I was rewatching the second season of teen wolf and during the first episode when Jackson's nose is bleeding there were a couple of shots where you see the blood, but it looked a bit metalic. I'm wondering if Jackson was a fetal experiment (and since it was planned to lose Jackson) or if the Dread Doctors have been in Beacon Hill the whole time, but either no one noticed or they had their memories taken. What do you think?
Like I rambled on in this post a while back I think everyone could be a chimera/experiment. And I definitely think it’s very possible Jackson could be an experiment.
Let’s look at the oddities
He was bitten by a werewolf but turned into a Kanima.
They explain away this by the fact that he has issues with his birth parents and doesn’t really feel like he has an identity. Remember this is all speculation on their part. No one ever asked Jackson about this. We know from his wolfsbane hallucination that parentage is something that weighs on him, possibly something he fears.
We also get the stuff about “sometimes the shape you take reflects the person that you are”. Again, not really something concrete to base stuff on. A bit to “fairytale” for my liking.
We have Jackson mysteriously coming out of the lake in 2x01, and he also looks a bit zombie like when he stands on the shore after. We know the doctors seem to operate in close proximity to water since they have their lair at the water treatment plant (the same in Russia). Did Jackson incubate in water instead of a hole?
Jackson experienced weird hallucinations connected to scary looking medical equipment in season 1 when he went to see Dr Fenris.
Was this memories trying to resurface.? Or is it Peter’s memory of being experimented on?
Jackson is infected with wolfsbane poisoning after Derek jammed his claws in just like we’ve seen Peter, Scott and Theo do to access memories. We also know it can erase memories. Peter also messed with them at the video store in 1x05. After that Jackson seems to be under Peter’s control (or whoever controls Peter). He starts going after Allison, he’s affected by Peter’s howl in 1x07, falling to his knees and clutching it.
And they glowed faintly of bluish purple when Peter messed with them. Not the vibrant blue of the chimeras, but we know he had aconite poisoning - aka wolfsbane in his system. Peter is the closest we’ve been to someone resembling La Bete, which would suggest he’s affiliated with the dread doctors at the time, perhaps unwittingly. Did he “infect” Jackson also? Mark him as another candidate. Did the aconite poison in his body start a process of inducing supernatural abilities in him..?
Is wolfsbane the secret “ingredient” the doctors use?
Let’s see what Stiles’ research back in season 1 said about wolfsbane
Wolfsbane has long be ascribed with supernatural powers in the mythology relating to werewolves and other lycanthropes, used to either repel them or in some way induce their lycanthropic condition. Aconite was often an important ingredient in witches’ potions and brews. Aconite was also said to turn a person into a werewolf if it is worn, smelled or eaten.
Would you look at that? Used to induce lycanthropic condition. Could turn a person into a werewolf if worn, smelled or eaten.. How about that? Does it also work for other kinds of supernaturals I wonder?
We know it can give hallucinations and that is exactly what the doctors seem to be able to inflict as well. Scott’s inhaler was full of it, making him weaker and easier for Theo/Liam to kill. But was it also beneficial for the doctors? I do wonder… I wrote a lot about this possibility in this post.
What about the snake Jackson hallucinated going in and coming out of him? Oroborous?
And at one point he even thought he saw the beast alpha claws coming out of his mouth? Was Jackson a promising chimera?
What I do find extremely interesting in hindsight is how Jackson’s parents died and how he was born. Because Erica dug up the insurance report and Jackson’s mom died
Stiles: Whoa, look the dates. Erica: “Passengers arrived at the hospital DOA. The estimated time of death - 9:26 P.M., June 14, 1995.“ Stiles: Jackson’s birthday is June 15th. It means he was born after his mom died - by c - section. They had to pull him out of her dead body. Allison: So was it an accident or not? Stiles: The word all over the report is "inconclusive.”
So Jackson was cut out of his dead mom at least two and half hour after she died. And they ruled it inconclusive - meaning they perhaps wanted the parents dead, or out of the way. Could Jackson also possibly have been a fetal experiment? Malia was adopted, her birth mom tried to kill her and now wants to hill her again. Peter didn’t know she existed. Stiles’s mom went crazy,
This was a very incoherent post and jumbled post, I could probably have organized this better. I do think it’s entirely possible that Jackson was experimented on. I even wonder if the stuff Deaton gave to inject him with in 2x08 wasn’t just to paralyze him, but to boost him further. It didn’t take him long to recover and he soon after Jackson went into another “incubation” evolving to something with wings.
What do you think of the theory that Hayden & Corey became Chimeras because they were attacked by Tracy & Lucas? Do you think all the screen attention of Stiles bite might be more than just his guilt and could also mean he's been infected?
It’s quite possible, yes.
There is a difference in how quickly they started healing. Hayden healed almost instantly after Tracy hurt her. And Tracy had kanima venom in her claws, but Hayden was not influenced at all. Corey seemed to take a bit more time - I think Melissa would’ve sounded the alarm if he’d healed while in the hospital, but still it was way faster than normal otherwise he wouldn’t have freaked out and gone looking for information about.
