Helix - you will replace us

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HELIX - You will replace us is a novel by the Austrian writer Marc Elsberg , which was published in 2016 by the Blanvalet publishing house . The plot begins with the death of the US Secretary of State caused by a genetically modified virus. Investigators are gradually being led on the trail of a secret project that aims to use genetic engineering to raise future generations of people as designer babies.

action

At a security conference in Munich, the US Secretary of State suddenly falls lifeless to the ground. During the autopsy one makes an unusual discovery: a skull is depicted on his heart. It quickly turns out that this mark was caused by a genetically modified virus that was personified on the foreign minister and ultimately killed him. In Brazil, Tanzania and India, employees of a large chemical company discover extraordinary plants and animals that shouldn't exist yet with current technical progress.

In another storyline, Helen and Greg, a married couple who want to have children, are brought to the attention of a doctor by a doctor about a secret project in a facility in California that uses genetic engineering to raise special children. The couple is persuaded to watch this and is taken to a gated community called New Garden in San Diego. There they witness so-called “modern” children, who have been given extraordinary properties through genetic manipulation. Jill, a 15-year-old prodigy already studying at MIT in Cambridge, was also developed here. Jill suddenly disappears from MIT without a trace and is searched in vain.

Soon a clue leads the investigators into the murder of the US Secretary of State to the New Garden Community. It is suspected that this is where the deadly virus originated. The investigation targets a child named Eugene, who belongs to the first generation of genetically modified individuals in the project. Suspicions that this highly intelligent and, it quickly turns out, vicious boy created the virus are strengthened when he and a few other modern children kidnap the President of the United States who had previously arrived on the premises.

In the course of the investigation, New Garden will be militarily cordoned off for security reasons so that everyone, including Helen and Greg, cannot leave the community. The couple had previously been convinced of the advantages of an individually tailored designer baby. Helen had herself artificially inseminated in order to later have twins according to characteristics selected by her and Greg. By chance, Helen is also kidnapped by Eugene and the other children. The president is released shortly after fleeing New Garden , while Helen continues to accompany the children more or less voluntarily - Eugene persuades her that she is one of "them" because she is carrying two modern unborn children in her womb. The group first made its way to Mexico, from where they took a private flight to Montes Claros, Brazil.

Here, in Montes Claros, the storylines converge. The city is home to a biotech company called Eloxxy . This company is in the hands of Eugene and Jill, who meet them locally and whose disappearance from the States is now being solved. From the United States, Jill and Eugene have hired several scientists to work for them in Montes Claros on a private, illegal research project. What is created there is a genetically engineered virus that automatically gives future generations of people the genetic prerequisites to produce designer babies. The plan is to spread the virus around the world. Jill and Eugene's vision is to live in a world of like-minded, hyper-talented people.

The unusual crops and animals discovered at the beginning of the story in Tanzania, India and Brazil are, as it turns out, the results of tests with the virus, which can be used for a variety of purposes, depending on the genetic changes made to it. The virus that killed the US Secretary of State also came from the laboratories in Montes Claros. Eugene intended to speed up the research process. Because in this way he forced Jill, whom he had not let in on the assassination plan, to come to Brazil in person and to implement the project as quickly as possible before her plan was revealed.

In the end, Jill and Eugene try to spread the finished virus from São Paulo-Guarulhos Airport to make their vision a reality. But they fail. Both of them are shot dead when they try to resist a group of police officers. However, an indication of whether a third broken tube with Jill's virus remains open, whether the release could have succeeded at least on a smaller scale. The genetically modified children that have been conceived so far must initially live with their parents isolated from the public. In the epilogue it becomes clear that the United States is continuing the research with the head of New Garden . Jill and Eugene's path to a new humanity has probably failed, but the old people, controlled by the old power structures, continue the path to a genetically manipulated human being.

reception

Christiane Irrgang from NDR criticizes Elsberg's literary qualities: "His narrative style is unspectacular, the character drawing of the characters is rather schematic, and even the tension in 'Helix' does not increase immeasurably."

At the same time, however, it is an exciting and instructive science thriller: “Marc Elsberg describes the scientific details and the ethical questions very clearly. So we cannot excuse ourselves with 'too complicated' and force ourselves to pause and take a position: What if I had the opportunity, for example, a child without a predisposition to high blood pressure and flat feet, but with a special talent for To give birth to trumpet playing? A child who should have it better than me - healthier, sportier, smarter, more persistent, in short: a winner. But what would a world full of winners look like? How would people fare if their parents couldn't afford biochemical manipulations during conception? What would future wars look like under these circumstances? "

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ NDR: Marc Elsberg: "Helix. They will replace us". In: www.ndr.de. Retrieved January 10, 2017 .