by Kenneth Eade
This blasting created a lot of damage to most of the cells. The ones that “took” the foreign DNA were identified by an antibiotic resistant marker gene that is attached to the mix. The dish is doused with antibiotics and the cells that emerge alive are the ones with the new form of DNA. This isn’t the only way to identify whether the shot was successful, but it’s the easiest one.
One of the concerns that Seth naturally had was whether ingestion of the GMO foods could cause resistance to common antibiotics. But there was no way he could test for that in the time that he had been given. Another problem was that his test subjects were coming up with elements of neonicotinoid pesticides.
“Shirley, don’t we have any samples of Bt corn that aren’t contaminated? I’m getting conventional insecticide in the cells of my subjects.”
Seth was visibly irritated.
“I’ll ask for them, but I think they treat every seed.”
“God damn it, how they hell can we test for anything when this shit is contaminated?”
“Seth, what’s wrong?” asked Robin.
“What’s wrong? This is a joke. We need corn that’s not treated with neonicotinoids. Why the hell do they spray them when they’re supposed to create their own pesticides?”
“Because the Bt doesn’t kill all of the bugs,” said Robin as she ushered Seth into his office and closed the door behind them.
“God forbid if we don’t kill all the bugs,” Seth said, facetiously.
“Seth, you are always the first one to say it – there is no emotion allowed in the lab. It compromises impartiality.”
“You really think this testing is impartial? You really think they care? It’s a joke, Robin. They already have their fucking shit approved. This is a god damned trap.”
“Look, I’m sure everything is not as it appears.”
“Exactly. Nothing is. That’s the problem. I’m not going to verify a lie.”
“Seth, I’m not sure I like where this is going.”
“Robin, they douse the Bt stuff with neonicotinoids and the non-Bt stuff with Cleanup.”
“I know. It makes it easier now for farmers to manage weeds.”
“But that just makes farmers use more glyphosate on their crops. We’re supposed to be reducing dependence on pesticides, not using more.”
“Seth, I need my job.”
“Your job? That’s all you care about?”
“Well, don’t you?”
“Yes, but, take glyphosate for example…”
“But we’re not supposed to test for glyphosate.”
“I know, but we have to separate the effects of the Bt from a foreign competing toxin, right? That means we have to separate the effects of the neonicotinoid pesticides from the Bt. I’m just using glyphosate as an example because I know more about it than Bt. I wrote a paper on glyphosate. That’s how the company noticed me. Look, the stuff was originally proposed by the company as an anti-microbial agent.”
“So?”
“That means they know it kills bacteria in the gut. I’ve seen studies linking it to cell death, birth defects, miscarriage, low sperm counts, DNA damage; kind of like the stuff I am seeing in my rats. A foreign substance like that could invalidate our entire study”
Seth’s paper was about glyphosate's inhibition of CYP enzymes, which play crucial roles in biology, one of which is to detoxify harmful substances introduced through the diet that are not naturally present in the body. The study showed that glyphosate enhances the damaging effects of other food borne chemical residues and environmental toxins. The destructive effects manifest slowly over time as inflammation damages cellular systems throughout the body.
“Glyphosate kills beneficial bacteria in the gut, but not the bad ones, like Clostridium botulinum, Salmonella, and E. coli. The "good bacteria" in your digestive tract, such as protective microorganisms, bacillus and lactobacillus, are killed off.”
“And…”
“And that could damage the protective lining of the gut, allowing for toxins and bacteria to enter the bloodstream. This causes the body to send off an immune response to attack the wayward bacteria, potentially sparking autoimmune diseases. I’m seeing the same kind of stomach and intestinal damage in my rats.”
“That means we either have to start all over again with seeds that aren’t treated, or try to isolate the effects of the neonicotinoids to eliminate them from the equation.”
“Which is impossible.”
Germinat was treating every GM seed, even the Bt ones, with neonicotinoid pesticides. When the seed grew into a seedling, the toxin passed throughout every cell of the plant through its vascular system. It was all through the plant, at levels that were so high that Seth vowed after this experiment never to eat GMOs again. The toxin was embedded in the plant. You couldn’t wash it off.
13
Seth was getting more and more comfortable in his adopted Russian home, especially now that he had somewhat of a social life, if you could call it that. Khabarovsk was a nice looking town, and was by no means a tiny village. It was a real city, with restaurants and night clubs and a beautiful downtown area. The golden domes of the churches glistened during the day and the Disneyesque beautifully sculptured ice city in the main square was particularly alluring at night, when it was colorfully lit. All the traditional Russian stereotypes that Seth expected were missing.
His apartment was not much to look at from the outside. In fact, it resembled old tenement housing or perhaps even a bomb shelter because of the lack of homeowner’s associations, but inside it was quite comfortable and had all the modern conveniences. And it was never cold. Central heating worked during the cold months and you didn’t even need to wear a long sleeved shirt inside it was so warm. Quite a contrast to the States where, if you got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, your feet met an icy cold floor, followed by chilly air. Russia was much warmer – well, inside it was.
