ReGenesis s02e07 Episode Script
Talk to Him
- Yeah.
- Hey.
Carlos! Hey, did you get my cigars yet? Funny you should ask, I'm sending them by air express.
Okay really? These are very special, Mayko.
And please do not share them with anyone.
- What? - Eva was telling me, there's a Cuban tradition that if you find one with a band upside down, then you win a free box.
So David and I are very anxious to hear if you get lucky.
Uh How are things going down there? Good, good.
Just something unusual.
The fastidiosa seems resistant to chloramphenicol.
The equipment here is going to take us too long to find out if it's been engineered.
Huh Not like our equipment.
That's it, Mayko.
Got it.
And, Carlos, thanks again for the cigars.
- Okay, see you soon.
- Bye.
- Hey.
- Hey.
So, rumour has it your old high school boyfriend is in town And you're hooking up in David's apartment? Really? And where do these rumours come from, I wonder? I overheard you on the phone.
- So are you excited? - Ah No.
The only thing that's on my mind right now is isolating the retrovirus that is swimming around in my Korean stem cell line.
You'll do it.
Well, if you smell something gross in virology, it's me decomposing, dead from the tedium.
Ha! It's that bad, huh? Oh man, I've checked it.
I've rechecked it.
I've checked it in another lab.
I've checked another sample.
I've checked my ingredients.
I don't You know, maybe you should share the info.
See what others find.
Hold myself up to public ridicule, you mean? I think the word is "scrutiny".
I don't know, I mean, you're talking about a possible treatment for juvenile diabetes.
I know.
I guess I should send it out there, huh? Do you want me to do it? Y eah.
Okay.
Thanks, Mayko.
OK, one, we have a leafhopper from Cuba and a leafhopper from Florida.
- Enrico, are those the same species? - David, I told you, they could not be from here.
We eradicated our leafhoppers.
Now you can prove it.
Two.
We are going to prove 100% that what we are dealing with here is exactly the same bacterium as the one in Florida.
Carlos and I will do the RFLP test.
- So, now we wait.
- Right.
Enrico, you got anything? The specimen from Florida and the one you found in Cuba are the same species.
Homalodisca coagulata.
- The Glassy-winged sharpshooter.
Shit.
-Yo no comprendo.
I don't understand, we eradicated it.
We have UN documentation.
What's your best guess on where it came from? Well, it is a highly dispersive insect and with all the Caribbean storms of the last few years, es possible, it could come back.
Still, American agents could have planted it.
Or Cuban agents could have gone to Miami and collected some samples for later dispersion, right? So let's just focus on what we know: the insect vector has shown up-- - Conveniently - in Cuba.
Conveniently, yes.
Convenient if you want a war.
They have all the evidence.
The insect and the bacterium.
Sandstrom won't bring them back.
I know that, Sir.
Okay, Glenn, I'm going to ask you some easy questions, and then, I'm going to give you a choice of answering "yes" or "no".
Okay, and when you hear the answer that you want, I want you to imagine picking up a glass of water.
Or reaching for it.
Moving your hand.
Why his hand? Because we want him to activate two totally different parts of his brain.
We don't want to mistake a language-based response with a language-based stimulation.
When he listens to your question, of his brain, here, should fire away.
And when he attempts to respond, the motor center, this part here, that should fire.
- I see.
- Okay.
So, um Yes/no questions that you can verify as correct or incorrect.
Okay.
Please try to answer.
Um, did you ever have a cat? Yes? No? Is that correct? No cat? Yeah.
He wanted one.
But, my sister was allergic.
Ask him some more.
Do you like horror movies? Yes Incredible! - He likes a good scare, does he? - Yeah! All right, Caroline, ask him some more questions and give him choices, but not yes or no.
Okay.
Glenn, you're doing great.
What street did you grow up on? Was it Spadina Road? Bloor Street? Grey River Trail? Awesome! Poor guy hasn't used his brain in, what, nearly two years.
He's gonna be exhausted, we should let him rest.
Simon, this is amazing.
I mean, this is proof that he's really in there, you know? Aware and listening.
So, where do we go from here? Well, we take it to the next step.
And I have to warn you, Caroline, the next step, if you agree to it, it's a big one.
It's traumatic.
It's radical.
What is it? Brain surgery.
And brain surgery is never easy on the patient or the patient's family.
Yeah, I know.
What's the procedure? Ah Well, electrodes would be dropped down into his subthalamic nucleus and his globus pallidus interna.
Like they're doing for Parkinson's patients? Right, exactly.
Yeah, like I said, radical but feasible.
And how will that help him, exactly? Well, it'll stimulate the disconnected systems in his brain - thank you - and get them working together again.
And the risks? Yeah, there are risks with surgery, as you know, risks of something going wrong, risks of infection.
The biggest downside is that once the implants are in, we can't image him.
We can't do an MRI? Not once the electrodes are in place, no.
Well if you can't do an MRI or ask him to respond, how are we going to know it's working? Well, he'll He'll emerge.
You're divorced? Yeah.
Yeah, for over a year now.
Oh, I'm sorry.
I didn't know.
No, much better for it.
So how about you, you were always into science and stuff.
Yeah.
I'm curing Diabetes.
- What do you mean? - Well There are these amazing little things called stem cells.
- Yeah, I've heard of those.
- You've heard of them? Stem cells can grow and become any part of the human body.
But how do you make them grow? I figured out a way to combine stem cells from two different sources.
Which caused one of the stem cell lines to become insulin-producing pancreatic cells; and insulin is the thing that diabetics are lacking.
So, the next step is to transplant the resulting pancreatic cells into diabetics, hope that they grow, produce insulin, cure the disease.
Wow.
Yeah, well, it'll be good when it's over.
It's all messed up right now.
There's a factor in cell line B, that I need to identify So you haven't been able to identify what? Well It's like, there's something magical in one of the stem cell lines that causes it to grow into a pancreas but it's also infected with a virus.
