“LGBTIQ+N” sci-fi short story published

Speculative fiction penned by scientists is rare, but perhaps it shouldn't be. Recently we workshopped an usual form of scientific commentary: a one-page sci-fi tale by microbiologist and NeuWrite Nordic advisory board member Howy Jacobs of Tampere University (pictured) that confronted the frightening ethical and political implications of human genetic engineering. This month, Jacobs' story was published as an opinion essay in EMBO Reports. In Jacobs' scenario,

the recreation of the Neanderthals by genome editing began, seemingly, as a vanity project of North Korea's late ruler, Kim Ai‐Won, aided by several maverick scientists. However, in a scenario that deviated from, rather than replicated, Mary Shelley's classic 19th‐century novel, the “creatures” turned out not to be boorish, muscle‐bound monsters devoid of moral impulse. Instead, they are highly intelligent, emotionally refined and infinitely resourceful. ...

Keep reading here!

Image: Tampere University