The warmth also extended to his new social life. Spending time with Natasha made the time go faster. Everything was fun. They went out together practically every night. But, of course, Yuri was always lurking in the shadows somewhere and Seth thought that was kind of creepy, but when he was with Natasha, he forgot completely about Yuri. At some time, and he was not quite sure when, she had become an important part of his new life, and he couldn’t imagine it without her.
“George, why do you always carry that briefcase around with you?” Natasha asked one evening at dinner.
“I don’t know, it’s just habit I guess. Plus, my mom gave it to me and it makes me feel close to home when I have it.”
“You should get it fixed.”
“What?”
Of course, she was speaking about the bullet hole in the leather. It looked like someone had stabbed it with a screwdriver or something. It was true that Seth always had his briefcase with him and he supposed that was drawing some sort of suspicion. He brought it every day to class and whenever he went out with Natasha, he also brought it with him. In fact, since that day he was clutching it on the plane, he had never left it out of his sight.
“When are you going back home?”
“Oh, I don’t know. I still have to finish out my contract at the school.”
“Yes, but aren’t you going to visit, on the holidays, maybe?”
“I don’t know, we’ll see.”
“So tell me what you would do during the holidays when you lived in Canada.”
“Well, I had a friend with a villa on the beach in St. Tropez, so I used to go there quite often.”
“Wow, he must be really rich.”
“Yes, he’s a rich and important man. Has a yacht, too. It was a great place – always a lot of fun. The South of France is amazing. It just feels good there. It’s sunny, the people are nice, and there are a lot of cool places to hang out at.”
“Like where?”
“Well, they have restaurants right on the beach. You order local fish, which you could swear they just caught for you,
it was so fresh, and the waiters would come to your table and put on a kind of show to prepare it. At night the whole town of St. Tropez turns into a party, and you just kind of walk around and enjoy it.”
“Sounds great. I actually went to France right after I graduated from the university.”
“Really? Where did you go?”
“A friend and I took a tour to Spain, France and Italy. We spent about a week in Paris – that was fantastic.”
“I used to live there.”
“Really? Paris?”
“Yeah, in my college days.”
“So do you speak French?
“Mais oui, bien sur.”
It was actually one of the reasons the Russians had decided to make him a fake Canadian, not that many of them speak French in Vancouver.
“How did you like Paris?” he asked her.
“I loved it. I love the architecture and the art. There’s always something going on.”
“Yeah, it’s kind of like a Disneyland for the adults.” Natasha laughed.
“I used to go to the butcher or the fish market and pick out what I wanted for dinner, then over to the wine store to get the perfect matching bottle of wine,” he said. Natasha giggled. “Then next door to the bakery for a nice dessert if I was having company over, and, of course, to the fromagerie for the perfect after dinner cheese.”
“What a production, and just for dinner! You probably had a better one at home than we have here in this restaurant.”
“That’s Paris. Everything is always first class, always proper. Everything has its own place, and its own silverware. For example, did you know that we are eating our cheesecake with fish knives?”
“What?” she said, looking surprised.
Seth held up the silverware they had been given with their desert. The small, pretty but oddly shaped knives had little notches in the top, and they had matching forks.
“We have fish forks too.”
“That’s hilarious. I guess they don’t know what they are here, but they looked fancy, so they gave them to us for our dessert,” she said.
“Why not – the dessert is fancy,” said Seth.
“I’m sure in Moscow they would not do the same.”
“No?”
“No way. Moscow is very sophisticated.”
“I heard it was one of the richest cities in the world. Everything seemed quite expensive when I was there.”
“Everything is expensive there. Someday we have to go there and eat the fish with our dessert knives.”
That had Seth bursting out laughing, and, like catching a yawn, Natasha chimed in to the point where people around them were staring. As Victor Borge had said, “the shortest distance between two people is a laugh.” Seth and Natasha were closing all distances between them at great speed, getting closer and closer to each other. Seth was falling, through space and time, in love with Natasha, and he hoped to fall deep enough to stay there forever.
14
Yuri was hanging around Seth’s apartment again. Seth had no reason to complain because, as limited as his social life was, it was good to have someone he could call a friend, but tonight he was expecting Natasha and had to get rid of Yuri.
“Yuri, Natasha’s coming over tonight.”
“You gonna get lucky tonight?”
“Is that all you think about?”
“Well, did you fuck her yet?”
“Yuri…just because she’s a woman does that mean I have to fuck her to enjoy her company?”
“Well, yeah. I don’t know. I don’t think I ever enjoyed the company of any woman without fucking her.”
“Well, I do. For now, she satisfies my every need.
“How can she satisfy your every need if you don’t fuck her?”
“When it happens, it will happen. Until then, I’m not going to obsess on it.”
“Whatever. But what you should obsess on is to stop calling attention to yourself,” said Yuri.
“I’m the foreigner, I don’t have to call attention to myself; it comes naturally.”
