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A New Genesis

Karen Court

    When they called out her name, it was Evie Murdoch’s proudest moment. She made her way to the podium and turned to survey the hall full of applauding guests. She hadn’t anticipated how good the recognition was going to feel. It took a long time for the crowd to fall silent.
    “Thank you, so much, ladies and gentlemen. I am truly honored to stand here before you today,” her speech began, rather traditionally at first, but what she went on to reveal was nothing short of a gift to the world.

#

    Evie quickly scanned the research paper’s synopsis published in the latest issue of Discovery Science Digest.

    When the asteroid disintegrated on impact, the dust cloud it caused was swept up by all of Earth’s global wind systems and the intergalactic particles were scattered across every continent. A sticky, black dust settled everywhere, coating the ground, our food crops and the waterways. Experts raced to analyze it and discovered numerous elements unknown to terrestrial science.

    She closed the online article and resumed work, plotting the latest biometrics on her pest control trial.
    “What did you think of that article about the rogue asteroid that landed in South America?” asked Blucher, her laboratory assistant.
    “I’ve only read the intro,” Evie replied. “What else does it say?”
    “In a nutshell, the alien dust scattered on impact and prevailing winds have spread it across the globe. It’s entered crucial food chains everywhere and prevents women - actually all mammals that come in contact with it - from releasing ripe ova. Ergo, no more babies. It’s been nearly three years now.”
    “Sure, we all know that much. And since the impact, all these scientific studies and speculative writeups have achieved absolutely nothing. It’s all talk, no solutions. So, what does this latest article propose is the vector in the dust causing the infertility? Is it permanent, and better still, how can we reverse the effects? Do they have any answers at all?”
    “Nope. Plenty of theories but like you say, it’s all speculation. Still, labs across the globe are working on this catastrophe, 24/7.”
    “Of course they are. And articles like this are just taking up space with empty words. All spin and no end in sight. We all thought the Coronavirus earlier this century was the worst plague visited on mankind. It certainly depleted our numbers before it petered out, so now nature has had to resort to this, to stem our numbers.”
    Blucher looked pensive. “Do you really think that the natural universe is trying to reduce human overpopulation? You know, establish some sort of balance like it’s got some sort of master plan?”
    “Well, learning from the lessons of history I would say that is exactly right. Consider this. When the world’s population first started to rise, the black plague took away nearly a third of us, and still we multiplied. Next, came various influenzas that knocked over millions of us. Spanish flu alone took out anywhere from 50 million to 100 million, according to various estimates. Not to mention the wars and genocides where we have managed to kill well over 100 million of our fellow man, ourselves. When that didn’t stop the world’s exponential growth, new viruses like Covid paid us a visit,” she said ominously. “Are you seeing a pattern here?” She shook her head slowly. “Honestly, society needs to step up.”
    “Hmmm,” said Blucher, gathering a thoughtful frown. “So, this is a pretty drastic measure now, isn’t it? If it really is true that the universe still hasn’t finished trying to restore a better population balance for humans. I mean, how long before the human race becomes extinct if no one can have babies?”
    “I’d say we’ve got little more than 80 years; when the last of today’s three-year-olds all die off. Personally, I think we’ve brought this on ourselves, don’t you? How stupid is the human race not to finally learn from repeated lessons? We’re supposed to be so smart,” she scoffed.
    “It’ll be a really quiet world by then,” Blucher observed.
    “It’ll be quiet much sooner than that, without the laughter and chatter of little children.”

