Word: germ
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...Echinacea purpurea, commonly called echinacea, is said to stimulate the immune system when the body first becomes inflicted with a germ...
...standing critics was also immediate. They pointed out that St. Gen's "enhancement" technology added new genes to every cell in a child's body. Furthermore, there was a very good chance the child would pass these genetic alterations on to her children as well. "Wasn't this simply germ-line genetic engineering with a new name?" they asked wryly...
...Germ-line genetic engineering was first performed successfully on animals and plants in the 1980s. By the end of the 2nd millennium, no geneticist doubted the potential for applying the technology to humans as well. But at that time, scientific understanding of human genes was still fragmentary...
...scientists at St. Gen who first grasped the significance of this discovery. The main technical objection to germ-line genetic engineering had been the premise that you could never know what effects an added gene would have until after the child was born. By that time, of course, it was too late to avoid unintended negative side effects. But if the gene already existed naturally in other people, you could study those people first to determine the gene's safety...
...private sector, competition and the desire to expand into new markets fueled an intense research effort into new reproductive technologies. The most impressive technology of all was germ-line genetic engineering, which could be accomplished only by experts in human embryology, who were employed exclusively by private fertility clinics. The potential for profit was enormous, and financial support was easily obtained from biotech venture capitalists. Indeed, the unique American political-scientific-business environment boded well for global domination of the new field...