Enhanced metabolism

The biological processes found inside life tend to be perfectly adapted to the natural substrates in the environment, however substances that have not been part of the organisms evolution are generally not utilized, or have poisonous properties. In the times of the federation with many different forms of life, and a new mastery over the structure of life, adaptations can be made for life to take advantage of novel substrates. This ability to design biology allows for a treatment that can give a citizen of the federation the ability to eat or drink foods from different cultures, without worry of the different chemistry to their homeworld.

The aim of the treatment is to instill within the person a new ability to metabolize new chemical products, with the effect of allowing the person to subsist off these compounds, or at least not be harmed by their ingestion. The biological machinery that drives chemical reactions, enzymes, are extremely specific in their target products, this makes very good biological sense, you do not want a sugar reducing enzyme to suddenly start dissembling DNA, or digesting cellular membranes, however these chemical manipulators are next to useless when it comes to new substrates. This is the classical problem behind getting species to become compatible with new forms of life.

The greatest solution is designing a new suite of enzymes that the body can manufacture, these new enzymes allow the body to handle the novel chemicals, and not only allow uptake of them but also metabolize them. Where possible enzymes are roughly copied between species, though certain adjustments are required to get the desired effect. If this approach fails new enzymes are required, and these can be artificially designed. However the basis of the treatment is to allow the body to produce these enzymes at will, and that means adding genes.

The first treatments consisted of taking an enzymatic cocktail before a meal, which would then work on the digesting food, however this same procedure will have to be observed at every meal. This method is still used, but other methods such as engineered probiotics, and genetic alteration are gaining popularity.

After synthesizing suitable gene sequences to build these new enzymes, they need to be loaded into a vector, which integrates these genes into the host’s cells. Most commonly this is achieved orally, with a series of viral vector courses, with a series of pills containing the tamed viruses in a substrate, (lactose etc.). Once consumed the viruses start to integrate cells along the digestive tract, and thereby conferring the new enzymatic abilities to the recipient cells.

Rather than having to engineer the whole body to respond to these new substrates, it is far easier to allow the gut cells (which can uptake the substrate) to transmute it into a more familiar compounds, in many cases (especially simple sugars), a mere isomerase enzyme is required to convert one isomer to another. The uptake proteins like enzymes, are particularly choosy about the shapes of their molecules, so only cells with altered enzymes should contain the uptake proteins as well, this helps reduce the amount of novel substrate entering the blood stream.

The only problem with this treatment is that the kidneys, or similar excretory organs tend to excrete any new substances in the blood, as they lack the re-uptake proteins, but this clearance is also helpful in reducing the amount of novel substrate in the body, and modifications to these organs are rarely taken. Another problem is for the relatively short lived gut cells to die off with their new genes, so modern viral vectors target the stem cells for the gut lining, and in doing so give a greater degree of permanence, another route is to set about modifying the existing glands, and this way mimic the natural digestive processes.

This gene integration method is still not widely accepted by all federation citizens, although some especially the Galen, and the Panatrak have begun to integrate these new genes into their germ-lines (allowing there children to naturally able to process new foods). The nature of the treatment also means that the changes made are only to those cells surrounding the gut, and do not enact changes in the reproductive organs, this has prevented inheritance of these genes to children born to modified citizens, which many are contented with.

The middle way between taking enzymatic cocktails, and genetic alteration, is by far the most accepted method of metabolizing novel substrates. Why change your body’s cells, when you can re-engineer your gut flora? This alternative treatment simply administers to the host a new set of gut bacteria that perform the enzymatic manipulations for them. Instead of having to take regular courses of enzyme cocktail, or go through the process of having gene alteration, all that needs to be done is for the person to consume a probiotic before sampling new foods, this may need to be topped up occasionally, but it is a lot less hassle than taking enzymes with every meal.

Most citizens enjoy consuming the new foods available to them, and therefore end up taking one the three suggestions. Though genetic alteration still has a relatively negative press, despite decades of familiarity, it is being increasingly accepted, and more and more people are enjoying a life where they have to worry little about biological compatibility. Many enjoy this freedom, and as new worlds are continuously being discovered, with their own new gastronomic wealth, many await for new alterations to allow them to sample the new cuisines.