“Even if the bloodstain is from the thirteenth century?”
“The age shouldn’t make any difference. The DNA would be in fragments, but that wouldn’t be a problem. We’d still use the same probe we’d use on a fresh DNA sample to form the segment we need, and then augment it by PCR. In a lot of ways, it would add a bit of challenge and excitement. The hardest part will be resisting the temptation to write the procedure up for Nature or Science after the fact. Can you imagine the title: ‘HTSR and the Shroud of Turin Combine to Produce the First Cure of Human Parkinson’s Disease.’ ”
“We’re not going to be able to publish this affair,” Stephanie said.
“I know! It’s just fun to think about it being a harbinger of things to come. The next step will be a controlled experiment, and we’ll certainly be able to publish that. At that point, CURE will be in the limelight, and our funding miseries will be long gone.”
“I wish I could share your enthusiasm.”
“I think you will, once things start falling into place. Even though timing wasn’t mentioned tonight, I’m going to assume the senator would be eager to do it sooner rather than later. That means we should start with the preliminaries tomorrow when we get back to Boston. I’ll look into making the arrangements with the Wingate Clinic and lining up the neurosurgeon. How about you take on the Shroud of Turin portion.”
“That should at least be interesting,” Stephanie said, trying to generate some eagerness about the thought of treating Butler, despite what her intuition was telling her. “I’ll be curious to find out why the church still considers it a relic after it was proved to be a fake.”
“The senator obviously thinks it’s real.”
“As I recall, the carbon dating was confirmed by three independent labs. It would be hard for that to be debunked.”
“Well, let’s see what you find out,” Daniel said. “In the meantime, we better start planning some serious travel.”
“You mean Nassau?”
“Nassau and probably Turin, Italy, depending on what you find out.”
“Where are we going to get the money for such travel?”
“From Ashley Butler.”
Stephanie’s eyebrows lifted. “Maybe this escapade isn’t going to be so bad after all.”
“So, are you with me on this?” Daniel questioned.
“Yeah, I suppose.”
“That’s not very positive.”
“It’s the best I can do at the moment. But I imagine I’ll come around as things progress, like you suggested.”
“I’ll take what I can get,” Daniel announced. He got up from the couch and gave Stephanie’s shoulder a squeeze in the process. “I’m going to have another Scotch. Let me fill your glass.”
Daniel poured the additional drinks, then sat back down. After glancing at his watch, he put Butler’s business card down in front of him and lifted the phone onto the coffee table. “Let’s tell the senator the news. I’m sure he’ll be irritatingly smug, but to borrow his phrase, Such is life.” Daniel used the speakerphone button to get a dial tone. The call went through and was picked up quickly. Ashley Butler’s baritone Southern drawl inundated the room.
“Senator,” Daniel called out, interrupting Ashley’s verbose hello. “I don’t mean to be rude, but it’s late and I just wanted to let you know that I have decided to take you up on your offer.”
“Well, glory be!” Ashley intoned. “And so soon! I was afraid you were going to let this simple decision spoil your slumber and that you would not be calling until the morning. Well, I am pleased as punch! Can I assume Dr. D’Agostino has agreed to participate as well?”
“I have agreed,” Stephanie said, trying to sound positive.
“Excellent, excellent!” Ashley echoed. “Not that I am surprised, since this affair is to all our benefit. But I most sincerely do believe that being of the same mind and having unanimity of purpose is key to success, and we most certainly want success in this endeavor.”
“We assume you would like to do this straightaway,” Daniel said.
“Most assuredly, my dear friends. Most assuredly. I’m on borrowed time in terms of concealing my infirmity,” Ashley explained. “There is no time to lose. Conveniently for our purposes, a Senate recess is coming up. It commences about a month from now on March twenty-second and runs through April eighth. Normally I head home to politick, but instead it is the period of time I have had my heart set upon for my treatment. Is a month an adequate amount of time for you scientists to formulate the appropriate curative cells?”
Daniel glanced at Stephanie and spoke to her softly, just above a whisper: “That’s quicker than I thought he’d have in mind. What do you think? Could we do it?”
“It’s a long shot,” Stephanie whispered with a shrug. “First, we’d need a few days to culture his fibroblasts. Then, assuming a successful nuclear transfer creating a viable pre-embryo, we’d need five or six days for the blastocyst to form. After that, we’d need a couple of weeks of culturing on feeder cells after harvesting the stem cells.”
“Is there a problem?” Ashley questioned. “I cannot for the life of me hear what you good folks are discussing.”
“Just a second, Senator!” Daniel said into the speakerphone. “I’m talking with Dr. D’Agostino about timing. She would be doing most of the actual hands-on work.”
“Then we’d have to get them to differentiate into the proper nerve cells,” Stephanie added. “That will take another couple of weeks, or maybe a little less. The mouse cells were fine after only ten days.”
“So what would you guess, if all goes well?” Daniel asked. “Would a month work?”
“It’s theoretically possible,” Stephanie said. “It could be done, but we’d have to start almost immediately with the cellular work, like tomorrow! The problem with that idea is that we’d have to have human oocytes available, and we don’t.”
“Oh, jeez!” Daniel mumbled. He bit his lower lip and furrowed his brow. “I’m so accustomed to working with a surfeit of cow eggs that I forgot about the supply problem with human eggs.”
“It’s a major stumbling block,” Stephanie admitted. “Even in the best of circumstances where we already had a egg donor waiting in the wings, we’d need a month or so to stimulate her and retrieve them.”
“Well, perhaps our maverick infertility friends can help us in this regard as well. As a functioning infertility center, they’d surely have a few extra eggs available. Considering their unethical reputation, I bet with the right inducement we could talk them into providing us with what we will need.”
“It’s possible, I suppose, but then we’d be even more beholden to them. The more they do for us, the less easy it will be to wash our hands and leave like you so blithely suggested a moment ago.”
“But we don’t have a lot of choice. The alternative is giving up on CURE, HTSR, and all our blood, sweat, and tears.”
“It has to be your call. But for the record, it makes me feel uncomfortable to be obligated to the Wingate people in any form, knowing their history.”
Daniel nodded a few times as he mulled over the issues, sighed, and then turned back to the speakerphone. “Senator, there’s a chance we can have some treatment cells in a month. But I have to warn you that it’s going to require effort and a bit of luck, and we have to start immediately. You’ll have to be cooperative.”
“I will be as cooperative as a baby lamb. I’ve already started the process a month ago by making plans to arrive in Nassau on the twenty-third of March and to stay on the island for as much of the recess period as needed. I have even made a reservation for you. That’s how confident I was about your participation. It is important to have done this early, because it is high season in the Bahamas at this time of the year. We’ll be staying at the Atlantis resort, where I had the pleasure of staying last year with this plan in mind. It is a hotel complex sizable enough to provide adequate anonymity of coming and going without raising suspicions. They also have a casino, and as you might imagine, I do enjoy gambling when I am fortunate enough to have a few extra dollars in my pocket.”