#

    As an agricultural scientist, Evie was running a biological control program using tiny wasps from the Trichogramma genus to control the armyworm Spodoptera frugiperda, a caterpillar that was devastating corn crops. The pest was contributing to global food shortages. It was an important, big budget program with a modern lab at her disposal and all the latest technology at her fingertips, including her own research assistant.
    Today’s agenda included a field trip to Evie’s study crop where she regularly monitored the occurrence of the armyworm, following staged predatory wasp releases.
    As she sampled ears of corn, her attention was caught by the behavior of the cows in the paddock next to the research crop. It was odd. They seemed intent on digging up the ground with their hooves and licking the exposed dirt, and even eating it!
    She decided to mention this observation to the farmer when she completed recording the biometrics of her findings for the day.
    When she had packed up ready to go and returned to her battered old pickup, she remembered the herd’s strange behavior. She headed across to the barn where earlier in the day she had spotted Joe Blunt working on a plough. She found him still hard at work.
    “Hey, Joe,” she called.
    He looked up from his task and flashed a broad smile. “Howdy, Evie. How’s your headcount going?”
    Evie chuckled. He had an amusing knack of simplifying everything. “Well, I’m seeing more and more of the parasitized caterpillars, which is a really positive result. And the overall number of ears of corn infested with army worm is dropping at a significant rate.”
    The farmer nodded. “Yep. Soon you’ll have nothing but swarms of little wasps and empty caterpillar husks.”
    “It doesn’t quite work that way, Joe. When a predatory species reduces the prey species to low numbers their numbers also plummet. They’ve simply run out of food.”
    “So, it’s like they eat themselves out of house and home?”
    “Something like that. Hey Joe, have you noticed your cows eating the dirt? I’ve never come across that before. I mean, in a herbivore. There’s plenty of grass in your paddocks so they’re not starving.”
    “Yeh, I noticed that, too. They seem to be doing it a lot these days. And they’ve been falling pregnant, too.”
    This caught Evie’s attention. “Are you suggesting the behavior is related to the pregnancies?”
    “Well... I ain’t no scientist but I first cottoned onto that notion when I noticed that the stall pigs we keep in the barn weren’t producing piglets but the sows we kept outside, which are grubbing up the ground all day, have been producing young’uns. Then I saw the cows eatin’ the dirt and put two and two together and got calves.”
    “Well, I guess there could be some wisdom in there somewhere,” said Evie thoughtfully. “Why haven’t you mentioned this to the authorities?”
    “They ain’t never listened to us farmers before, so why would they start now. They treat us like uneducated rednecks.”
    Evie was intrigued. “Is it okay for me to take some soil samples back to the lab with me, Joe?”
    He shrugged. “Help yourself.”
    It didn’t take long to collect some samples before she left the farm and Evie headed back to town deep in thought.

#

    Over the coming weeks, whenever she could snatch some spare moments, Evie subjected the farm samples to some rigorous scientific testing. She applied conventional wisdom to her experiments and carefully recorded the outcomes. She scoured the internet, hoping to find any similar lines of research already underway, to collaborate with or piggyback. But to no avail. She was on her own.
    “You’re spending a lot of time with that dirt you brought back from our research site on Joe Blunt’s farm,” Blucher observed, one Monday morning.
    “No, well... not really. I mean, I stay back late and do most of those procedures after hours. In my own time.”
    “But it’s not part of the agenda for combating armyworm, is it?”
    Evie was alarmed that Blucher was so observant. Her use of the lab’s resources to pursue a study of the farm’s soil was not approved and she didn’t want news of it leaked to BioControl’s board, the big institute who were funding her corn crop research grant.
    She needed her lab assistant on side. “Look, can I let you into something top secret?”
    Blucher’s ears pricked up. The young fellow looked suitably intrigued.
    “Well, I noticed something odd recently, when I was working at our test site and Joe confirmed that his livestock had been eating dirt in certain places on his farm. And – get this – they are producing calves and piglets!”
    She paused, letting the import of this intel sink in. She saw the penny drop.
    His eyes grew wide. “Do you mean... do you think...?”
    “Well, his pedigree stall sows in the barn are still barren while the reject sows excluded from his breeding program have the run of the farm, and they’re the only ones producing piglets. What does that suggest?”
    “Holy cow, Batgirl!” the DC comics nerd exclaimed. “So, that’s why you gathered soil samples?”
    “That’s right. After I collected the regular biometric data from the cornfield for our program, I scooped up some of the dirt I had seen the cows eating.”
    “And you’ve been analyzing it?”
    “Exactly.”
    “So... have you found anything positive yet?”
    “It’s early days. I’ve isolated some rare minerals and some unusual biota in the soil and I’m sequencing their genomes. It’ll take time.”
    “It’ll be quicker if you share the workload,” Blucher offered.
    Evie felt her pulse quicken at the prospect. “If you could assist, that would be brilliant. But I’m warning you, not a word of this line of research must get out. And we’ll be doing a lot of the work after hours. Are you still in?”
    “Sure. It’s not like I have a social life or anything else more interesting to do,” he admitted glumly.
    Evie sighed. “You and me, both.”

