DNA

ALLELES

The man who called himself the ‘god father’ of scientific inventions and innovations in the whole of Africa sat in his usual spot in his favorite chair. He was livid about something he was talking about on the phone. That was not surprising at all. Paul Hammond never smiled. He only smiled when he discovered a new thing in his field or he got a great idea. He was a Chemical engineer and the C.E.O of one of Ghana’s top scientific organizations - HamTech. At age fifty, he was not getting any younger and was not getting older too. He was a workaholic who was only interested in one thing - positive results. As a family heritage, HamTech had been passed down to him by his parents and he had been appalled by the mediocre feats his family had achieved with the colossal resources of the company. After he took charge as the new C.E.O of the company six year ago, he promised to work so hard to achieve a lot of scientific success in his field for the company. And he had not failed. He had done a lot so far. But he was not still satisfied. Like Oliver Twist he wanted more. He believed there was no boundaries to what science could do for humanity.

Still in his chair he talked in a livid manner to whoever was on the line. HamTech was a top-notch scientific firm that comprised of four main departments. The first was the electrical and electronic department that was solely into the manufacturing and the production of electrical and electronic devices. Then there was the chemical & pharmaceutical department that was solely into the production and the manufacture of chemical drugs and pills. Then there was the cell biology department or what was popularly known as the bio lab department. And as the name suggested, they were into the regeneration and the production or artificial cells, human organs and tissues, other living cell tissues, stem cells and undertook biological research and experiments. Then the final department was the therapy department, which offered all forms of therapy from chemotherapy, to acupuncture, to physiotherapy, hypnotherapy, psychological counseling and rehabilitation. Sometimes, people confused the name of HamTech as HamCorp. As in a corporation due to the enormous activities that was undertaken in the company. 

Hammond moved from his seat and started pacing about still on the conversation he had been having for the past twenty minutes. He was not still impressed by whatever he was discussion on the phone. Then in a final rebuttal, he ended the call and bellowed,

“I knew it will not give us the result I wanted. What a waste of time and resources.” Hammond exploded in a dejected state. Immediately, his door bell rung. Hammond quickly moved to take his seat to continue work. Every second counted for him. He then responded to the knock. 

“Yes, come in unless you want to stay there forever.” Hammond picked up some files and started glancing through. Then the door opened and there came in Faisal Hassan, twenty-six, an I.T expert and a second assistant to Hammond.

“Good day Sir…I hope you are doing fine.” Faisal asked politely and moved straight to face his boss. Hammond was still into what he was doing but responded to the greetings any way.

“It’s another day, but I do not see anything good about it. How can I help you Hassan?” Hammond inquired.

Faisal quickly took out his apple tablet and wiped the screen with his hand. “Ohh I have something to show you Sir. I am sure you will love it.” Faisal said, with whatever he wanted to show his boss ready, he moved over to stand by his side. He then initiated the item of surprise.

“Here you go.” Faisal said and tapped on the screen of his monitor. The image started to play. Hammond was sternly looking at the tablet. Faisal was just relaxed having seen the video already. After the viewing was done, Faisal moved back excited. Hammond was stunned by what he had just seen. He then gave Faisal a quizzical look.

“Can I watch it again?” Hammond inquired, and Faisal quickly set up the image for his boss again. Hammond having taken the tablet from Faisal now watched on with keen interest. After he was done he placed the tablet on his table and decided to give his full attention to Faisal now.

“And what was that?” Hammond inquired in a vague tone.

“That was a video I copied from a friend who works in a super market, though he said I should not copy it. I copied it any way.”

“You mean what I just saw took place in Ghana?”

“Yes. It took place yesterday at a supermarket at Golden Creek, a suburb in Accra, where my friend works.”

“And how did he get the video? Did he record it when it was happening?”

“No. Surprisingly, after every day of work they go through the CCTV camera and see if they may find any case of theft from the supermarket. But last night after work, the video you just saw is what they got.”

“Meaning the camera had inadvertently recorded all that was going on without the knowledge of the shop attendants?”

“Exactly Sir. This is amazing. When I saw it for the first time, I thought it was some sought of black magic, or Voodoo or witchcraft.”

Hammond smiled at Faisal words. “You think only witchcraft can do that?” 

“That is all that we know in this country so far. But truth be told, the two kids who did what they did from the video were siblings.”

“Okay…and what really happened?” Hammond was more interested now.

“My guy said they were picking up Ice Cream when they were attacked by two town g**g guys.”

“Oh, I see. And an altercation ensued.”

“Yes Boss. The kids tried to fight their way to freedom, and they ended up producing sonic waves from the girl’s mouth and the guys ejecting blue light from his eyes.”

“This is fascinating Faisal.” Hammond said impressed. “Okay, so I do not know what really happened, but I felt you should know what happened. Though I feel I have betrayed my friend.” Faisal added.