So I've got to figure it out before I can publish my findings.
What? What? Just remembering those eyes.
My eyes? What color are they? Brown.
Would you get the fuck out of my date? Your date is in my house.
Gary's a really nice guy.
Please don't ruin this for me.
Brown.
But if you look real closely at them They're hazel.
And they have tiny flecks of gold speckled in them.
That's very good.
I'm sorry.
I'm just I'm sorry.
Seeing someone? No.
Not really.
So, señores? are the identical length.
It's definitely the same bacterium.
Sorry, Eva.
Let's see what Mayko found.
- Got anything for me? - So I've been comparing the genome sequence we have with every other strain of fastidiosa ever analyzed and - this looks like a different bug.
- Yeah? Here's the genome.
But it's bizarre, because look at this gene.
The chloramphenicol resistance, it's not natural.
There.
A genetic marker was added so someone could track it.
- You're sure? - Yeah, this is genetically engineered.
It's textbook.
And very professional.
- Got any more good news? - Well what do you want to know? Put everything you've got on our website and start breaking it down for me, would you? - 12,000 genes? Which ones? - All of them.
Go in each direction from the chloramphenicol insert, try to find out what they were doing.
Okay, sure.
I'll get back to you as soon as I can.
Can you send it to my computer? Yeah.
Holy shit! What? Take a look at this.
Eva, come here, take a look at this.
I was just checking some of the flanking sequences.
Look where the chloramphenicol insert is.
See what they took out? The virulence genes are gone! Yeah.
That makes no sense.
They replaced the disease causing genes with one to track the bacterium.
Then it should be harmless.
If the intent behind this was bioterrorism, why would you take out the poison genes and replace them with a genetic fucking flag? I mean, wouldn't you want to hide it? And if the killer genes are gone, why does it still kill? Obviously we're missing something.
Are we completely wrong on this? Hang on.
Hey.
Now what? Can you trace that marker? See if it's patented.
Sure.
What are you thinking? Many things.
We have sure-fire proof from NorBAC, a team of independent scientists, and they say Cubans are behind this terrorist act, - What the fuck! - this international terrorism.
I am meeting with the Joint Chiefs to reckon my response.
I assure you it'll be fair Eva, I have no idea why NorBAC would say that.
I had nothing to do with that announcement.
Why didn't you call me last night? I just got your message, David.
- I'm as furious as you are.
- Who authorized it? McGuinn? I told McGuinn your 72 hours weren't up.
Who jumped the gun? Washington? I'm trying to find out.
I've called McGuinn 20 times.
Nobody knows where he is.
What are you going to tell him? The only thing I can tell him.
What's that? - What are you going to tell him? - I got to go, David.
Goodbye.
You better have a hell of a good story.
Not only good, but true.
I called the State Department, said hold your horses, the whole thing is up in the air.
Someone, somewhere, somehow got creative.
Look, I want you to know I contacted the White House and told them they made an incorrect statement.
I RESIGN! - CAROLINE MORISSON - No.
No, no, no, no, no.
- What choice do I have? They're making us into liars.
If you resign, that nut Sandstrom will resign, and NorBAC will be finished.
What's the point of that? You can't flush this place down the crapper just because you don't get your way one time.
Morrison, let's fly down to Washington and sort this all out.
I'm on your side.
Caroline.
The news on you is all sunny.
Brains, guts, presence.
Anything's possible.
Congress.
Senate.
Who knows? Don't shoot that pretty foot over some idiot making a wrong announcement.
What if it did come from the top? Like I said: Some idiot.
You'll stay to fight another day? Caroline! Only if you make it right over Cuba.
- I'll do it.
- Yeah, we'll see.
- David, we got something.
- What? This gene.
We just blasted it on the NCBI database.
Yeah, it's another killer gene, and it's probably the cause of the new virulence.
Except this gene has never been seen before in fastidiosa.
So we're looking around trying to find where it came from.
Guess what we came up with? "Xanthomonas".
What the hell is that? - Citrus Canker.
- Native to Florida.
The Americans got rid of the virulence genes in the fastidiosa just to add other different virulence genes from the canker? Let's call the source.
According to Mayko the patent holder of the marker gene is a Jonathan Barker, UCLA.
At the very least, I'm sure he'd like to hear that his invention is being used in agricultural bioterrorism.
Hello? - Jonathan Barker? - Yes.
David Sandstrom, NorBAC Labs.
I'm calling you from Cuba.
Cuba? I saw the news this morning.
What's up? Well, the fastidiosa that we're dealing with down here seems to be a strain that you engineered using your marker gene.
OK? You cut out all the virulent genes from your bacterium, is that correct? - Yeah, that's right.
- Well, it's been re-engineered.
Virulence genes from a citrus canker have been added, making one really virulent bacterium.
In the grapes? I didn't know they had grapes down there.
- Grapes? - Yeah.
This is a grape vaccine? Against the fastidiosa.
We've been That's what we've been doing here for the past 3 years.
David? What is it? David? An orange grove in Florida, a vineyard in California.
That son-of-a-bitch.
Charringa infected his own crops.
Why? This will be all over really soon.
And then you'll come back to us.
Okay? Morning, Mayko.
Hey.
Oh! Uh Bob, Your geologist friend sent some stuff over.
For your orchids and atmosphere.
This isn't the Asian brown cloud.
This is Mexico.
Oh no.
The same inversion that's killing the orchids in Asia is forming over Mexico.
And this is worse.
Why? Well, the cloud is 2 kilometres deep.
My colleagues are reporting that there are spikes in the sulfates and the soot.
Probably coming out of Mount Popocatepetl.
Spikes in industrial pollutants.
Dust and pesticides.
Temperatures on the ground are rising.
