even think she finished her research last term".

"No, she didn't complete her work". Dr Randall had a strange look on his face, "She was doing work on synthetic DNA. She was trying to see if there were any chemical analogues that could form the basis for artificial life".

"Oh, so was she just doing chemistry, or did she use DNA as a basis"? William suddenly went wide eyed. "Sir, did she use a viral vector"?

Dr Randall breathed heavily, "I think we need to draw some blood and have a look at OUR DNA"...

The END?

a reply to: chr0naut

Very nice..and sciency chrOnaut! Educational too, I had to look up viral vector!

S+F

a reply to: chr0naut

Great story, chr0naut!

A lot of the science is over my head, but I throughly enjoyed and appreciated your use of dialogue. It came across as very natural, a style I've always struggled with.

Also, you really took stock of my OP artwork and subtlety incorporated much of it in your prose, which I applaud.

a reply to: chr0naut

Enjoyed it. Nicely done.

Cheers

a reply to: F2d5thCavv2

S/F! Excellent!

a reply to: chr0naut
I really think some politicians are actually infected by a duck virus

You hear them quacking but nobody actually says anything


Great story really liked it

absolutely wonderful chr0naut!!!

Viral vector also being the delivery system of many vaccines. VERY intriguing!! I really enjoyed your story.

a reply to: chr0naut

Ducks are actually horrifying if you take a peek at their sex life...

That being said, I really enjoyed reading your entry.

Your writing style has a natural flow to it that is hard for many people to do.

Well done!