Hammond sat still watching the video and looking on very excited. “No, you did great. This is a great thing you did Faisal. I will get to the bottom of this. This is not normal. This is extra ordinary.”

“In what sense Sir?” Faisal inquired a little confused.

“If we really have humans like those two kids in Ghana and Africa who could do what we saw them do, you have no idea the incredible contribution it will add to science in Africa.”

“I see. And will it benefit HamTech in any way?”

“It will be a colossal mile stone in the history of HamTech. Can you send the video to my computer like right now?” Hammond said and quickly gave the tablet to Faisal who quickly took it.

“Of course, Sir.” Faisal replied and reset the tablet by sweeping his hand on it. “Right away Sir.”

Faisal turned to go but then, Hammond added. “Who have you showed this to so far?”

“No one, so far except you Sir.” Faisal replied. Hammond then nodded his head. “Good, then let’s keep it that way.”

Faisal nodded his head to that and moved away.     

-------

The mid-morning afternoon sun was at its peak shining with no boundaries permeating the exosphere of the earth. Philip was in the biochemistry laboratory having been joined by Maggie. They were eager to ascertain what had really happened to their children. As scientists, it would be unlike them if they drew conclusion on what their children had done without formidable evidence. The needed a scientific proof and empirical corroborations of what had happened to their children. Whatever may have been the cause of the weird behavior of Abena and Yaw, the better they found out the source, the better for them all. Maggie had been more perturbed by the situation. She did not feel like working that day, all she wanted was to get to the bottom of what had happened to her children.

Philip peered for the seventh time into the electronic microscope he used for biological analysis and experimentations. The diagram he was seeing was not comforting to him. He moved away, and her wife also took a look at the object the microscope had projected.

“That is the microscopic depiction of Abena’s DNA, right?” Maggie inquired. “Yes, it is.” Philip said and moved to another computer that was just beside the microscope. He clicked on some bottoms and an image was projected onto the monitor of the computer.

The image seemed familiar to Philip, but Maggie was not seeing the relevance of the image. “What is that?” Maggie inquired. “That is the original structure of a human DNA. The double helix strand and the many horizontal stripes – thus the nitrogenous base connecting the two vertical strands.” Philip replied not impressed  

“Okay so how do the two connect?”

“From the image of the microscope gave, the DNA of Abena and Yaw were similar.”

“Okay. So, what about this image on the monitor?” Maggie was talking about the image on the monitor.

“The image on the monitor is the original image of every human DNA. But there are massive disparities compared to the DNA of Abena and Yaw. The image the microscope gave was less detailed, so I did what we call an electrophoresis. Electrophoresis is a technique that enables the separation of charged molecules like the human DNA and other micro and macro organic proteins.  And from the electrophoresis results, the image of the DNA became clearer and it showed that, certain subtle macro molecular substrates were obscured in the DNA of Abena and Yaw. And that is the disparity I am talking about” Philip said.

“Okay. So, what does that imply?”

“What ever happened to Abena and Yaw is genetic. It’s as a result of their DNA structure.”

“Are you saying our children have been genetically enhanced or modified?”

“Yes, but No.” Philip said with a sad face. “Actually, we call that genetic engineering – the alteration of the human DNA to enhance its output. But that is far from what we are dealing with here. What we are experiencing with Abena and Yaw’ s DNA is some form of transgenic mutation. But I do not understand how this can happen under our watch.”

“So, what are you saying, the kids have done something that had affected them genetically and we do not know about it?”

“I do not know. But what I know from the analysis we have done so far is that; their DNA is special and unique. I also wonder for Kwesi too if he may also possess a similar DNA.” Philip said and started to pace about. Maggie looked on terrified a little.

“So, what can we do to help them? Is this evil or lethal in any way? Will it affect them negatively?” Maggie inquired perturbed.

“No, it wouldn’t, since it’s a natural phenomenon. It will not affect them negatively. But the real question we should be asking is how this is possible. How did we give birth to kids with unique DNA’s that gives them special abilities? Philip inquired.

Maggie looked on forlorn. That was the big question. It had never occurred to her to ask such a question. They were the parents of Abena and Yaw. So, it was just rational that every trait and characteristics that Abena and Yaw possessed had been given to them by their parents.  Maggie was beginning to build inconclusive theories in her head. This was the most arcane incident she had ever encountered in her life as a scientist. They needed to get answers.  

“Are you insinuating we made them that way?” Maggie said moving closer to her husband.

“That is just a theory. We are scientist, and we always have theories.”

“Before our nuptial, I do remember we both got a DNA test and we were both fit and healthy to get married.”

“I do remember.”

“So, we cannot possibly be the cause of their DNA anomaly. They are our children, and we will not do anything to jeopardize their lives.” Maggie said almost sentimental. Tears were already welling in Maggie’s eyes. Philip upon seeing that also got a little emotional.  

