RAJHANS ARRIVED !

RAJHANS ARRIVED !

Hello ! " Aparna Shreshthi here. May I have your appointment Doctor Arya ?"

'Aparna ! Oh ! very glad to here you on phone after a very long lime of 30 years. As I remember we were school mates . Well you can come down to my clinic today evening."

"Oh, great , Let's meet in the evening."

Both meet in the evening

"As an Astronaut and an Astrobiologist I have frequent assignments on an International Space Station 'Friendship'. Usually one assignment is of 1.5 years. Now I am expected to go back on my mission within 15 days."

"O.K. , fine. Come on !. What can I help you?"

"See Arya , I am unmarried. Some two years ago I had to undergo for a removal of uterus due to car accident. But I want Baby."

"I think , Birth Pod or popularly known as Womb woutside woman is the best option for you. It is especially convenient option for women who wish to have a family and profession like astronauts , explorers, work demanding extreme fitness etc. In this Birth Pod option , your embryo would be growing as your clone in the Pod. Here we do not use donor eggs and donor sperms , but shall clone your mammary gland cells to produce a clone baby.

"Hope it is safe"

" See Aparna , in spite of all this there is a very rare possibility of some defect which may arise in an embryo , however we have perfected this technology for zero defect.

"Doctor , can you explain me how does this technique work.?"

" I will tell you, First Nucleus from your skin cell is removed and in this empty skin cell the Nucleus of your mammary gland cell is introduced. As a result hybrid cell is obtained. Under the direct current pulse this newly formed hybrid cell becomes a Blastocyst. It is a 8 cell stage of this embryo which is a rapidly deviding ball of cells. This entire procedure is performed out side the Pod and in a glass dish. Then this 8 cell embryo is put in the Pod with the growth material where it grows. Artificial pods are designed with a real elastic and distendable walls functioning like a muscular uterus."

"Yes Doctor , It is fantastic. I have a faith in you. I agree to go about it. Should we start the procedure soon. I have very little time left, hardly 15 days."

" O K , Tomorrow you will undergo thorough checkup and donate your mammary gland cells and skin cells in Genetics department. You will have to sign a few documents regarding cell donation."

"Fine , Bye Bye Doctor."

***

Aparna was excited about this embryo taking shape of a baby while she was on Friendship Space Station. In the leisure time she use to tide up herself before the screen. It was wonderful , a mother seeing the progress of her embrionic baby.

Today the Earth looked bluish and more beautiful than ever down below. "My little one is coming up well". Aparna zoomed her camera on the specific one "BP008-DrAR/45 yrs/Primigravida-Singleton". Means it is Birth Pod Number 8, Patient of Dr Arya, Patient is 45 Years old , First time , Single baby". Here the Birth Pod was supported on the stand Number 8, five feet high. This pod was monitored by an Android midwife 'Aparnoid-5000'. Aparna zoomed to watch lovingly 28 week 4 day baby. Eyes shut , well curled inside the Baby Pod, Body structures and the tissues are formed, Gentle movement of the umbilical cord , soft breathing and the dead silence of the dark womb. It was all amaizing for Aparna.

***

'Aparnoid-5000' could detect some abnormality which was indicated on the pod monitor attached to the digital microscope with a blinking red light. Dr Arya received an auto message accordingly. She rushed the spot within no time.

Oh ! something is abnormal !

Now Arya was worried.

"How could this child get this disorder? Is it because of some shortcomings in the technology ? How can I tell Aparna about this ? No , I should not tell her. But according to medical ethics I can not keep mother in dark. ! What will happen to her sweet dreams? She has already taken many photographs of this beautiful growing baby and uploaded on social media too! How am I going to face this problem ?

Well let me organize first and decide on the next strategy. I must consult Dr. Radha who is a renowned DNA technologist.

Hello , Dr Radha , It is a case of abnormality in Pod No 8. Are you available today ?

O.K. let us schedule our meeting at 11 am. I shall personally check the problem and then decide the strategy.

Dr. Radha and her technical team carried out some cryo-electron microscopic observations and narrated the problem to Dr. Arya.

See Dr Arya , It is a case of 'Down Syndrome'. In every normal cell there are 23 pairs of chromosomes. That means 46 threads. However in such abnormal situation Cromosome No. 21 develops an additional thread and becomes triple. So this embryo shows 47 threads. This additional thread attached to Chromosome No. 21 will have to be removed. This can be done by CRISPR technology.

Now let me scan the amniotic fluid in the pod through microscope and find out the exact location of the affected part on Chromosome No. 21.

Yes , the development of this additional thread is because of the defective sequence of 17 Genes on Chromosome No. 21. I know an expert Bioinformatician Dr. Nihar, who is the Director of 'BioBrick' bank. I shall talk to him.

