Secret Wars Kitty/Genetic modification/Nerd stuff
My research was taken from the FDA and the National Human Genome Research Institute and Wikipedia and a few other internet sites on gene splicing and also Animal Planet for the splicing of animal genes into Kitty. There is some paraphrasing of paragraphs on my behalf-I’m not that smart. Marvel owns characters, I'm just twisting them around.
Original inspiration: author376 ’s Mr. Sinister and his obsession with Kitty’s awesome ability to reproduce from her Stolen Child series, Christine Feehan's Ghostwalker series- I got most of thinks from her website, The Aventures of Cyclops and Pheonix, Colossus: Bloodlines, Mr. Fantastic dancing on Rise of the Silver Surfer (He's going to be Specimen FF1.)
It has now taken on a life of its own, and it wants to be written. Any suggestions are more than welcome. I'll be fleshing it out and doing a detailed outline so I won't go through too much writer's block while I continue Warrior.
Detailed notes:
1. Katherine Pryde was adopted by Mr. Sinister (under the guise of Dr. Robert Windsor, Minister of the Genoshan Ministry of Social Development and Health). Mr. Sinister experimented on her grandfather (Prydeman) in the Nazi concentration camps of WWII and has followed her mother and father’s progress. When it became clear that Prydeman did not pass on the genes that Sinister wanted to his son, he arranged for the Prydes to be killed and adopted Katherine, taking her back to Genosha. (Katherine is not the only child he has followed the development of or arranged for the parents to be killed; however I’m not sure if I will elaborate on this for this particular story.) There he found Katherine had the potential to be what he wanted, and the possibility of her children possessing even greater potential filled him with much sadistic glee.
2. The X-factor that causes mutation (e.g. mutants) is actually a 47th chromosome developed by Mr. Sinister. It was introduced into Prydeman’s system (and several others in the 1800s-Mr. Sinister was waaaay before his time) and, although his only son did not receive it as a dominant allele, Katherine did (I have to further research this to see if this possible. It would be presumed that Sinister manipulated Prydeman’s X-chromosome and, because Katherine has two and one was damaged or defective, the “backup copy” took over as dominant, whereas the same defect in her father had no effect on him whatsoever-thus the X-factor is literally that, it’s passed through the X-chromosome via the mother).
3. Prydeman’s genetic manipulation was delivered via a virus vector (gene carrier), since viruses have evolved a mechanism to encapsulate and deliver their genes to human cells in a pathogenic manner. Sinister used his genius intellect to take advantage of the virus's biology and manipulate its genome to remove human disease-causing genes and insert desired genes into Prydeman’s genetic makeup (which remains a mystery-because I haven’t thought of them yet). However, with no guarantee that the disease-causing genes were completely removed, Sinister introduced the 47th chromosome which was originally intended by Sinister to exist autonomously alongside the standard 46 human chromosomes, and not affect their functioning or cause any mutations and merely to act as a vector capable of carrying substantial amounts of genetic code for further genetic experimentation/gene splicing. Supposedly, because of its construction and autonomy, the body's immune systems won’t attack it.
4. Unfortunately, Sinister used a retrovirus and not an adeno-associate virus as the original vector. Because the retrovirus created a bigger immune response than an adeno-associate virus would in Prydeman’s system it mutated to adapt to his body and changed its amino acid sequence of the proteins on the surface of the virion and further went through gene reassortment to resist Prydeman’s antibodies. When Sinister introduced the 47th chromosome via another retrovirus vector, the cells already affected by the previous retrovirus mutated the X-chromosome as it was being replicated.
5. Sinister’s purpose is to make psychic super soldiers for a. his government, and b. later himself, or perhaps vice versa. (I have to think on what Sinister’s motivation is for this story-Is canon Sinister’s motivation good enough to warrant this story? This also begs the question of Apocalypse).
6. Katherine’s genes are spliced with several animals DNA in an attempt to enhance her stamina, her dexterity, her agility, her intellect, and promote psychic abilities. One of the animals is the cuttlefish, which can alter its skin color by manipulating its collection of chromatospores, each of which contain a different color pigment. (I chose cuttlefish because chameleons change their color because of mood changes, not for camouflage purposes. Thank you, Animal Planet.) Other animal DNA includes feline genes in increase agility and hunting abilities. Thus her code name Shadowcat or as Sinister calls her SC1. It is a combination of her psychic abilities, the 47th chromosome and the cuttlefish DNA that gives her the ability to shift her molecules through solid objects as a gaseous form. Converting to gaseous form gives her migraines as she has to concentrate on maintaining her form and not dispersing in the atmosphere. Her phasing ability is the only manifestation of her psychic powers.
7. Sinister also creates a genetic twin/clone of Katherine just after Katherine’s genetic manipulation is complete right around her fifth birthday-SC2. This clone is his “control group” in the laboratory while Katherine, living in outside of the laboratory is the “variable group”. The clone knows of Katherine, but Katherine knows nothing other than she has been very sheltered all her life and has had to take combat training and such what. The clone, whom I have yet to name (perhaps with the last name of Stryfe?), is a trained killer and cannot have children.
8. Katherine was raised by Ororo Munroe, who is another of Sinister’s experiments, but since she dies at the beginning, I haven’t done any research on her abilities, if any. I would assume that she is genetically enhanced with animal DNA of some sort. That also means that this Katherine won’t be Jewish, which bothers me because being Jewish is who Kitty Pryde is. Any suggestions on this standpoint would be most helpful.
9. Katherine, who calls herself Kitty because Ororo calls her Kitten, has a very lively and outgoing personality, but she is quick to anger (like canon Kitty). She’s 19 years old and has been treated like a child by Ororo, who seemed very over protective of her. Ororo was not allowed by Sinister to give Kitty much room to grow up. As a result, Kitty gets very defensive when she feels she is being treated as child and it was the cause of much conflict between her and Ororo and the newcomers (616-X-men). She is very bold and impetuous too.