Vanilla Lore Expanded: Genetic Engineering (Patreon)

Genetic engineering is relatively easy on many planets and has been used for everything from creating xeno human super-soldiers to perfect mates to talking dogs, chemical-refining animals, and air-spewing terraformer algae. The process can be described as the transfer of DNA from one organism to another using biotechnology. The organism receiving the DNA is said to be genetically modified (GM).

Organisms are genetically modified in order to give them a combination of genes (genotype) that will result in them having desirable physical characteristics (phenotype). Often the desirable characteristic is simply the ability to produce large quantities of a useful protein. Other times the desirable characteristic is to create a hulking insectoid with claws that can rip plasteel.

Genetic engineering started before humanity even left Earth. Bacterial cells were genetically modified to produce human insulin, which was then purified and supplied to diabetics.

The adaptive and engineering processes that have branched baseline humanity into these uncounted variations have also applied to flora and fauna. Wherever humanity colonized, they always brought their own ecosystems with them. These creatures subsequently adapt to their new conditions of moisture, chemistry, light levels, gravity, temperature, and seasonal cycles. In addition, plants and animals have been bred and engineered for countless purposes across the galaxy.

One consistent class of modification that can be seen applied to a wide variety of creatures is intelligence enhancement. Dogs, pigs, monkeys, gorillas, whales, dolphins, and elephants have all been engineered and combined with human DNA to produce smarter variations. Some variants are created as pets. Others are made to do work too dangerous or unpleasant for humans, and beyond the capacities of a culture’s AI. Some are created as warriors and weapons - hyper-intelligent guard dog, a bird scout that can speak what is sees, a bomb-carrying suicide monkey. These brain modifications are often paired with physical changes - fingers so a pig can manipulate tools, or a humanlike larynx and mouth so a dog can talk.

Such enhanced animals are collectively classified by their degree of brain power and called by a specific prefix like so:

Opti - Indicates enhanced but still sub-human intelligence. Optianimals can usually use tools, form long-term goals and organize into primitive social groups, but can’t speak more than a few words, read, or think abstractly. Optidog, optipig, optiwhale, optimonkey.

Trans - Indicates intelligence in the human range. Transanimals can read, use tools, form teams, hold conversations, and think about complex ideas. Transdog, transbear, transgoat, transsimian.

Many times, these modified animals have, during a regressive catastrophe, been forced into interbreeding with an unmodified animal population, producing descendants of widely varying levels of intelligence. In a few cases, transanimals have become the dominant species on a planet, eliminating or enslaving the remaining humans.

Other than intelligence enhancement, humanity has applied a wide variety of modifications to its pets, crops, livestock, and houseplants. Sometimes these new species become part of the natural environment and thereafter evolve further into a new kind of organism. Some confirmed examples are:

Boomrat: A bioengineered rat that develops an incendiary chemical compound in its body which explodes upon its death. Originally engineered as a weapon, these creatures are now common in the wild on some planets where wars took place long ago.

Boomfruit: Probably engineered as a novelty, this explosive plant evolved to be larger and more dangerous until it became the equivalent of a hand grenade, complete with murderous shrapnel. Its explosiveness dissuades predators. After that, people learned to farm the plant, using its explosive fruit as a weapon.

Whip cactus: Created as part of a military defense system, the Whip Cactus lashes out and strikes nearby creatures..

Terraforming plants: especially desert varieties, have been modified to emit far more oxygen than normal during routine photosynthesis. Called oxygenic plants, these plants are practically hard-coded to stay exactly the same over thousands of generations, with their evolution stunted to not grow out of their intended niche, creating oxygen. After a planet has been terraformed fully, most of the plants naturally die out unless they have been able to break the evolutionary chains. Due to their planned extinction and odds against them, only a fraction of the oxygenic species remains in a Rimworld, the ones who have adapted to their ecosystem, cultivated by settlers, or worshipped by tribals.

Rocketrees - These trees are capable of synthesizing rocket fuel in their cores over many years. They were created as a fuel source and are extremely dangerous in a fire.

Genetically Engineered Crops

Even though most plants are genetically engineered to be faster to produce to some extent, some crops are significantly changed enough that a 21st-century farmer might not understand their new counterparts, primarily the sugarcane and wheat plants.

Wheat found in most post-genetically engineered communities has a completely different grain structure. The endosperm of the wheat grain is altered to become pure, powdered flour ready to use in cooking if gently squished, saving time and the need to use a windmill.