“We should not see this as evil or a curse. We will get to the bottom of this Maggie I promise.”

Philip assured her wife. Maggie now blown away with her emotion then lumped herself in her husband’s grip. They hugged each other as a form of comforting each other. They needed it. Thank God in times like this, their love was the pristine energy they could draw strength from.

-------

Stellar International School (SIS) was the school Abena, Yaw and Kwesi attended. It was one of the top and expensive schools in the vicinity of Accra. Situated at a serene site in Golden Creek, the school’s sections ranged from elementary school -- the primary school through to the Senior High School. The school also offered the day and boarding options for all students depending on the place, the student came from or the preference of the students or the choice of their parents. As children from an opulent home, it was not surprising that SIS was the school the Quansah children attended. Maggie and Philip were never in agreement with their children staying away from them. So Abena did not have a choice at all when she got into Senior high school. She was never going to be a boarder. That, she had at the back of her mind. She was going to be a day-student - a student who went to school every day and came back home. At age sixteen, Abena was currently in her second year in Senior High school. Yaw at age fourteen, was in his final year in Junior High School and Kwesi at age ten, and was in grade five of elementary/primary school.

Apart from SIS offering the local curriculum, the school also offered the foreign American curriculum allowing most students who graduated from SIS the chance to continue their education in the USA or any other country in Europe. School was still ongoing. At the moment, it was lunch time. And the students had moved to the dining hall to have lunch. Something they had been doing for a long time. As the lunch was ongoing, Yaw moved away quickly from the dining table. He had been waiting to see someone all of this while. But when the person failed to show up, he decided to find the person himself.

Yaw quickly moved away, from the crowd without being noticed. He knew where he was going. Minutes later, he had crossed the Junior High block to the Senior High block. He entered the Senior High block, eager to see only one person. He moved to the classroom, but the class was empty. Then he quickly remembered where the person liked to be – the chemistry lab. Yaw quickly bolted to the lab, but upon reaching there the person was nowhere to be found.

Yaw was now dejected, as he moved passed the Senior High library. Unexpectedly, he saw the person. From what he saw, the person was trying to do something he had seen her do before. Produce her sonic waves again. Yaw quickly rushed to the library, greeting the librarian and quickly interrupted her sister.

“What do you think you are doing?” Yaw interrupted Abena. Abena looked on livid. What is he doing here? She asked in her mind? Abena readjusted her orientation as if she had no idea what her brother was talking about.

“What do you mean I am doing?” Abena pretended she was naïve of what Yaw had seen her do.

“I saw you outside the window. You were trying to do what you did at the supermarket. Isn’t it?” Yaw inquired judgingly.

“And so, what?” Abena said accepting she had been caught now. “Is it your business? And why are you here in the first place. Aren’t you supposed to be having lunch?”

“Yes, I am supposed to be having lunch, just like you. I was hoping to see you after lunch and talk. But then, I looked around but you did not show up. So, I decided to find you.” Yaw said. Abena was looking at him. That was sweet of her brother. They both then moved and took a sit at the far end of the library.

“So, what do you want to see me for? We have told mom and Dad everything so what do you want to know again?”

“I am scared Abena. Maybe you are not. But I am. I do not know what I will do if this thing shows up again and the whole school gets to know what I can do.”

“No one will know as long as you keep calm and do not inform anyone.” Abena said unperturbed.

“And how do you know that. You seem to be happy with this thing we cannot explain.”

“Yes, I am Yaw. And I think you should be too. We are not freaks or crazy. We have powers. Yes.” Abena emphasized to Yaw. Yaw looked on stunned.

“You call this power. Powers are used to help people not to destroy or kill them.”

“Yes, and that is what you did for me at the supermarket. You helped me by stopping that riff-raff.” Abena said. 

“No, don’t you see, the older guy almost died?”

“Yes, and if he died, he deserves it. Yaw, I will have done the same thing for you. You did it for me. And I am very grateful. So, do not be sad about it.”

“I see. If you say so. So, have you done what you did again?” Yaw said.

“No. I have not, and I was trying to do it again when you came in.” Abena said excited.

“In school?”

“Why not?”

“What if someone finds out?

“No one will find out Yaw. Unless, I want someone to find out. You know, this weekend I like us to go to the football field at the back of our church and practice the powers we have.”

“You think that is the best thing to do?”

“Yes, as long as we do not tell Mom and Dad.”

“And what about Kay?”

“Kay will be with Mom and Dad or Sarah. Trust me it will be very fun. You do not need to worry about anything.” Abena assured her perturbed brother. With that, the school siren bellowed. It was time for the second phase of studies.

“Time is up Yaw, we have to go.” Abena said and rose to her feat with Yaw. Abena placed her hand on her brother’s shoulder.

“Saturday then.” Yaw said and they both moved away.