Technically Kaz you would be correct, if a group of scientists were organized in efforts to try and bring about a predetermined change in a genetic structure they would require a lab with special surveillance and monitoring equipment to document each steps success and/or failure.

Now assuming that Faust pharmaceuticals has already done all the necessary testing and created the needed enzymes and viruses, all of which is currently possible with todays technology, I see no reason why the enzymes and retroviruses cannot simply be packed into convenient vials which can be distributed to customers who are willing to inject the concoction into their veins.

There would of course have to a slight time delay as the retroviruses infection would have to spread throughout the body, but that is a minor point really. Additionally to add a further sense of realism we could have the drug prove fatal in certain instances as no drug is perfect and since this 'unnatural evolution' is not being overseen in a lab there is a possibility it will not be compatible with everyone.

Overall though I feel that that the proposed drug would be perfectly feasible with today's technology, it would by no means be safe or healthy but it would be possible. The only element of fiction involved from my point of view would be the insertion of a synthetic X-gene which would itself mutate as it acclimatizes to its host.

I agree with Hull and Saph with all the aditional Cbox discussion, but I can see why this topic became such an issue too, so I'm not against voting either. Also, I can't resist to add my very very serious and totally objective (khm) two pennies about this plot:
It would be fun.

Hull is correct as far as I can tell in this situation. The method used to take the 'drug' would have to be, as stated, injection; although I'm sure some sort of capsule could be devised. As for being temporary, we only need to look around us to know there are substances that decay rapidly, or slowly enough. To make it temporary all that would need to happen is the adhesive to stick it into the DNA decay slowly, and have a substance used to make the fake X-gene that decays rapidly (hours perhaps, however long it is deemed effects should last) when in a high moisture, body temperature environment outside of its retrovirus carrier. Then the severed DNA would be reconnected (weaker than before I assume) by the adhesive. That could also account for serious consequences linked to long term use etc.

Also as mirror said it would be KA fun.

So yeah, just my input. Should we be proven wrong and none of it is possible, fudging science given the circumstances of the site and heck, the canon, isn't really a tremendous issue while strictly controlled.

I think this thread would be fun, not to mention we could have a lot of people be on it. I think the more people that would join, the more interesting it would be. Just thought I'd post on here so everyone knows I'm still interested.

It also has the added advantage of not having half the site off in another country

Amen to that Meld, I must say, I'm quite confused with the whole 'so who's in Romania? When do they get back? Did I meet them before they went or after they got back?'
Also re-stating my interest in this plot, however it turns out in the end.

*nod, nod at Meld!* Plots in NYC == goooood.

With regards to the drug: between Hull's explanation and Lori's/Faust Pharmaceuticals research into kidnapped mutants' genetics, me thinks we have a suitable level of semi-RW pseudo-science to make things work, so long as people want it to work OOC. Huzzah. IC, I doubt the full explanation of how the drug works will even come up: it's more the results that will be fun to play around with, at least in my mind.

In my mind, drugs do a lot of crazy weird things to our bodies. Most of the time when drugs are developed, it seems more like "Hey, we found this new substance, let's see what it does. Oh. It kills bacteria, cool. Let's call it penicillin" and less like "I want a drug that cures AIDS. Let's engineer one that specifically does that and ignore any failures that don't do exactly what we want." Drug companies that do the former and much more likely to find something marketable than the latter group, though it is certainly a noble cause.

When Lori proposed the idea, I thought it sounded more like they were experimenting on mutants and discovered the drug more by luck than by design. That would help get rid of the need to throw lots of money at trying to create something with a specific effect.

Calliope, just to clean out some misconceptions: With the advance of science, biotechnological companies have started to abandon the first approach and started to work specifically with the other, building drugs specifically tailored to inhibit single steps of biochemical pathways to affect others, drugs that specifically inhibit certain enzymes (for example new antiretroviral drugs to combat AIDS)The first results can be seen in a new class of anti-rheumatic drugs that are specifically designed to bind a hormone called TNF-alpha. They are synthesized antibodies, tailored to bind only this protein in the bloodstream. Without it the immune system does not get the message "inflammate here" and the Illness is suppressed. The better we grow at understanding biochemical systems, the complex interactions in cells and DNA, the better we are getting at making exactly what we want when we need it.

LG

Thanks for the info, Martin. That's really cool and actually makes it seem more plausible that we could make a drug that could add a patch to DNA with real world technology. Perhaps it would work better to have a drug that inhibits a gene rather than adds a new one. Hang with me for a fairly detailed explanation for how I picture the genetics of a mutation working:

Imagine two genes, X and H. X is the infamous X-gene that causes mutations. H is a gene that naturally keeps X from working, we could call it the human-gene. Both are dominant, but H is dominant over X. Here's a list of all the possible combinations you could have from these two genes:

HH XX (human, X-gene carrier)
HH Xx (human, X-gene carrier)
HH xx (human, no X-gene)

Hh XX (human, X-gene carrier)
Hh Xx (human, X-gene carrier)
Hh xx (human, no X-gene)

hh XX (mutant)
hh Xx (mutant)
hh xx (baseline human, no X-gene)

Two humans could have a mutant child: Hh Xx + Hh Xx = hh XX, for example.
Two mutants could have a human child, too: hh Xx + hh Xx = hh xx, see, no X-gene! A baseline human, or whatever it is Marvel calls them.

So, a drug that temporarily tampers with the H-gene and disables it could cause dormant X-gene to emerge and temporarily give someone mutant powers until their H-genes are back online. I imagine that people who don't have the H-gene (mutants or baseline humans) wouldn't be affected at all. Those humans that are not carriers of the X-gene (HH xx or Hh xx) perhaps might either be unaffected by the drug, or they could suffer terrible consequences as one of their genes is messed up and there is no gene waiting in the wings to take over its job. Who knows, we could really just make the effects serve whatever purpose we wanted.

There is the real world technology to do just that. Its called a Gene Therapy and is quite experimental. Have fun imagining

I feel kind of bad at my gleeful reaction at seeing stuff that I learned years ago in biology class on MRO lol. But it sounds awesome.

Unless we're doing our mutants differently, there is also something else that would affect Calliopes example, the mutant resonance field. Now I don't remember exactly if that's what it's called, but that's what it does. If a person who carries the X gene (whether dormant or carrier) is around mutants, there is a chance the X gene will become active and the person will become a full mutant with powers/changes/etc. The more mutants are in an area, the stronger and larger the resonance field, increasing the chance carries of the X gene will become mutants.

Thanks for the info Hull, and to you and Martin both for the explanations and clarifications. As I said, I retract what I said about the tech.

What is the mutant resonance field and how does it relate to MRO? Sorry if this is something that was covered in the comics, most of my X-men knowledge comes from the 90s cartoon and I don't remember such a thing being mentioned. Of course, my memory is certifiably horrible so its possible I just forgot.

Like many parts of the canon, I think the "resonance field" is in a state of quantum flux on MRO--it might exist, it might not. I'd probably go with "not," personally, just to simplify things. Mutants have no trouble gathering in NYC without one.

*leaves cookies for Martin, Kat, and Hull, her new science teachers* *Hull's is in its own quantum flux: it may or may not contain cyanide*

Also: I just hit 2222 posts. Teehee.