And with the weakening cyclonic winds in the jet stream, this cloud could stay over Mexico for months.
It isn't just the orchids in Mexico that are going to die.
This needs to be monitored closely.
- Mayko - Bob, I'll keep an eye on it.
Thank you.
I'll make copies.
Okay.
- Hey.
- Hey.
You look exhausted.
Do I? I didn't sleep last night.
Hmm The high school guy? No.
- Why not? - Couldn't do it.
He was the nicest, nicest guy.
And and I couldn't do it.
And I stayed up all night and thought about why I couldn't do it.
- Anyway - Oh! I got something for you.
from researchers who've been using the Korean stem cell line.
And They are all pretty pissed.
No one likes bad news.
Actually, no one likes bad science.
I beg your pardon? They're all questioning your procedures.
Oh.
Okay.
"We've assayed our South Korean stem cells on 32 occasions and have never found any retrovirus activity and all PCR tests are negative.
Suggest you hire skilled technicians.
" "NorBAC: Scientists from three countries team up to get it wrong, wrong, wrong.
" Hey Jill.
I forgot to tell you I called Jay Krauskopf at Apliex Pharmaceuticals.
He got a batch of the same stem cell lines on the same day.
No contamination.
No reverse transcriptase, no DNA or RNA evidence of viral infection.
Look, you guys, I'm not crazy.
I've tested it 5 times.
Maybe you should do it again.
- Yeah.
- And I'll watch.
Watch me like my boss? Well, what you're doing is biochemistry, and I am a biochemist.
Watch this.
Come on, Bob.
Here you go, Mayko.
Thank you.
Do you think they will listen to you? I'll make them listen.
When all this is over, why don't you come up for a visit? It is not easy for me to go.
But maybe you can come back with some good news for me.
Yeah, sure.
David I have here a present for the people of America.
On how we eradicated the leafhopper in Cuba.
Now you can do it too.
- This will come in very handy, I'm sure.
- I hope so.
And I have a little something for you.
Ah There's nothing hidden in these is there? Only pleasure.
Thank you.
Goodbye.
Have a safe flight, David.
Thank you, David.
- Carlos - Enrico.
Goodbye.
- Muchas gracias por todo.
- De nada.
Buon viaje.
Yes, I sterilized it.
I double-checked it twice.
Bob, I learned that in Lab Procedures junior year.
- Everything looks standard.
- Exactly.
- Except the buffer.
- Buffer? Where'd you get the recipe? From my post-doc supervisor at Cal Tech.
Karl Heinz.
He was trained in Heidelberg.
It is old-school bomb-proof shit.
Yeah.
But it contains magnesium and manganese.
Right.
Well, no one else makes their own solutions anymore.
Everybody in the world uses kits.
- And the kits use magnesium.
- So? So maybe that's why nobody else can duplicate your results.
OK.
OK.
So we'll do another assay comparing buffers with and without manganese.
Do it up.
You going to watch again? It went well, Caroline.
It's going to be a little while before he gets out of recovery.
You should go home.
- Get some rest.
- No.
No, I can't It's going to be at least tomorrow before we even try to reach him.
- He's fine? - Yeah.
Yeah.
He's about to start a big adventure.
Thank you.
Thank you, Simon.
There.
The pure magnesium buffer.
No RT activity.
But using manganese-magnesium: Reverse transcriptase! Outstanding! Hey, Mayko! - What? - I was right.
So, you need to send out my buffer specs to all of those labs.
Nice.
Yeah, so I'll tell them to use your buffer and they will taste defeat.
It still doesn't solve my big problem, though.
The South Korean stem cell line is the only one that provides the right nutrients to keep the pancreatic cells alive.
And it is contaminated with a virus.
Yeah, you're right.
So, you're going to have to ID the retrovirus and prove that it's harmless before your results can go forward.
That's what I've been trying to do.
Or you need to purify whatever is in that cell supernatant that's responsible for the growth-enhancing properties.
That could take months maybe years.
So much for my triumph.
It's good work, Jill.
Thank you, Bob.
Excuse me.
I need to see Señor Charringa.
He's way down there.
What are you doing here, McGuinn? Caroline couldn't make it.
Yeah, I couldn't get in touch with her.
What's going on? Personal things.
I didn't know Caroline had a personal thing, let alone more than one.
You'd be surprised.
- We need to sort this out, David.
- Gee, you think? Who's the asshole who ruined NorBAC's reputation? - Wasn't me.
- Well who was it? 'Cause that's where I'm going next with a baseball bat.
I'm working on it.
So what did you find out? I'm working on it.
Ah.
We meet again, gentlemen! Welcome to my new venture.
- Flowers! It's good to see you both.
- Good to see you.
I'm growing Brassavola from Brazil.
- It's-- - Nice, okay.
Here it is.
The fastidiosa bacterium is heading north from Brazil.
So you decided to do a pre-emptive vaccination on your Florida groves.
Scientist boys in California are already using a genetically engineered version of fastidiosa as a vaccine against the disease in grapes.
So you figure, hey, why not citrus, right? I don't understand.
The California vaccine, picks up some Florida canker bad shit, in this case a virulence gene, suddenly you've got the bacterium that nearly ate Florida citrus.
Because your boys didn't do their homework, insurance won't pay for devastation you pretty much brought on yourself.
So you point your middle finger at Cuba - get some of your old buddies to plant the bad stuff over there at some lab for us to find.
You, yourself, NorBAC, said the Cubans were behind it.
Well, technically speaking we didn't, right, McGuinn? The White House is releasing a retraction at six.
Friday at six? That's the burial hour.
By Monday morning it'll be long forgotten.
What Dr.
Sandstrom says, this is all true? I was hoping you'd be able to deny it.
Aguilar! Were you vaccinating the trees? Did you use a vaccine for the grape on our citrus? Where did the scientists come from? California.
We were doing this to ourselves.
