reasons.’
‘ It’s just that they’re not obvious to anyone but themselves. Anyway, George has had a lot of experience. He may not be the most diplomatic of people but I don’t need a diplomat. I need someone who can handle viruses.’
Let’s agree to disagree on the merits of Mr Ferguson,’ said Hutton. ‘What I really wanted to talk to you about this morning was the use of fragments of the smallpox virus. You use them I understand.’
‘ Sure, we’ve been trying to understand some of the tricks that virus performs to get round the human immune system. It’s a pretty fascinating bug.’
‘ Well, I’ve been officially informed that there is now a complete ban on the supply and movement of these fragments until further notice.’
‘What?’ exclaimed Malloy. ‘But I was just about to request the fragments carrying the DNA upstream from the region we’ve been working on. We suspect the control region we were looking for had been cut through during the fragmentation.’
Hutton shrugged and said, ‘I’m sorry, it’s a joint WHO/UN recommendation that the government has endorsed with immediate effect.’
‘Shit, but why?’
‘No explanation but they also want us to audit and declare all the fragments we’re holding. Sounds like someone has been doing something they shouldn’t.’
‘Joining up the fragments, you mean? God, you’d have to be a pork pie short of a picnic to do that to any great extent. Mind you …’
‘Yes?’
‘In some ways I can sympathise with the people who’d like the complete virus to work on. The trouble we’ve been experiencing is largely down to working with fragments rather than the complete genome. They thought in the beginning it would be just as good but it’s not. Lots of important genes have been cut through when they cut the DNA into fragments. So anyone interested in finding out how the whole thing operates might be tempted to try a bit of reassembly. It may be stupid and against the rules but it’s understandable.’
‘It may not be being done for reasons of scientific curiosity,’ said Hutton.
Malloy looked at him questioningly then it dawned on him what Hutton meant. ‘God, you can’t be serious. Someone trying to reconstruct live smallpox virus? They’d have to be out of their tree.’
Hutton shrugged his agreement. ‘Be that as it may, can you let me have a list of the fragments you’re currently holding?’
‘ Of course.’
‘ I’ve also had a letter from Ali Hammadi’s parents.’
Malloy’s face clouded over. ‘Oh yes,’ he said quietly.
‘ They’d like to endow a PhD studentship in his honour. Some kind of lasting memorial. Your thoughts?’
‘ I still find it hard to believe Ali’s dead. He was a good student, easy going, easy to get on with. Everyone liked him. His work was going exceptionally well and then suddenly in the space of a few short weeks his whole demeanour changed. He turned into a morose recluse who wouldn’t speak to anyone and then he took his own life. I just don’t understand it.’
‘ We’ll have to assume it was some kind of mental aberration. Clinical depression can strike at anyone at any time and for no discernible reason to the outsider.’
‘ And bright people are more susceptible, yes I know all the get-outs. I’ve been using them for the past few weeks but I still feel guilty. I should have realised how serious his condition was. I just kept thinking it was something he would snap out of if we gave him time. Girl trouble or something like that.’
‘ Not your fault. Graduate students are adults. We can’t baby-sit them. Now, about the studentship?’
‘ Okay by me. I think it’s a nice idea.’
‘ Good. I’ll tell them we’re delighted and have admin start the paperwork. The Ali Hammadi Research Fellowship in Molecular Science. Has a nice ring to it.’
Malloy returned to his lab and told the others what had been said, starting with the government ban on smallpox
‘ It’s just that they’re not obvious to anyone but themselves. Anyway, George has had a lot of experience. He may not be the most diplomatic of people but I don’t need a diplomat. I need someone who can handle viruses.’
Let’s agree to disagree on the merits of Mr Ferguson,’ said Hutton. ‘What I really wanted to talk to you about this morning was the use of fragments of the smallpox virus. You use them I understand.’
‘ Sure, we’ve been trying to understand some of the tricks that virus performs to get round the human immune system. It’s a pretty fascinating bug.’
‘ Well, I’ve been officially informed that there is now a complete ban on the supply and movement of these fragments until further notice.’
‘What?’ exclaimed Malloy. ‘But I was just about to request the fragments carrying the DNA upstream from the region we’ve been working on. We suspect the control region we were looking for had been cut through during the fragmentation.’
Hutton shrugged and said, ‘I’m sorry, it’s a joint WHO/UN recommendation that the government has endorsed with immediate effect.’
‘Shit, but why?’
‘No explanation but they also want us to audit and declare all the fragments we’re holding. Sounds like someone has been doing something they shouldn’t.’
‘Joining up the fragments, you mean? God, you’d have to be a pork pie short of a picnic to do that to any great extent. Mind you …’
‘Yes?’
‘In some ways I can sympathise with the people who’d like the complete virus to work on. The trouble we’ve been experiencing is largely down to working with fragments rather than the complete genome. They thought in the beginning it would be just as good but it’s not. Lots of important genes have been cut through when they cut the DNA into fragments. So anyone interested in finding out how the whole thing operates might be tempted to try a bit of reassembly. It may be stupid and against the rules but it’s understandable.’
‘It may not be being done for reasons of scientific curiosity,’ said Hutton.
Malloy looked at him questioningly then it dawned on him what Hutton meant. ‘God, you can’t be serious. Someone trying to reconstruct live smallpox virus? They’d have to be out of their tree.’
Hutton shrugged his agreement. ‘Be that as it may, can you let me have a list of the fragments you’re currently holding?’
‘ Of course.’
‘ I’ve also had a letter from Ali Hammadi’s parents.’
Malloy’s face clouded over. ‘Oh yes,’ he said quietly.
‘ They’d like to endow a PhD studentship in his honour. Some kind of lasting memorial. Your thoughts?’
‘ I still find it hard to believe Ali’s dead. He was a good student, easy going, easy to get on with. Everyone liked him. His work was going exceptionally well and then suddenly in the space of a few short weeks his whole demeanour changed. He turned into a morose recluse who wouldn’t speak to anyone and then he took his own life. I just don’t understand it.’
‘ We’ll have to assume it was some kind of mental aberration. Clinical depression can strike at anyone at any time and for no discernible reason to the outsider.’
‘ And bright people are more susceptible, yes I know all the get-outs. I’ve been using them for the past few weeks but I still feel guilty. I should have realised how serious his condition was. I just kept thinking it was something he would snap out of if we gave him time. Girl trouble or something like that.’
‘ Not your fault. Graduate students are adults. We can’t baby-sit them. Now, about the studentship?’
‘ Okay by me. I think it’s a nice idea.’
‘ Good. I’ll tell them we’re delighted and have admin start the paperwork. The Ali Hammadi Research Fellowship in Molecular Science. Has a nice ring to it.’
Malloy returned to his lab and told the others what had been said, starting with the government ban on smallpox
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