White Death (NUMA Files 4)

"Didn't they say that in The Rocy Horror Picture ShowY Gamay said.

"Correct! Some of my colleagues have taken to calling me the mad scientist Frank N. Furter."

Throckmorton was ofshorter-than-average height, chubby rather than plump, and the roundness of his body was repeated in his moon- shaped face and his circular eyeglasses. Yet he moved with the quick- ness of an athlete, as he led the way to the lab.

He ushered the Trouts through a door and into a large, brightly lit space and motioned for them to sit down at a lab table. Comput- ers were scattered at stations around the room. Aerators bubbled in a series of tanks on the far side of the lab, and a briny smell of fish filled the room. Throckmorton poured three lab beakers of iced tea and sat down at the table.

"How did you hear about my work?" he said, after a sip from his beaker. "Something in a scientific journal?"

The Trouts exchanged glances. "To be honest," Gamay said, "we don't know what you're working on."

Seeing Throckmorton's puzzled expression, Paul jumped in and said, "We got your name from a fisherman by the name of Mike Neal. He said he had contacted you on behalf of the men in his fleet. Their catches were off, and they thought it might have something to do with an odd type of fish he and the other fishermen in his town were landing."

"Oh, yes, Mr. Neal! His call was directed to my office, but I never talked to him. I was out of the country when he called, and I've been too busy to get back to him. Sounded quite intriguing. Something about a 'devilfish.' Maybe I can give him a call later today."

"I hope you get good long-distance rates," Paul said. "Neal is dead."

"I don't understand." "He was killed in a boat explosion," Gamay said. "The police don't know what caused it."

A stunned expression crossed Throckmorton's face. "Poor man." He paused, then said, "I hope this doesn't seem callous, but I suppose now I'll never know about this strange devilfish."

"We'll be glad to tell you what we know," Gamay said. Throckmorton listened intently as Gamay and Paul took turns describing their trip with Neal. As each detail unfolded, the cheer- fulness drained from Throckmorton's rosy-cheeked face. He gazed solemnly from Gamay to Paul. "Are you absolutely certain of every- thing you told me? You're quite sure of the size of the fish and the strange white color. And its aggressiveness?"

"See for yourself," Paul said, producing the videotape shot on Neal's boat.

After viewing the tape, Throckmorton rose, solemn-faced, from his chair and paced back and forth, hands clasped behind his back. Over and over, he muttered, "This is not good, not good at all." Gamay had a disarming way of cutting to the chase. "Please tell us what's going on, Professor."

He stopped his pacing and sat down again. "As a marine biologist, you must know about transgenic fish," he said. "The first one was de- veloped practically in your backyard, at the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute."

"I've read a number of papers, but I can't say I'm an expert on the subject. From what I understand, genes are spliced into fish eggs to make them grow faster."

"That's right. The genes come from other species, even from in- sects and humans."

"Humans?" "I don't use human genes in my experiments. I agree with the Chinese, who are heavily into biofish research, that using human genes in this manner is unethical."

"How are the genes used?" "They produce unusually high levels of growth hormones and stimulate the fish's appetite. I've been developing transgenic fish with the Federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans lab in Vancouver. The salmon grown there are fed twenty times a day. The constant feeding is essential. These super-salmon are programmed to grow eight times faster, forty times larger than normal in the first year. You can see what a boon this is for a fish farmer. He brings a fatter fish to market in a fraction of the time."

"Thus ensuring a larger profit." "To be sure. Those pushing to bring biofish to market call it the

'Blue Revolution.' They admit they'd like to increase profits, but they say they have an altruistic motive as well. DNA-altered fish will pro- vide a cheap and plentiful source of food for the poorer nations of the world."

"I think I heard the same arguments in favor of DNA-modified crops," Gamay said.

"With good reason. Genetically modified fish were a logical out- growth of the biotech food trend. If you can engineer corn, why not do the same for higher living organisms? This is likely to be far more controversial, though. The protests have already started. The oppo- nents say transgenic fish could mess up the environment, wipe out the wild fishery and put the small fisherman out of business. They're call- ing these biotech creations 'Frankenfish.' "

"Catchy name," said Paul, who had been listening with interest to the conversation. "Can't see it selling too many fish." "Where do you stand on this issue?" Gamay said. "Since I created some of these fish, I have a special responsibility. I want to see more study before we start raising these creatures on fish farms. The push to commercialize what we've been doing worries me. We need extensive risk assessment before we trigger what could be a disaster."

"You sound very worried," Gamay said.

"It's what I don't know that concerns me. Things are spinning out of control. Dozens of commercial operations are pushing to bring their own fish to market. More than two dozen fish species are being researched in addition to salmon. The potential is enormous, al- though some fish farmers are turning away from transgenics because of the controversy. But big corporations have been moving in. There are dozens of patents for gene changes in Canada and the U.S."

"An economic and scientific juggernaut like that will be hard to stop once it gets going."

"I feel like King Canute trying to shout down the ocean." The frustration was apparent in his voice. "Billions of dollars are at stake, so the pressure is enormous. That's why the Canadian government funds transgenic research. The feeling is that if we don't lead the way, others will. We want to be ready when the dam bursts."

"If there is so much pressure and money involved, what's holding back the biofish tide?"

"A potential public relations nightmare. Let me give you an ex- ample. A New Zealand company called King Salmon was develop- ing biofish, but word about two-headed and lump-covered fish leaked out, and the press whipped the public into a frenzy. King had to stop its experiments and destroy everything, because people were worried that these Frankenfish might escape into the wild and start mating with normal ones."