Our word means nothing, we are ruined.
Jill! Jill! What? What? I've been calling you for so long, I'm going to go hoarse.
And your friend at the desk, he smells like one.
What friend? Some kid says he knows you and David.
What? Thank you.
- Owen? - Hey.
I know you.
What are you doing here? Oh, I thought I'd dig myself out of a New York hole.
Is David around? No.
No, sorry.
He'll be back in a couple of days.
Okay.
I just want to say thanks.
You know, because I got out of that shit in New York.
Good.
That's good for you.
So where are you staying? Well, I checked out the Ritz downtown and then the Regency, 'cause I heard it had a better spa.
- You hungry? - No, I'm fine.
Do you need a place to crash? - No, really, I'm - You're full of shit.
OK.
I wanted to get out of New York, and you guys were really good to me and I didn't have anywhere else to go.
Yeah.
I'm starving.
It's OK.
It'll be all right.
Come on.
Here you go.
Look, I really need to talk to her, Wes, where is she? I don't know, David.
She left early this afternoon.
- Have you tried her on her cell? - Of course I tried her on it! Have they stopped the fucking invasion? Why would they do that? Because I explained to McGuinn that the Cubans had nothing to do with it.
Well then, I'm sure he's advising the proper channels.
Oh, you're sure, are you Wes? Would it be too much trouble for you to be absolutely fucking certain? - No.
It wouldn't be too much trouble.
- Good.
Call me when you find out.
David! Hi.
You're back.
I'm so sorry.
- Is everything all right? - Hi.
Hi.
Owen? What are you doing here? Uh Well, you said if ever I was in town I should look you up.
No.
I said you could call me.
No sweat.
I'll go.
I know a nice spot for him under the Gardiner Expressway.
Don't you have some relatives you could stay with or? There's an uncle in Boston I wanted to hook up with but then dude disappeared - so I was on the road, and I figured - that I'd find you, 'cause I figured.
- Bad figuring.
'Cause I figured I did what you said.
I got rid of the weed.
And now, the 2 guys who owned the weed, well, they want to kill me.
- What? - Who? Look, I just need a place for a bit.
The bottom line is, you need you need a better place than this.
Like a foster home? I don't know why I don't have these brilliant ideas? - Alright.
It was great to see you.
- Okay.
Okay.
Okay.
Owen.
Hang on.
David.
Can I talk to you for a second? I'll be outside.
David.
What? You're not just going to kick him out? Yeah, I am.
I don't do kids well, alright.
- Yeah, I know.
- So I don't want him here.
But that kid has been pushed aside by everybody.
Are you just going to ignore him? Ignore the problem and hope it goes away? I just wanted to be alone, right now.
With you.
Well we can wait.
But he can't.
Come on.
Go on in there and give the kid a break.
He can sleep on the couch.
Jill! Owen! - Hey.
- Hi.
I woke up to an empty apartment this morning, what's going on? I just had a lot of work to do.
What about Owen? Where's he? I don't know.
He was eating toast last time I saw him.
Maybe he stepped out for a smoke.
Well, maybe he'll still be smoking when we get home tonight so we can finally, you know, talk about I found out that my aparment's been fixed, so I'm going home tonight.
Oh.
All right.
Well, you want to have dinner? I don't think we're a good idea right now.
Oh.
Really.
I mean.
Good.
'Cause, me neither.
And that's what I wanted to talk about, so Good.
I've got to get to work.
Yeah, I've got to work, too.
Let's talk to him.
Ask him a question.
Glenn, is there anything we can do for you? A-B- C-D- E-F- G-H-I- J-K-L-- Hold on.
L.
A-B-C- D-E-- Hold on.
E.
A-B-C You're doing great Glenn.
A-B- C-D- - E-- - Hold.
It's a decision he's had a lot of time to make.
And he was finally able to express it.
But do we have to listen? We don't have to listen.
I mean, it's up to us ultimately.
And we don't have to do anything.
It's up to you, Caroline.
If you decide to discontinue life-sustaining care, well - First, they'd give him a morphine drip.
- Why? Why morphine? To make him comfortable and relaxed.
Then, they'd remove the endotracheal tube.
And, his breathing will slow down.
And, it'll be peaceful.
How long until? - Caroline - How long, Bob? A few minutes, maybe.
What are you thinking, Caroline? I'm thinking, I don't know if I can do this.
I mean, could you? So, uh I'm going to think about it.
I don't know.
Maybe I just need to sit with him for a while and uh.
Yeah.
Thank you, Bob.
We're running.
Glenn, we're running and Feel the leaves under our feet? See the dappled sunlight? We're in a forest.
We're just going, so fast now that the wind is pinching our ears and our eyes are watering and we can't even feel our cheeks anymore.
Look out for the brambles.
Jump! Watch out there's a low branch.
Duck! That's a really treacherous run, isn't it? But we don't care.
We don't care because Look up ahead, there's a there's a there's a meadow.
Can you see it? Evening primrose and steeplebush just waiting for you Now you can run.
I heard about Glenn.
- Bob, I'm sorry.
- The cloud.
Here.
We could be heading towards a perfect pollution storm over Mexico City.
Homeland Security's been keeping a close watch on two brothers.
Scientists.
Vincent and Stefan Manford.
The Manford Brothers sent this - to the President of the United States.
- Big fans? Not at all.
They've been very verbal about how much they disliked the way the President has been handling US affairs.
Them and 75% of the rest of the world.
We wanted to remind him of the blood of American soldiers who died in Iraq.
We wrote that in our note.
Did he get our note? Just test the bottle and then you No, we are going to Chicago to take a look at their lab.
- Take a look at their lab? - I have my orders, David.
Orders! Since when did we join the fucking army? Orders! Jesus! This is bullshit! No more games.
I need you online now if we're going to do this together.
Make it your top priority, remember only you know the whole story.