Foreigners are kind of like freaks. They look funny, talk funny, and always seem out of place. Seth constantly felt like the odd man out everywhere he went.
“Well, if you want to continue to have such freedom, don’t abuse it.”
“Sorry, I won’t.”
“And stop taking that fucking briefcase everywhere with you. It looks suspicious. You did turn over all reports, didn’t you?”
“Of course I did.”
“Good, because if you held out on them at all, they will not be as friendly as Americans are to you.”
“You think the Americans have been friendly with me?”
“Well, you pissed off some very important people, Seth. That can be expected.”
“At least I’m not in the news anymore. Thank God. What horseshit they dreamed up to say about me. That I stole sensitive government secrets. I guess that’s what happens when your boss leaves the company and becomes one of the most powerful men in the world.”
Bill Penner had been appointed head of the FDA by the president. And Robin’s boss, Ted Peters, was appointed to head the EPA. Not bad for a company whose mainstay were pesticides and genetically engineered seeds. Germinat had been quietly buying up all the seed companies in the world since the late 80’s. Their aim was control the world’s food supply. The seed supply business alone was a $32 billion per year enterprise. But the pesticide business was even better – predicted to reach $65 billion per year by 2017.
“Look,” said Yuri. “I know you think I’m some kind of super spy, but I can’t be around to protect you all the time. Just always watch out. It only takes two seconds for someone to come up and put a bullet in your head.”
“I’ll be careful. But I still have to live.”
“Exactly. If you want to live, do like I say.”
“Okay, Mr. Super Spy.”
“Very funny. You don’t have to kick me out because I have to go now anyway. But I will be watching,” said Yuri as he walked toward the door, reaching for his coat and then his hat, and slipping into his boots.
“You’ll be watching. That’s really a fine idea to have in my head for romance.”
“I didn’t mean I will be watching you have sex.”
“I hope not. Take care.”
“You too, public enemy number one,” said Yuri.
Seth chuckled. What else could he do? Seth did qualify as public enemy number one; especially since the U.S. was not being run by the public anymore. They didn’t even know what they were eating, and he had become the bad guy, and all because he was trying to warn them. As Yuri was opening the door to leave, Natasha was just arriving.
“Ah, George, look, beautiful girl is here.” Yuri smiled from ear to ear at Natasha. “Privet.”
“Privet.”
“Okay kids, don’t get into any trouble. Papa is watching,” Yuri quipped.
“Good night Yuri,” said Seth.
“Do svidanya,” said Natasha, as she unbuttoned her coat and placed her hat on the hat rack while kicking off her shoes. Seth closed the door and latched it.
“Who is that guy Yuri? He’s always hanging around,” she asked.
“He’s a spy.”
“No, seriously.”
“He’s just a friend. Just another guy who speaks English.”
“I guess you need your practice.”
“Of course, I am an English teacher, after all.”
“He just seems so unlike you. So unsophisticated.”
“Well, everybody is different. And I don’t have the chance to make very many friends here.”
“That’s true.”
Natasha and Seth sat down on the couch. “Can I get you something?” he asked.
“No, I’m good,” said Natasha, pulling some DVDs out of her purse. “I got us some movies to watch.”
“Oh, cool. Now we need something to snack on while we watch.”
“Popcorn?”
“No, too
American. I’m Canadian, remember? How about wine and cheese?”
“Sounds great.” Natasha started to get up, but Seth beat her to it.
“I’ll get it, you put in the DVD and figure out how to set it to English,” Seth said, going into the kitchen for the cheese.
“You don’t know?”
“I’m impatient.”
“So, you never told me – whether you have a girlfriend back home.”
“Not really a girlfriend. It’s over anyway,” Seth said, returning with the cheese. “She was just someone I worked with.”
“What happened?”
“She married her boss, actually.”
“Really, and he was also your boss?”
“No, we had different bosses. She was from a different department.”
“Yeah, what did she teach?”
“Botany.”
“Sounds boring. Was she pretty?”
“Yes, of course, that’s a pre-requisite,” he said. Natasha smiled.
“I see. But you never got married?”
“Never fell in love. Not really. I thought I was once, but it was just infatuation. That intense feeling that feels so good at its peak and then you realize that there’s nothing else to it.”
“That’s nothing to base a marriage on.”
“Nope, they say that getting married for sex is like buying an airline for the peanuts.” Seth laughed and Natasha caught it.
“You always laugh at your own jokes?”
“Only when they’re funny.”
That started another pleasant dose of cortisol and endorphins.
They settled in, drank wine, watched the movie, and Natasha cuddled up to Seth. It felt good. After the movie was over, she stayed close to him and Seth finally made his move. Actually, it came quite naturally. He stroked her hair as she rested her head on his shoulder. When she moved to look at him, he took her face gently in his hands and kissed her on the forehead, cheeks, and then on the mouth, tasting her tender lips as they parted to receive him. The sensation was an explosion of feelings, leaving in its place a pleasured memory of that moment. That, thought Seth, was pure heaven.