Just like the modified wheat plant, the common sugarcane was engineered to yield easy-to-use sugar, perfect right from harvest. The outside of the sugarcane plant is exactly the same as its ancestor, but the inside has been turned into a biological sugar factory, with the plant's only reason to live is to create ungodly amounts of the sweet powder to the point the sugarcane's ability to reproduce is hindered and in need of human assistance to spread its seeds and pollen.

Xeno-humans

The term “xenohuman” applies to a human whose genome deviates largely from the baseline Terra format. Typically these are people who have been born to parents with modified genomes, whether they be simple cosmetic changes or ones that were made to facilitate easier habitation on a particular planet’s climate. Thanks to advances in medical technology, these changes are largely uncomplicated procedures. They are however irreversible and can cause some stigma in “pure bloods”.

Transbirds

Much in a similar way to how humans raised pigeons to be aesthetically pleasing and divergent - only to abandon them and declare them as pests - certain breeds of birds have been raised for their intelligence and companionship. Some 21st century examples of these are parrots that mimic human speech and crows that have intelligence similar to human children. Through selective breeding - and a generous helping of genetic engineering - the Transbird was brought forth, a magnificently colourful and cautiously intelligent avian creature capable of human speech. Their shrewd intellect and fierce loyalty has resulted in many of them commanding their own trade ships composed of human and robotic crewmembers.

Opticows

Bovinae are an incredibly vital cog in the agricultural machine, being a source of meat, dairy and labour. The common cow has been selectively bred to be larger in bulk and produce more milk, however the labour they provide is typically only used in tilling of fields and producing manure. One genetic engineering firm, eager to make animals more efficient, sought to change the cow in such a way that they are able to milk themselves, autonomously till fields, and tell their handler how they were feeling. Eager to prove to animal rights activists that the animals are capable of speaking for themselves, the new Opticows are usually in a state of blissful euphoria and only ever complain when they need medicine. This has only inspired greater fervour in the protests.

Perfect Mates

Cloning has always been a somewhat divisive and controversial topic. In some groups, it is argued that cloning is an affront to - insert deific subject of worship here - as the results have no soul and are abominations that should be cleansed. Those who can afford the very best of cloning state that their genetically-perfect partner is as much a person as they are. Publicly anyway, privately they usually say “dating is hard, y’know”. As such, there is an entire industry of bespoke cloning facilities that cater to any and every whim, their primary clients being the ultra-wealthy who want to have children without dealing with the mess of childbirth or arguments about whose turn it is to change the diapers.

G-Nome Project

Throughout history, there have been numerous cases, studies and examples of adults who have developed genetic deficiencies which stemmed from environmental conditions that their birth-mother experienced during their pregnancy. A baby that was carried to term whilst their birth-mother experienced a famine grew up with a very low metabolic rate and accumulated fat incredibly quickly. Scientific papers have been written on the effects that classical music has on a baby’s brain during pregnancy. Some deranged intellectuals have argued “why stop there?” and proceeded to throw science at the wall to see what sticks.

The result of all this haphazard science was the G-nome Project. A genetic engineering project involving babies implanted with encyclopedic knowledge of all aspects of xenobiology. Nobody knows why. It’s hard to argue with results though, as the children of this project proved incredibly adept at monotonously identifying and classifying alien biology whilst sobbing hysterically when asked to explain how they are able to do so. Public opinion on the matter has ranged from “unnecessarily cruel” to “why xenobiology if the kids aren’t allowed to visit nature”.

Lab-grown Children

With human society capable of vatgrown clones, some have made attempts to replace childbirth in such a complete way that it never need be considered again - at least by those who can afford it. The attempt was a noble one, which was to seed a child from fertilized embryo to toddler in carefully controlled vats who would suffer from no birth defects or genetic mishaps. Numerous genetic samples were taken from all genders and social classes in an attempt to create a “super mixture” of all the genetically superior traits present in the human race.

The result was a failure as the importance of an actual person carrying the child to term still hasn’t been fully understood. Children of the project were deemed “acceptably average”, being neither outstanding or deficient in any field whilst also having difficulties socialising with others. The project did lead to further developments, particularly in vatgrown clones.

Clone Farming

An unintended result of vatgrowing genetically superior humans, Clone-farming is one of the latest lucrative schemes in the criminal underworld. With the aid of VR-training simulations, clone children with shortened lifespans are seeded in nutrient-rich womb-vats as disposable resources. The farms themselves are harvested by socially-trained clones, the rest are used for food, organs or labour. Very ethically questionable but considered a necessary evil as the harvested organs help save the lives of those who can’t afford bionics.