#

    The workload over and above their daily agenda proved daunting, but they persevered. They were breaking new ground in this unsanctioned new line of investigation, but Evie found Blucher intuitive and quick on the uptake and she valued the support.
    Evie sat down with a heavy sigh one night. “Look, I know we’ve identified several promising leads but it’s vital that we fast-track our testing,” she told Blucher. “We’re not making progress rapidly enough. Mankind’s very survival depends on this line of inquiry.”
    “But too many of our lines of investigation have come up blank, so far,” said Blucher. “We still haven’t been able to identify the most likely agent that could potentially reverse the effects of the intergalactic dust. What do Joe’s cows know that we don’t know?”
    “Well... actually, I have just isolated something very intriguing,” said Evie. “But it’s very early days yet, so I haven’t said anything. I mean, it could be just another dead end.”
    Blucher raised a querying eyebrow. “Spill it!”
    “I’ve found traces of an unusual fungal rhizome that is proving very tantalizing. We’ve been chasing a rare mineral as the solution to help reverse the infertility but actually, a fungus could be the answer. It’s something that pigs and cows could smell and root out in the soil. I postulate that they would be answering a biological imperative to seek and consume it.”
    “So, their bodies know they need it and they couldn’t resist searching for it,” Blucher surmised.
    “That’s what I’m thinking. I’ve begun following up on this line of inquiry but there’s plenty of work ahead of us. We’ve got to isolate enough of it, reproduce it to obtain greater quantities, and start testing it. In the meantime, we’ll label it Agent FR. Remember, don’t breathe a word of this to anyone else,” she cautioned.
    “No, of course not. But... how are we going to test if it works?”
    “I’m going to be the test subject,” Evie declared.
    Blucher laughed. “You’re our test cow?”
    “Somebody has to be, and we’ve got to keep this study under wraps, remember, so we can’t involve anyone else.”

#

    Evie handed Blucher an empty glass beaker holding just a turkey baster. It was time for the ultimate test.
    “This is the business end of our research, Blucher,” she stated. “We’ve cultivated enough of Agent FR for me to consume for the past two months and I’ve experienced no contraindications. So far, it’s proving safe for human consumption.”
    She gestured him towards the prep room at the rear of the lab. “Could you be so kind as to make a deposit into this beaker, then I will deliver the live culture into my reproductive tract while it’s still fresh?”
    Blucher looked at the beaker then across at the door to the lab storeroom and back to Evie. She could detect a distinct look of distaste.
    “That’s a bit inefficient, don’t you think? Why don’t we just introduce the live culture directly into its receptacle the way nature intended? It’s less messy, better targeted and reduces double handling,” he said.
    Evie pondered the irrefutable logic of this suggestion for a brief moment. “You’re right, again, Blucher. I’m so lucky I got issued with such a smart assistant. Right! Let’s get this done,” she declared as she put the beaker down and headed for the prep room, followed by her assistant.
    He closed the door behind them.

#

    “Ladies and gentlemen, it is my great pleasure to announce the winner of the 2047 Nobel prize for Science, Doctor Eve Murdoch.”
    When the host called out her name, Evie got to her feet. Her heart was racing, she was feeling a little embarrassed at being the centre of attention, yet she was undeniably proud of her achievement.
    To the resounding uproar of applause and cheers, Evie hauled her heavily pregnant body up onto the stage and stood behind the podium. It took a while for the ovation to die down.
    In her speech, she described the basis of her discovery, the research methodologies she pursued and the innovative procedures she designed, but she didn’t forget to mention the important role played by her lab assistant.
    “I would like to thank my dedicated research assistant, Adam Blucher, for his generous and regular contribution to this groundbreaking discovery. Without his input...” the crowd burst out laughing, “...I would not have been able to use myself as a guinea pig in this trial, to test my theory and make this discovery.”
    She looked across the room at their table, where he sat. Adam acknowledged her recognition with a proud smile and Evie flashed him a big smile in return.
    “In fact, I was so grateful... that I married him. And now I get to keep him and our experimental results, forever,” she said patting her baby bump, to the whistles and applause of the gathering.

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