Hello , May I speak to Dr. Nihar? Dr. Radha here.

Yes , Dr. Nihar here. What can I help you Doctor.?

It is a case of Down Syndrome . Sequence of 17 genes on Chromosome No. 21 is found defective. I shall send you a map of DNA sequence soon. Kindly let me know the availability of a 'BioBrick' for the same.

O K M'am, I shall go through tha Data base and shall let you know soon.

[Dr. Nihar receives the DNA map. 60 minutes later. ]

Yes M'am , the template is ready. It will take 7 days to make the desired 17 gene frame. We can replace it with CRISPR technology. But the success rate is 50%. Should we go ahead ?

Dr. Nihar , please start the procedure.

Dr. Arya was curious about knowing this CRISPR technology from Dr. Radha. Radha explains.

'It works in 3 stages. Initially Special genetic probe detects the target defective sequence. In this case it is 17 genes sequence. Then Cas-9 , one of the enzymes produced by CRISPR system cuts that defective sequence. And in the third stage defective sequence is replaced by the healthy one available from 'BioBrick'. So it is a Gene editing technique. Am I clear ? I am sure it will work.'

Oh, It is something great.

Accordingly seven injections were prescribed in this gene therapy. This protocal was administered by Dr. Nihar to the Pod Baby.

***

Today as usual , Aparna zoomed to watch her loving baby. She was bit surprised to see a team of doctors surrounding the Pod and injecting some fluids in the pod. She was restless with this scene and had a doubt , something must have gone wrong. Initially she tried to ignore it , thinking that Dr. Arya otherwise would have told her accordingly . However she could not resist her curiocity and had a satellite call.

Dr. Arya , is there anything wrong ?

No, Aparna , It is just a routine checkup. Nothing to worry.

Dr. Arya , I can read your face right now. You seem to be worried. Please let me know what is wrong?

Dr. Arya could not stop her from bursting out in to emotions. She said " See parna, Embryo is detected with Down Syndrome. The baby is under the modern gene therapy treatment. It is a four week treatment and I am sure we shall sort out the problem soon. You please rest assured.

Sure , I have faith in you. I shall pray for the recovery.

And this strong leady puts off the camera with tears in her eyes.

***

7th dose was already over and now was a time to do some microscopic and biochemical tests. to conform the results.

May I talk to Dr. Arya ? Dr. Nihar here.

Yes , Dr. Nihar , I am eagerly waiting for the results.

M'am , you have not to wait any more now. There is a good news for you. The baby is out of danger. You can just relax. I have prescribed some medicines for one month, and that's all.

O.K. Thank you very much Doctor. For me it is miracle through the advanced gene technology. Once again thank you.

My joy new no bounds. Now I could face Aparna without any guilt. Dr. Arya said.

Bip....Bip....Bip.... Aparna was surprised to get this sound on her screen late at midnight on 'Friendship'. She could see Dr. Arya on the screen standing aside the pod.

Hy, Hello , Aparna , I am extremely happy to share a good news for we all. Your baby is now out of danger. You can take a look at it. Please enjoy , be happy and God bless you.

Arya, You have won the battle with great perseverance and positivity. How many days are left for my baby to step out in this real world ?

Just few days more.

***

Aparna was excited about her delivery in the 'Friendship International Space Station' . It would be another 5 hours before the baby would be delivered.

'Aparna , are you sure you want to wear 'Labour Pain simulator' button in space ?' Aparnoid-5000 had asked her.

Yes ,of course , I want to experience labour pains while in the space station. She gently touched the simulator button kept on her navel. The button was virtually syncronized with the stop watch. She began to sweat. She was breathing deeply in between. Now the labour pains became more intense. Suddenly she wanted to push.Her baby was just stepping out.

Down below in the Birth Pod , baby had begun to move eagerly. The walls of the pod started showing the cracks. The pod was about to break like an egg. Aparna was experiencing both extreme pain and pleasure simultaneously. Aparnoid-5000 , a midwife was assigned for the delivery. The pod cracked and Aparna felt a gush of water. Aparnoid-5000 was standing by to receive the baby. When the stop watch stoped at 00.00 , a soft alarm went off and the baby was born. 'See how cute , sleek and cherubic it looks', Aparnoid-5000 said.

Aparna exclimed 'How cute is my RAJHANS.

Rajhans arrived on this planet as a pod baby on 5th January 2070.

Aparna's three astronaut colleagues congratulated her.

Aparnoid-5000 was designed to look exactly like Aparna. Its voive , choice , gestures , postures , haircut was also designed like that. It even received a surface transplant of the cultured skin cells of Aparna so that the baby could smell her mother. Aparna , the biological mother had to stay on 'Friendship' space station till August 2070, so for the next 7 months Aparnoid-5000 , the virtual mother , was going to take care of RAJHANS.