‘Man-animal’ can be reality | Chimeras | hybrids | Indian Express

‘Man-animal’ can be reality | Chimeras | hybrids | Indian Express



How about a man producing musk? Or, a man mating like a donkey, another as fierce as a lion, yet another toiling like a bull and, perhaps, one resembling ‘Ganapathi’.


Sounds very strange? But, if the recent developments in the genetic modification field are any indication, ‘Chimeras’ - human-animal hybrids - will become a reality some day in the future.

‘Chimera’, the first complete horror science fiction novel in Malayalam, by the city-based agricultural officer G S Unnikrishnan Nair, describes the other side of genetic modification.

Through a series of incidents occurring in different parts of the world, Unnikrishnan makes it clear that genetic modification is not just confined to the case of Bt Brinjal, but it can create a world of ‘Chimeras.’ (A Greek mythological creature composed of parts of many animals - the body of a lioness, with a tail that ends in a snake’s head and the head of a goat rising from the centre of the spine).

A human-animal hybrid is theoretically possible, says Unnikrishnan, presently Assistant Director of Agriculture at Farm Information Bureau, who hails from Vanchiyoor in the city. ''The number of people supporting modification of genes is gradually increasing in the world. They believe that genetic modification is a boon as cancer can be treated using stem cell therapy. There are options for creating a designer baby, genetically inducing desired genes into a child during its embryo stage, and for beauty enhancement. So, we cannot turn down the chances of Chimeras,’’ says Unnikrishnan, who is a member of the Indian Science Fiction Writers’ Association.

‘Chimera’, published by Sign Books, is an enquiry by the protagonist Sankar into the mysterious disappearance of his friend Binukumar and unfolds the extreme side of the hybrid world.

While the story is told in odd-numbered chapters, Unnikrishnan presents articles related to the subject in the even-numbered ones.

For him, the idea of a horror novel on genetic modification came after reading a report on a patent application filed in the United States some four years ago. ''Someone filed a patent application for making human-animal hybrids. The patent was rejected. But the applicant said his intention was to stop the spread of such extreme action in genetic modification. He also mentioned some of such research projects going on in the world. Thus, I thought of a creating an awareness among the people on this and, I think, the whole idea can be conveyed easily through a fiction, rather than a plain article,’’ Unnikrishnan says.

According to him, science fiction (SF) novels are still in their infancy in the State. ''When compared to other states, SF has not been attempted much in Malayalam. SF is popular in languages like Hindi, Bengali, Tamil and Marathi. There are serialised SF novels in newspapers and magazines. We can see SF festival supplements and pulp SF in popular magazines. But, here, it seems that publishers are not showing much interest in the genre,’’ says Unnikrishnan.

Science writing is not something new for this agriculture officer.

‘Chimera’ is the 24th science book written by Unnikrishnan, who is the recipient of several literary honours, including the National Science Communication Award, Bhima Balasahitya Award and Karshaka Bharathi Award.