Get started at regenesistv.
com.
- Hey.
Carlos! Hey, did you get my cigars yet? Funny you should ask, I'm sending them by air express.
Okay really? These are very special, Mayko.
And please do not share them with anyone.
- What? - Eva was telling me, there's a Cuban tradition that if you find one with a band upside down, then you win a free box.
So David and I are very anxious to hear if you get lucky.
Uh How are things going down there? Good, good.
Just something unusual.
The fastidiosa seems resistant to chloramphenicol.
The equipment here is going to take us too long to find out if it's been engineered.
Huh Not like our equipment.
That's it, Mayko.
Got it.
And, Carlos, thanks again for the cigars.
- Okay, see you soon.
- Bye.
- Hey.
- Hey.
So, rumour has it your old high school boyfriend is in town And you're hooking up in David's apartment? Really? And where do these rumours come from, I wonder? I overheard you on the phone.
- So are you excited? - Ah No.
The only thing that's on my mind right now is isolating the retrovirus that is swimming around in my Korean stem cell line.
You'll do it.
Well, if you smell something gross in virology, it's me decomposing, dead from the tedium.
Ha! It's that bad, huh? Oh man, I've checked it.
I've rechecked it.
I've checked it in another lab.
I've checked another sample.
I've checked my ingredients.
I don't You know, maybe you should share the info.
See what others find.
Hold myself up to public ridicule, you mean? I think the word is "scrutiny".
I don't know, I mean, you're talking about a possible treatment for juvenile diabetes.
I know.
I guess I should send it out there, huh? Do you want me to do it? Y eah.
Okay.
Thanks, Mayko.
OK, one, we have a leafhopper from Cuba and a leafhopper from Florida.
- Enrico, are those the same species? - David, I told you, they could not be from here.
We eradicated our leafhoppers.
Now you can prove it.
Two.
We are going to prove 100% that what we are dealing with here is exactly the same bacterium as the one in Florida.
Carlos and I will do the RFLP test.
- So, now we wait.
- Right.
Enrico, you got anything? The specimen from Florida and the one you found in Cuba are the same species.
Homalodisca coagulata.
- The Glassy-winged sharpshooter.
Shit.
-Yo no comprendo.
I don't understand, we eradicated it.
We have UN documentation.
What's your best guess on where it came from? Well, it is a highly dispersive insect and with all the Caribbean storms of the last few years, es possible, it could come back.
Still, American agents could have planted it.
Or Cuban agents could have gone to Miami and collected some samples for later dispersion, right? So let's just focus on what we know: the insect vector has shown up-- - Conveniently - in Cuba.
Conveniently, yes.
Convenient if you want a war.
They have all the evidence.
The insect and the bacterium.
Sandstrom won't bring them back.
I know that, Sir.
Okay, Glenn, I'm going to ask you some easy questions, and then, I'm going to give you a choice of answering "yes" or "no".
Okay, and when you hear the answer that you want, I want you to imagine picking up a glass of water.
Or reaching for it.
Moving your hand.
Why his hand? Because we want him to activate two totally different parts of his brain.
We don't want to mistake a language-based response with a language-based stimulation.
When he listens to your question, of his brain, here, should fire away.
And when he attempts to respond, the motor center, this part here, that should fire.
- I see.
- Okay.
So, um Yes/no questions that you can verify as correct or incorrect.
Okay.
Please try to answer.
Um, did you ever have a cat? Yes? No? Is that correct? No cat? Yeah.
He wanted one.
But, my sister was allergic.
Ask him some more.
Do you like horror movies? Yes Incredible! - He likes a good scare, does he? - Yeah! All right, Caroline, ask him some more questions and give him choices, but not yes or no.
Okay.
Glenn, you're doing great.
What street did you grow up on? Was it Spadina Road? Bloor Street? Grey River Trail? Awesome! Poor guy hasn't used his brain in, what, nearly two years.
He's gonna be exhausted, we should let him rest.
Simon, this is amazing.
I mean, this is proof that he's really in there, you know? Aware and listening.
So, where do we go from here? Well, we take it to the next step.
And I have to warn you, Caroline, the next step, if you agree to it, it's a big one.
It's traumatic.
It's radical.
What is it? Brain surgery.
And brain surgery is never easy on the patient or the patient's family.
Yeah, I know.
What's the procedure? Ah Well, electrodes would be dropped down into his subthalamic nucleus and his globus pallidus interna.
Like they're doing for Parkinson's patients? Right, exactly.
Yeah, like I said, radical but feasible.
And how will that help him, exactly? Well, it'll stimulate the disconnected systems in his brain - thank you - and get them working together again.
And the risks? Yeah, there are risks with surgery, as you know, risks of something going wrong, risks of infection.
The biggest downside is that once the implants are in, we can't image him.
We can't do an MRI? Not once the electrodes are in place, no.
Well if you can't do an MRI or ask him to respond, how are we going to know it's working? Well, he'll He'll emerge.
You're divorced? Yeah.
Yeah, for over a year now.
Oh, I'm sorry.
I didn't know.
No, much better for it.
So how about you, you were always into science and stuff.
Yeah.
I'm curing Diabetes.
- What do you mean? - Well There are these amazing little things called stem cells.
- Yeah, I've heard of those.
- You've heard of them? Stem cells can grow and become any part of the human body.
But how do you make them grow? I figured out a way to combine stem cells from two different sources.
Which caused one of the stem cell lines to become insulin-producing pancreatic cells; and insulin is the thing that diabetics are lacking.
So, the next step is to transplant the resulting pancreatic cells into diabetics, hope that they grow, produce insulin, cure the disease.
Wow.
Yeah, well, it'll be good when it's over.
It's all messed up right now.
There's a factor in cell line B, that I need to identify So you haven't been able to identify what? Well It's like, there's something magical in one of the stem cell lines that causes it to grow into a pancreas but it's also infected with a virus.
