Forever and Ever

by Dan Baker

Genetechna just wanted too much money and too juicy a reach-through to get you a telomerase license. We would love to have seen you work on telomerase inhibitors. Too bad Genetechna shelved it,”

“It’s only three years. These diseases have been around for two-million years. They’ll come back to us when they’re tired of caring for sick people who will never recover,” she said, listening to her own words.

Genetechna has held telomerase hostage for over ten years, just allowing a little research here and there. That’s almost criminal. We could have developed a telomerase reducer by now, easily, which would at least slow cancers.

“One thing you don’t want to do is let a doctor do the grilling,” Will said. “They want to make sure there are no living bacteria whatsoever in the meat, no matter what, and what you end up with is charcoal!”

“Should we do this?” Jasmine asked, closing her eyes for a long time. “Yes,” Earl answered. “It’s going to happen anyway, and soon. It’s going to be the most earth shattering change in human history and the human race has had a hard time dealing with change. We might be able to somehow help, somehow try to inject some enlightenment in the beginning,” Earl looked at her. “But you know, that’s all bullshit,” he continued, turning on the running lights. “Yeah, I know,” Jasmine said.

In a moment of panic Jasmine thought of Earl, and her life with him. The overwhelming rush of love had completely obliterated her mourning, and now she desperately searched for the feelings of guilt that she expected. There was nothing there. Earl was gone, and the absoluteness of death impressed her deeply at that moment. She searched and searched and searched for her feelings, shocked that she could be in love so soon after Earl’s death, but there was only a calm acceptance.

The whole drug discovery industry spends years and decades jumping through regulatory hoops to feed an indolent, bloated, corrupt Federal government agency that couldn’t find it’s ass on a clear day. The big drug companies cross every T, dot every I, employ expensive over-educated people who are literally stewed in ethics, and endure years of bureaucratic stiff-arming to bring medicine to undeserving patients who then sue them with lawyers who make that Mohave Green rattlesnake look like Bambi. They’re actually saints, but no one knows it. And now, the drug companies are keeping half the human race alive.”

“Mom, how could you go from a straight arrow, t-crossing, i-dotting scientist, to… mad scientist, just like that?” Malia asked. “Your father and I watched American science change dramatically, from a benevolent, academic, humanistic field, to a corporate feedlot in ten short years. We’re scientists, and we want to do science, and we want to save our patients’ lives, and that’s why,” Jasmine said, very irritated with Malia.