"When a targeted mutation introduced by homologous recombination does not involve the insertion of a novel functional sequence, the new mutant allele (often called a "knockout" mutation) will be designated in accordance with the guidelines for gene nomenclature for each species (see Lyon 1989b reproduced below). The gene nomenclature will also be used when the process of homologous recombination results in integration of a novel functional sequence if that sequence is a functional drug-resistance gene. For example, Mbpm1Dn would be used to denote the first targeted mutation of the myelin basic protein (Mbp) in the mouse made by Muriel T. Davisson (Dn). In this example, the transgenic insertion, even if it contains a functional neomycin-resistance gene, is incidental to "knocking out" or mutating the targeted locus (see Lyon 1989b reproduced below). The mode symbol TgH is reserved for a time in the future when homologous recombination might be employed to transfer genes to specific sites in the genome by using cloned DNA from the target site to produce a homologous recombination vector. Such target loci might be anonymous, but might exhibit important regulator features that render them desirable for targeting transgenes. A hypothetical example is given below. "

Results vary, often due to "operator error". What you should be concerned with, thus, is technique. But for now, here are the effects.

The Change is produced, as near as I can tell, by a virus which primarily resides in the bodies of The Changed. It seems to soften bones. There are symptoms which seem to be basically acromegalic. There's almost always some growth in the region of the jaw, neck and face. There's almost always some deformity of the hands. There's almost always a gain of weight, and usually this is due less to stockpiling fat or muscle than it is due to bone growth, with increases in width, as opposed to length. Note that when bones begin to grow quickly after sexual maturity, they become quite malleable.

The most common type of Change, particularly those infected past maturity, is to basically become squat and broad. Some people who have been infected before maturity grow not only wide but very tall.

Extremely heavy and squat persons abound.

Be warned, beyond this point, this becomes almost pure speculation, if not an outright mad fancy. "Thems as knows ain't tellin', and thems as is tellin' prob'ly don't know." But Interstate 270 from Germantown into Downtown DC is known as the Biotech Corridor. Between the National Institutes of Health, the various major hospitals and universities and the approximately forty-five genetics-technology firms and the combines of all of the above, there's simply too much technologic power at hand for some of this informed speculation to miss the target. I might not have all of the facts straight, but come to town and take a look, and you figure it out for yourself. Here's my best guess:

How does one become infected with the virus that causes The Change?

The most common way is through sexual contact. The complex virus (actually a group of viruses, most of which are modifications of viruses used to induce transposonations in genetic-engineering research) is about as transmissible as is measles. Some physical contact is almost always required. When the Change-virus was a carefully-guarded secret, it was used in research into the causes of vampirism. After all, that seems to be a technovirus specifically designed to deliver genes to cellular nuclei. It certainly has the capability to do this... and if the less-than-beneficial effects could be edited out through gene-splicing technology, imagine the super-soldiers and unstoppable operatives that could be produced! Perhaps researchers were able to delete most of the genes that caused the food-intolerances and other associated disorders that characterize vampirism, and in the course of experimentation on the techniques by which this specialized carrier-virus could be used for genetic repair of various diseases, they seem to have let something get out into the population at large.

Note that the Change virus leaves the individual with accelerated reactions. The newly Changed often flounder visibly, getting used to new reflexes. This has also caused some to mistakenly believe that the Changed are all vampires. They're not all vampiristic, but some are. Or so 'tis said about town, but then again, lots of rumors fly around DC, as do rumormongers.

In most cases, the Change does not cause any remarkable physical change other than some cranial growth, and growth of the jaw, lower face, and neck. The most common syndrome is some cranial growth, refinement of the occiptal region where the skull meets the neck. Less commonly, the lower jaw becomes softened in the region of the condyle and develops a secondary joint. The changes in the neck, when combined with the development of a secondary mandibular joint allow the Changed person radically increased vertical rotation combined with an amazingly wide mouth opening. It also allows the Changed to walk right up to you and bite off your face without turning their heads to the side. Not that most of them would do this, but the structure is quite common.

It is extremely common for the Change to cause a considerable amount of brain-damage, primarily due to the very high fever that one experiences when the disease is first contracted. this often produces great personality changes, and associated loss of IQ. In combination with the accelerated reaction speeds, this can make the recently Changed very dangerous.

The Plague of the Change seems to have primarily been dispersed through the same routes as HIV. Initially, the most commonly affected persons had histories of sharing hypodermics, of sharing drug-paraphernalia such as crack-pipes, of prostitution or promiscuity. In the Washington DC area, the community most immediately affected was the ghetto. To make matters worse, there's something about the Change and the Changed that motivates the Changed to infect others. Maybe it's simply a demonstration of the adage: "Misery loves company."

If you go out in public anywhere, you may be forcibly Changed. As near as I can tell from prolonged observations, the whole concept of mutating someone is high humor to the Changed.

A quick look around absolutely any Washington area street will bring your eyes to rest on at least one of the Changed. Let any of the Changed see you much more than one time, and they will simply walk up behind you in a grocery store line and inject something into your neck. You too will become part of a growing community of persons who have been modified by technovirus to the point where you have more genes in common with a gorilla than you have with an unChanged person.

There's also the little problem the the Changed all know that one of the first symptoms of the Change, after the initial high fever, is that bones soften. The Changed often make use of this osteoporosis to mold people. This is a process amounting to plastic surgery, and has little to do with the Change itself. It basically involves the use of surgical staplers to bind muscles into cramped positions, where tension will be constantly applied across the bones to be molded. Some role-player folks call this "fleshcrafting". Come and take a look and you'll see some sad works wandering the streets.

Some of the "sad works" wandering the streets don't at first glance look that much different from regular people. These, however, are the ones you most need to be cautious of - they are less changed in the body than in the mind, and whatever they have become, they should be considered dangerous, dangerous on a level with any fully sentient and predatory being. In the absence of knowing how to properly name them, I will call them catheads. Just don't stay for any length of time, or you'll be Changed. There's no law against it, and besides, the Changed don't give a damn; you've got to suffer too.

In case anyone was wondering why I haven't got my picture on my homepage, perhaps it's because I learned all of this the hard way. If you remember your Popeye cartoons, I look sort of like a skinny male version of Alice the Goon... or maybe the cartoon character from Kilroy Was Here.

Or I could be lying through my teeth to keep tourists away. Tourist repulsion is after all the unofficial sport of the District of Columbia's sports.