So I've got to figure it out before I can publish my findings.
What? What? Just remembering those eyes.
My eyes? What color are they? Brown.
Would you get the fuck out of my date? Your date is in my house.
Gary's a really nice guy.
Please don't ruin this for me.
Brown.
But if you look real closely at them They're hazel.
And they have tiny flecks of gold speckled in them.
That's very good.
I'm sorry.
I'm just I'm sorry.
Seeing someone? No.
Not really.
So, señores? are the identical length.
It's definitely the same bacterium.
Sorry, Eva.
Let's see what Mayko found.
- Got anything for me? - So I've been comparing the genome sequence we have with every other strain of fastidiosa ever analyzed and - this looks like a different bug.
- Yeah? Here's the genome.
But it's bizarre, because look at this gene.
The chloramphenicol resistance, it's not natural.
There.
A genetic marker was added so someone could track it.
- You're sure? - Yeah, this is genetically engineered.
It's textbook.
And very professional.
- Got any more good news? - Well what do you want to know? Put everything you've got on our website and start breaking it down for me, would you? - 12,000 genes? Which ones? - All of them.
Go in each direction from the chloramphenicol insert, try to find out what they were doing.
Okay, sure.
I'll get back to you as soon as I can.
Can you send it to my computer? Yeah.
Holy shit! What? Take a look at this.
Eva, come here, take a look at this.
I was just checking some of the flanking sequences.
Look where the chloramphenicol insert is.
See what they took out? The virulence genes are gone! Yeah.
That makes no sense.
They replaced the disease causing genes with one to track the bacterium.
Then it should be harmless.
If the intent behind this was bioterrorism, why would you take out the poison genes and replace them with a genetic fucking flag? I mean, wouldn't you want to hide it? And if the killer genes are gone, why does it still kill? Obviously we're missing something.
Are we completely wrong on this? Hang on.
Hey.
Now what? Can you trace that marker? See if it's patented.
Sure.
What are you thinking? Many things.
We have sure-fire proof from NorBAC, a team of independent scientists, and they say Cubans are behind this terrorist act, - What the fuck! - this international terrorism.
I am meeting with the Joint Chiefs to reckon my response.
I assure you it'll be fair Eva, I have no idea why NorBAC would say that.
I had nothing to do with that announcement.
Why didn't you call me last night? I just got your message, David.
- I'm as furious as you are.
- Who authorized it? McGuinn? I told McGuinn your 72 hours weren't up.
Who jumped the gun? Washington? I'm trying to find out.
I've called McGuinn 20 times.
Nobody knows where he is.
What are you going to tell him? The only thing I can tell him.
What's that? - What are you going to tell him? - I got to go, David.
Goodbye.
You better have a hell of a good story.
Not only good, but true.
I called the State Department, said hold your horses, the whole thing is up in the air.
Someone, somewhere, somehow got creative.
Look, I want you to know I contacted the White House and told them they made an incorrect statement.
I RESIGN! - CAROLINE MORISSON - No.
No, no, no, no, no.
- What choice do I have? They're making us into liars.
If you resign, that nut Sandstrom will resign, and NorBAC will be finished.
What's the point of that? You can't flush this place down the crapper just because you don't get your way one time.
Morrison, let's fly down to Washington and sort this all out.
I'm on your side.
Caroline.
The news on you is all sunny.
Brains, guts, presence.
Anything's possible.
Congress.
Senate.
Who knows? Don't shoot that pretty foot over some idiot making a wrong announcement.
What if it did come from the top? Like I said: Some idiot.
You'll stay to fight another day? Caroline! Only if you make it right over Cuba.
- I'll do it.
- Yeah, we'll see.
- David, we got something.
- What? This gene.
We just blasted it on the NCBI database.
Yeah, it's another killer gene, and it's probably the cause of the new virulence.
Except this gene has never been seen before in fastidiosa.
So we're looking around trying to find where it came from.
Guess what we came up with? "Xanthomonas".
What the hell is that? - Citrus Canker.
- Native to Florida.
The Americans got rid of the virulence genes in the fastidiosa just to add other different virulence genes from the canker? Let's call the source.
According to Mayko the patent holder of the marker gene is a Jonathan Barker, UCLA.
At the very least, I'm sure he'd like to hear that his invention is being used in agricultural bioterrorism.
Hello? - Jonathan Barker? - Yes.
David Sandstrom, NorBAC Labs.
I'm calling you from Cuba.
Cuba? I saw the news this morning.
What's up? Well, the fastidiosa that we're dealing with down here seems to be a strain that you engineered using your marker gene.
OK? You cut out all the virulent genes from your bacterium, is that correct? - Yeah, that's right.
- Well, it's been re-engineered.
Virulence genes from a citrus canker have been added, making one really virulent bacterium.
In the grapes? I didn't know they had grapes down there.
- Grapes? - Yeah.
This is a grape vaccine? Against the fastidiosa.
We've been That's what we've been doing here for the past 3 years.
David? What is it? David? An orange grove in Florida, a vineyard in California.
That son-of-a-bitch.
Charringa infected his own crops.
Why? This will be all over really soon.
And then you'll come back to us.
Okay? Morning, Mayko.
Hey.
Oh! Uh Bob, Your geologist friend sent some stuff over.
For your orchids and atmosphere.
This isn't the Asian brown cloud.
This is Mexico.
Oh no.
The same inversion that's killing the orchids in Asia is forming over Mexico.
And this is worse.
Why? Well, the cloud is 2 kilometres deep.
My colleagues are reporting that there are spikes in the sulfates and the soot.
Probably coming out of Mount Popocatepetl.
Spikes in industrial pollutants.
Dust and pesticides.
Temperatures on the ground are rising.
And with the weakening cyclonic winds in the jet stream, this cloud could stay over Mexico for months.
