Chromosome 6 (novel)
Encyclopedia
Chromosome 6 is a 1997 science fiction novel by the American novelist Robin Cook. It follows a minor forensic pathologist, Dr. Jack Stapleton, as he and Dr. Laurie Montgomery, another forensic pathologist, try to identify a badly mutilated body with various parts missing. On the other side of the world in a small country called Equatorial Guinea
, researcher Dr. Kevin Marshall is part of a firm named GenSys, in which he takes the major histocompatibility gene on chromosome 6 and transfers it to a relative of the chimpanzee
, the bonobo
. Jack and Laurie soon learn that the dead body is of a mafia kingpin whose liver is transplanted but cannot be traced back to any donor. Finally, this quest to find the liver takes Jack and Laurie to Equatorial Guinea where they discover the truth of about Gensys and Kevin's project with the bonobos.
The main part of the novel describes the almost reality of xenografts that have no rejection or no side effects from primates to humans. While showing the reality that this is almost impossible with current technology. The major histocompatibility gene on chromosome 6 turns out to make these bonobos into proto-humans, which then leads Kevin to find the truth about Gensys and decide the ultimate fate of the captured bonobos.
Equatorial Guinea
Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea where the capital Malabo is situated.Annobón is the southernmost island of Equatorial Guinea and is situated just south of the equator. Bioko island is the northernmost point of Equatorial Guinea. Between the two islands and to the...
, researcher Dr. Kevin Marshall is part of a firm named GenSys, in which he takes the major histocompatibility gene on chromosome 6 and transfers it to a relative of the chimpanzee
Chimpanzee
Chimpanzee, sometimes colloquially chimp, is the common name for the two extant species of ape in the genus Pan. The Congo River forms the boundary between the native habitat of the two species:...
, the bonobo
Bonobo
The bonobo , Pan paniscus, previously called the pygmy chimpanzee and less often, the dwarf or gracile chimpanzee, is a great ape and one of the two species making up the genus Pan. The other species in genus Pan is Pan troglodytes, or the common chimpanzee...
. Jack and Laurie soon learn that the dead body is of a mafia kingpin whose liver is transplanted but cannot be traced back to any donor. Finally, this quest to find the liver takes Jack and Laurie to Equatorial Guinea where they discover the truth of about Gensys and Kevin's project with the bonobos.
The main part of the novel describes the almost reality of xenografts that have no rejection or no side effects from primates to humans. While showing the reality that this is almost impossible with current technology. The major histocompatibility gene on chromosome 6 turns out to make these bonobos into proto-humans, which then leads Kevin to find the truth about Gensys and decide the ultimate fate of the captured bonobos.