Colony Mars Boxset (Colony Mars #1-5 omnibus)

by Gerald M. Kilby

Mycobacterium Leprae?” He thought about this. “Leprae?” He tapped his chin with a finger as he thought. Then it dawned on him. “Leprosy! Are you saying this is leprosy?” “Do you know anything about the disease?” Paolio screwed up his face as he delved into the recesses of his memory, trying to resurrect any snippet of information he had stored away. “Let me think. Not something that a medical practitioner comes across these days. I know it’s bacterial, affects the nervous system and that around 95% of humans have immunity to it. Other than that, not a lot.” “You’re correct, it’s bacterial, and it attacks nerve cells. But it can perform a very remarkable trick. What it does is turn nerve cells into stem cells, cells that can become anything: muscle, bone, organs… anything. Not only that, it also alters the human DNA within the cell, a bit like a retrovirus.”