It isn't just the orchids in Mexico that are going to die.
This needs to be monitored closely.
- Mayko - Bob, I'll keep an eye on it.
Thank you.
I'll make copies.
Okay.
- Hey.
- Hey.
You look exhausted.
Do I? I didn't sleep last night.
Hmm The high school guy? No.
- Why not? - Couldn't do it.
He was the nicest, nicest guy.
And and I couldn't do it.
And I stayed up all night and thought about why I couldn't do it.
- Anyway - Oh! I got something for you.
from researchers who've been using the Korean stem cell line.
And They are all pretty pissed.
No one likes bad news.
Actually, no one likes bad science.
I beg your pardon? They're all questioning your procedures.
Oh.
Okay.
"We've assayed our South Korean stem cells on 32 occasions and have never found any retrovirus activity and all PCR tests are negative.
Suggest you hire skilled technicians.
" "NorBAC: Scientists from three countries team up to get it wrong, wrong, wrong.
" Hey Jill.
I forgot to tell you I called Jay Krauskopf at Apliex Pharmaceuticals.
He got a batch of the same stem cell lines on the same day.
No contamination.
No reverse transcriptase, no DNA or RNA evidence of viral infection.
Look, you guys, I'm not crazy.
I've tested it 5 times.
Maybe you should do it again.
- Yeah.
- And I'll watch.
Watch me like my boss? Well, what you're doing is biochemistry, and I am a biochemist.
Watch this.
Come on, Bob.
Here you go, Mayko.
Thank you.
Do you think they will listen to you? I'll make them listen.
When all this is over, why don't you come up for a visit? It is not easy for me to go.
But maybe you can come back with some good news for me.
Yeah, sure.
David I have here a present for the people of America.
On how we eradicated the leafhopper in Cuba.
Now you can do it too.
- This will come in very handy, I'm sure.
- I hope so.
And I have a little something for you.
Ah There's nothing hidden in these is there? Only pleasure.
Thank you.
Goodbye.
Have a safe flight, David.
Thank you, David.
- Carlos - Enrico.
Goodbye.
- Muchas gracias por todo.
- De nada.
Buon viaje.
Yes, I sterilized it.
I double-checked it twice.
Bob, I learned that in Lab Procedures junior year.
- Everything looks standard.
- Exactly.
- Except the buffer.
- Buffer? Where'd you get the recipe? From my post-doc supervisor at Cal Tech.
Karl Heinz.
He was trained in Heidelberg.
It is old-school bomb-proof shit.
Yeah.
But it contains magnesium and manganese.
Right.
Well, no one else makes their own solutions anymore.
Everybody in the world uses kits.
- And the kits use magnesium.
- So? So maybe that's why nobody else can duplicate your results.
OK.
OK.
So we'll do another assay comparing buffers with and without manganese.
Do it up.
You going to watch again? It went well, Caroline.
It's going to be a little while before he gets out of recovery.
You should go home.
- Get some rest.
- No.
No, I can't It's going to be at least tomorrow before we even try to reach him.
- He's fine? - Yeah.
Yeah.
He's about to start a big adventure.
Thank you.
Thank you, Simon.
There.
The pure magnesium buffer.
No RT activity.
But using manganese-magnesium: Reverse transcriptase! Outstanding! Hey, Mayko! - What? - I was right.
So, you need to send out my buffer specs to all of those labs.
Nice.
Yeah, so I'll tell them to use your buffer and they will taste defeat.
It still doesn't solve my big problem, though.
The South Korean stem cell line is the only one that provides the right nutrients to keep the pancreatic cells alive.
And it is contaminated with a virus.
Yeah, you're right.
So, you're going to have to ID the retrovirus and prove that it's harmless before your results can go forward.
That's what I've been trying to do.
Or you need to purify whatever is in that cell supernatant that's responsible for the growth-enhancing properties.
That could take months maybe years.
So much for my triumph.
It's good work, Jill.
Thank you, Bob.
Excuse me.
I need to see Señor Charringa.
He's way down there.
What are you doing here, McGuinn? Caroline couldn't make it.
Yeah, I couldn't get in touch with her.
What's going on? Personal things.
I didn't know Caroline had a personal thing, let alone more than one.
You'd be surprised.
- We need to sort this out, David.
- Gee, you think? Who's the asshole who ruined NorBAC's reputation? - Wasn't me.
- Well who was it? 'Cause that's where I'm going next with a baseball bat.
I'm working on it.
So what did you find out? I'm working on it.
Ah.
We meet again, gentlemen! Welcome to my new venture.
- Flowers! It's good to see you both.
- Good to see you.
I'm growing Brassavola from Brazil.
- It's-- - Nice, okay.
Here it is.
The fastidiosa bacterium is heading north from Brazil.
So you decided to do a pre-emptive vaccination on your Florida groves.
Scientist boys in California are already using a genetically engineered version of fastidiosa as a vaccine against the disease in grapes.
So you figure, hey, why not citrus, right? I don't understand.
The California vaccine, picks up some Florida canker bad shit, in this case a virulence gene, suddenly you've got the bacterium that nearly ate Florida citrus.
Because your boys didn't do their homework, insurance won't pay for devastation you pretty much brought on yourself.
So you point your middle finger at Cuba - get some of your old buddies to plant the bad stuff over there at some lab for us to find.
You, yourself, NorBAC, said the Cubans were behind it.
Well, technically speaking we didn't, right, McGuinn? The White House is releasing a retraction at six.
Friday at six? That's the burial hour.
By Monday morning it'll be long forgotten.
What Dr.
Sandstrom says, this is all true? I was hoping you'd be able to deny it.
Aguilar! Were you vaccinating the trees? Did you use a vaccine for the grape on our citrus? Where did the scientists come from? California.
We were doing this to ourselves.
Our word means nothing, we are ruined.
