Biolab

OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS The biolab is used to inject and remove biomods, temporary genetic tricks borrowed from native life. The entry-level colonist can tolerate two biomods: one Active, one Passive. Interface with the biolab and choose one biomod for each slot. Active biomods must be triggered by the user, while Passive biomods activate by reflex when their conditions are met. Biomods should be pre-tested and approved by colony medical staff. While a scanner could be modified to acquire new biomods from local species, the colonist would be liable for any resulting harm to self or others. BACKGROUND After the tragedies on 4546b and Rakshasa and the outbreak of kharaa in the Ariadne Arm, Alterra recognized that the human body was now the most vulnerable component of its deep-space strategy. Nobel Prize-winning research by Valenti and Pham produced the answer: a nanotech interface between human and alien biology. This interface (deployed in pioneer programs like the ARCHI suite) can reverse engineer alien gene products for safe expression by human cells. Unlike full adaptations, these biomods never enter the colonist's genome: they are temporary and reversible. This helps would-be parents avoid awkward conversations about which biomods to inject for date night. The Biolab is a colonist's one-stop point of service for biomods. Deep readers will note that it is also a triumph of human ingenuity over the pessimism of early anti-Expansion thinkers who believed that humanity's tight link to Earthly biota would make interstellar colonization impossible.