The Alchemist's Children
Revolution of a Species
by
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By Wednesday, Alex had found time between meetings and on the train to do his research. He learned that life consists of a delicate dance between proteins and DNA, and that RNA links the two. Proteins are the chemistry and DNA the recipe of a living organism. RNA is the translator that understands the dance steps of both and makes them perform to the beat of the music. He learned that his 23 chromosomes contained around 30,000 genes. He inherited, along with his uncle's left handed first-baseman's glove, his father's Y chromosome. As a unique individual, Alex inherited that rich text, separated by no punctuation marks, dictating who he was, what diseases he would be susceptible to, and when he would die. The words would replicate in his organs, and occasionally, faulty copies would be made, the system would stutter or drop a letter or two. Most of the time it meant nothing since the great majority of his genetic code was leftover junk from four billion years of development. His DNA shared genes with the common sponge. And like the sponge, at some point his cell regeneration dance would end, and he would die.
He and ten billion others represented creation in progress. Each was a mutation of a thousand variables. Each was a link in a chain, faulty by design, magical in its complexity, astonishing in its simplicity.
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About the Book
Man's new tools for the manipulation of genetic codes are pushing us in new directions. The story of two families unfolds as a new human species of infinite variety and strengths is born into the mid twenty-first century.
After a vulnerable attempt at Washington politics, Alex Claiborne, long haunted by a violent and horrifying dream, becomes ensnared in a web of law enforcement and the court system. He and his family finally move to Brussels where his daughter, Laura, becomes involved in genetic research projects supported by the United Nations.
Alex eventually uncovers the source of his nightmares with the help of a young psychiatrist. There is a delicate thread linking him to a conspiracy that includes genocide for profit.
The Powell family has been part of the Washington elite for generations. Senator Powell and his family share, with his two longtime friends, an empire that extends across government and industry. They wield weapons of war and control genetic information gathered in schools, prisons, and hospitals for a generation.
Manipulation of genetic codes and promises of immortality cause these opposing forces to collide, impacting not only their lives, but forcing the human race in unknown directions. It isn't evolution, slow and methodical, but revolution, immediate and profound.
About the Author
Born and raised in Syracuse, NY, Jon G. Kirschner served with the US Navy in Vietnam in 1966. He worked as a Production Foreman and Industrial Engineer in equipment manufacturing, and obtained a degree from Syracuse University in Literature and Creative Writing.
Jon's career took him into government where he spent considerable time in the Washington, DC area working for the Department of Defense, and in Tokyo, Japan, where he managed technical assessment of manufacturers throughout the Pacific Rim. His last assignment for the Defense Contract Management Agency in Washington was as Agency Liaison to the US Navy.
In addition to a career of writing technical documentation and policy for industry and government, Jon has continued to write fiction, poetry, social and political commentary. His first short story was published in 1970, and he has been featured as Guest Columnist for the St. Petersburg Times.
Jon currently divides his time between Woodgate, in the Central Adirondack Region of New York, and Dunedin, along Florida's Gulf Coast.