Jill! Jill! What? What? I've been calling you for so long, I'm going to go hoarse.
And your friend at the desk, he smells like one.
What friend? Some kid says he knows you and David.
What? Thank you.
- Owen? - Hey.
I know you.
What are you doing here? Oh, I thought I'd dig myself out of a New York hole.
Is David around? No.
No, sorry.
He'll be back in a couple of days.
Okay.
I just want to say thanks.
You know, because I got out of that shit in New York.
Good.
That's good for you.
So where are you staying? Well, I checked out the Ritz downtown and then the Regency, 'cause I heard it had a better spa.
- You hungry? - No, I'm fine.
Do you need a place to crash? - No, really, I'm - You're full of shit.
OK.
I wanted to get out of New York, and you guys were really good to me and I didn't have anywhere else to go.
Yeah.
I'm starving.
It's OK.
It'll be all right.
Come on.
Here you go.
Look, I really need to talk to her, Wes, where is she? I don't know, David.
She left early this afternoon.
- Have you tried her on her cell? - Of course I tried her on it! Have they stopped the fucking invasion? Why would they do that? Because I explained to McGuinn that the Cubans had nothing to do with it.
Well then, I'm sure he's advising the proper channels.
Oh, you're sure, are you Wes? Would it be too much trouble for you to be absolutely fucking certain? - No.
It wouldn't be too much trouble.
- Good.
Call me when you find out.
David! Hi.
You're back.
I'm so sorry.
- Is everything all right? - Hi.
Hi.
Owen? What are you doing here? Uh Well, you said if ever I was in town I should look you up.
No.
I said you could call me.
No sweat.
I'll go.
I know a nice spot for him under the Gardiner Expressway.
Don't you have some relatives you could stay with or? There's an uncle in Boston I wanted to hook up with but then dude disappeared - so I was on the road, and I figured - that I'd find you, 'cause I figured.
- Bad figuring.
'Cause I figured I did what you said.
I got rid of the weed.
And now, the 2 guys who owned the weed, well, they want to kill me.
- What? - Who? Look, I just need a place for a bit.
The bottom line is, you need you need a better place than this.
Like a foster home? I don't know why I don't have these brilliant ideas? - Alright.
It was great to see you.
- Okay.
Okay.
Okay.
Owen.
Hang on.
David.
Can I talk to you for a second? I'll be outside.
David.
What? You're not just going to kick him out? Yeah, I am.
I don't do kids well, alright.
- Yeah, I know.
- So I don't want him here.
But that kid has been pushed aside by everybody.
Are you just going to ignore him? Ignore the problem and hope it goes away? I just wanted to be alone, right now.
With you.
Well we can wait.
But he can't.
Come on.
Go on in there and give the kid a break.
He can sleep on the couch.
Jill! Owen! - Hey.
- Hi.
I woke up to an empty apartment this morning, what's going on? I just had a lot of work to do.
What about Owen? Where's he? I don't know.
He was eating toast last time I saw him.
Maybe he stepped out for a smoke.
Well, maybe he'll still be smoking when we get home tonight so we can finally, you know, talk about I found out that my aparment's been fixed, so I'm going home tonight.
Oh.
All right.
Well, you want to have dinner? I don't think we're a good idea right now.
Oh.
Really.
I mean.
Good.
'Cause, me neither.
And that's what I wanted to talk about, so Good.
I've got to get to work.
Yeah, I've got to work, too.
Let's talk to him.
Ask him a question.
Glenn, is there anything we can do for you? A-B- C-D- E-F- G-H-I- J-K-L-- Hold on.
L.
A-B-C- D-E-- Hold on.
E.
A-B-C You're doing great Glenn.
A-B- C-D- - E-- - Hold.
It's a decision he's had a lot of time to make.
And he was finally able to express it.
But do we have to listen? We don't have to listen.
I mean, it's up to us ultimately.
And we don't have to do anything.
It's up to you, Caroline.
If you decide to discontinue life-sustaining care, well - First, they'd give him a morphine drip.
- Why? Why morphine? To make him comfortable and relaxed.
Then, they'd remove the endotracheal tube.
And, his breathing will slow down.
And, it'll be peaceful.
How long until? - Caroline - How long, Bob? A few minutes, maybe.
What are you thinking, Caroline? I'm thinking, I don't know if I can do this.
I mean, could you? So, uh I'm going to think about it.
I don't know.
Maybe I just need to sit with him for a while and uh.
Yeah.
Thank you, Bob.
We're running.
Glenn, we're running and Feel the leaves under our feet? See the dappled sunlight? We're in a forest.
We're just going, so fast now that the wind is pinching our ears and our eyes are watering and we can't even feel our cheeks anymore.
Look out for the brambles.
Jump! Watch out there's a low branch.
Duck! That's a really treacherous run, isn't it? But we don't care.
We don't care because Look up ahead, there's a there's a there's a meadow.
Can you see it? Evening primrose and steeplebush just waiting for you Now you can run.
I heard about Glenn.
- Bob, I'm sorry.
- The cloud.
Here.
We could be heading towards a perfect pollution storm over Mexico City.
Homeland Security's been keeping a close watch on two brothers.
Scientists.
Vincent and Stefan Manford.
The Manford Brothers sent this - to the President of the United States.
- Big fans? Not at all.
They've been very verbal about how much they disliked the way the President has been handling US affairs.
Them and 75% of the rest of the world.
We wanted to remind him of the blood of American soldiers who died in Iraq.
We wrote that in our note.
Did he get our note? Just test the bottle and then you No, we are going to Chicago to take a look at their lab.
- Take a look at their lab? - I have my orders, David.
Orders! Since when did we join the fucking army? Orders! Jesus! This is bullshit! No more games.
I need you online now if we're going to do this together.
Make it your top priority, remember only you know the whole story.
Get started at regenesistv.
com.