"So when did you- you know- fall in love with her?" Thomas smirked, knowing he had him right where I wanted him, with his head in Fionaland.
"Woah," Newt defeated with his hands up, "What?"
"I may be slow to getting to know things around here, but...
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"What?"
I took a deep breath, picking up a whiteboard marker and depositing my theory into a diagram. The red marker screeched, as if it knew it was doing something important, or something unforgivable. I drew out the structures, a large focus on the methyl groups. When I was done, I stepped back.
"DNA methylation." Teresa's voice was airy.
It was in front of their eyes and they never looked at it. So determined to push away the inevitable, they missed it completely. I'd always believed the key to the human race's survival was through natural selection, letting strong characteristics outcompete the others. WCKD's scientists never explored that possibility because it wouldn't protect themselves.
Methylation can change the activity of a DNA segment without changing the sequence by biologically adding methyl groups. It wouldn't destroy the chemical bonds, but happily added to them. At these sites and only these sites, the immunity gene could chemically bond.
I checked my work for correctness and stood on a chair, looking at it from a different angle, similar to how I would stand on the map table to see everything from above.
It was never about making a person immune; it was about adding immunity to their life.
Hypothetically, if an immune woman were to become pregnant, her DNA would start methylation for her offspring. Within a specific stage, the DNA could be collected from the mother and gifted to someone other than her child. The combined nature of increased replication to grow a healthy infant and the allowance of combining immune DNA with new DNA hypothetically solve the flare problem.
No lab, no matter how well funded or guarded, could manufacture such a thing. It could only be created through creation. They had never considered it because methylation only occurs during gametogenesis and after fertilization.
WCKD was looking for a cure. A chemical compound that could fight the virus and kill it. They never considered the possibility of altering the genetics of full-grown adults. There truly was no cure, only a way of developing the way to live with the virus.
The serum tried to break and replace unimmune cells with immune ones. Replacement was never the solution. Methylation would add immunity to the DNA sequence like a keychain, never harming the original strand.
I stumbled backwards, tripping from the chair on the way down. I caught myself on the table but couldn't pull myself upright. Teresa smiled. The devil actually smiled. Using WCKD's information to piece together the last bits she needed was all it took. The cure could be harvested from the DNA of a pregnant immune.
When understanding flashed across her face, I hated what came with it. This discovery would continue the hunting of immunes. Especially women. And worse, possibly creating a forced surrogacy program. WCKD would not stop, they would impregnate every fertile immune, just to take the DNA from them. And after the child was born, if they were permitted to carry to term, the child would be born into a life of captivity. All to continue the cycle or maybe even be sent into new mazes.
