I experienced lowering of my social status. “But…couldn’t you have just tried again four years later?” Lost the Olympics qualifier by a hairbreadth to a guy I’d beaten twenty times before. With a spotless family history like mine, there were no limits. I used to be the best swimmer in the state, maybe in the country. “You want to know how this happened?” Jerome asked. “Look,” said Vincent, despite his better judgment, “just because you’re partly paralyzed doesn’t mean you can’t…do anything, really. You can still make something of yourself. You still have your whole life ahead of you. “You’re, uh, sure you want to do this?” asked Vincent, suddenly feeling a pang of conscience. The man across from him leaned forward in his wheelchair, extended a trembling arm to slowly take the cash. Two weeks earlier, he had thrown a wad of cash down on a granite table in a downtown apartment. Vincent reached into his briefcase, took out a slim blue binder. I’ll just need to see your genealogy, so we can run it through this computer here…you did bring it like we asked you, right? Of course you did! A superior individual like you, probably no major family traumas going back five, six generations – I bet you’ve got it all ready for me.” We can just check your ancestors’ life experiences directly, and come up with a projection of your methylation profile good enough to predict everything from whether you’ll have a heart attack to whether you’ll choke under pressure at a crucial moment. Of course, it would be illegal for us to take a sample and check your methylation directly – but who needs that! In this day and age, everybody’s left a trail online. Some people say that these methylation patterns can transfer to your children, and your children’s children, and so on, setting them back in life before they’re even born. According to studies, stressful experiences – anything from starvation to social marginalization – change the methylation pattern of your genes. The supervisor raised an eyebrow, but he went on. But surely there were some brilliant astronomers who didn’t know anything about biology. He hoped he wasn’t sounding too implausibly naive – he had, after all, just aced a whole battery of science tests. Things were really touch-and-go for a while, but then we came up with a suitably non-invasive replacement. But after the incident with the Gattaca Corporation and that movie they made about the whole thing, public opinion just wasn’t on board, and Congress nixed the whole enterprise. We used to do genetic testing, make sure that people’s DNA was pre-selected for success. We want to make sure we get only the healthiest, most on-point individuals for our program. I’m sure a fine specimen like you will have no trouble.” “Pending, of course, the results of the final test. Some of the highest scores we’ve ever seen, frankly. “Congratulations, Vincent”, said the supervisor, eyes never looking up from his clipboard.

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