We don’t know for sure if the doctors had done anything to them or not before they were infected by other chimeras. Perhaps this was just another “treatment”?
Stiles wound is about a week old by now. And still not close to fully healed. We have no indications that Stiles have been visited by doctors this season like Kira (and possibly Scott). But he could be a fetal experiment and the “infection” might just take longer to activate.
What happened in 3b seem to be kind of similar. He was “infected” by the fly and even then it took a while before it took effect and “took over”. This might be the same - or at least similar enough that all the warning bells are ringing in Stiles’ head. I think on some level Stiles might even suspect it’s possible. The vision he got while talking to Theo in the library was of him as a chimera failure.
Maybe, Claudia Stilinski didn't die from the disease, but the Dread Doctors could kill her?
I don’t for a second think Claudia died of dementia. That is probably mislabeling. And mental disorders are probably a sign of having supernatural DNA. So she might have been just manifesting some and it came across to others as symptoms of a mental disease, or she was experimented on and died as a result.
Or, she’s not dead at all and still locked up in Eichen House. I do wonder if the people locked away in the basement are full fledged supernaturals that they extract DNA from for the experiments. Remember we did see a kanima hand when Deaton was visiting last season, perhaps where they got the kanima juice they used on Tracy?
If so she could still be a resident there. We did get a glimpse of her in 3x20 as Stiles entered Eichen House (Gina Holden was credited and this is the only one who looks like her).
Okay, I have 2 questions 1.i'm pretty certain that stiles is something, and watching 5x03 it looks as if stiles is falling into an emmisary role and has for a while?(scott looks to him to see if he can trust theo)Yet people rarely listen to him.
2. While watching 5x03 I realised that both Donovan and Tracey had mental disorders and were chosen by the fear doctors. Do you think that stiles is next due to his history of ADHD, anxiety and possible PTSD?
**
Hey and thanks for your questions.
I know a lot of people have been wishing for stiles to be an emissary, and I get why I truly do. But somehow I don’t think so. The signs of him being something like you said are piling up, which means he someone with supernatural DNA that is manifesting. Druids are per Jeff human, and not “magical”. So if you have to be a druid to be an emissary, then I don’t think Stiles fit the bill.
Emissaries are also supposed to be advisers to the packs, someone who only the alpha usually knew the identity of. Stiles is smack in the middle of the pack, and therefore more a member than a neutral adviser.
The emissaries main objective is to maintain the balance, to have the wits to stay out of things and not meddle unless it’s to guide towards equilibrium. Stiles has great intuition, but he’s far to passionate and emotionally involved with the pack to manage to hold such a position in my opinion.
But I might be wrong, and they end up redefining what makes a good emissary :)
As for question number two, I’m just going to point you to this post.
Do you anything about Tracy's night terrors? Like did she always have them or were they a recent thing? Could be linked to how the Dread Doctors choose?
I got the feeling she’d had them a while, but she only recently remembered them when she woke up.
I think the supernatural experiments are linked to mental disorders, like sleep disorders with Tracy and IED (Intermittent explosive disorder) and anger issues with Donovan.
I wrote about this at length in these posts
Genetic development and how do the doctors choose their “patients”?
Supernatural experiments and “mental disorders” - symptom or requirement?
Supernatural experiments and “mental disorders” - symptom or requirement?
This is mostly a follow up from this post.
I already noted more than once how season 5 seem to deliberately bring attention back to some of the themes that were linked heavily to Stiles in season 3B, primarily his mental state.
Interestingly this happens in a season where so far what we see of the supernatural experiments done on people, particularly Tracy, seem to parallel what happened to Stiles during his “Nogitsune” arc. I’ve said before that I don’t think Stiles was possessed by an evil Japanese spirit like they all seemed to imply, but I won’t get into that in this post.
I think these parallels are deliberate, and might be a clue to how the doctors are choosing their patients. Only yesterday did I post this meta on this topic where I pointed out that sleeping disorders seem to be a common factor. We don’t really know too much about Donovan yet, other that he’s aggressive, but that can also be a side-effect of sleep disorders.
But as I was pondering some of the patterns we see this season connected to Stiles, the malfunctioning jeep, the hitting things, the constant references to chemo signals and anxiety it made me realize we need to broaden our view a little bit.
I think the doctors choose subjects with mental disorders or disorders that affects the mind - or the mental disorders are symptoms of supernatural DNA and possibly how they know who to choose.
Click to read more
In this same post I also discussed the stuff in Scott’s Biology book - the book has the exact same page two places (which is also a sign of mirrorverse, or different realities) and highlighted with different colors.
One of things that stood out and is highlighted is this
In 1955 Swiss researchers identified a gene that functions as a master switch to trigger the development of the eye in Drosophila. A similar gene triggers eye development in mammals. Developmental biologists are discovering remarkable similarities in the mechanisms that shape diverse organisms.
What if this master switch needed to manage the supernatural development the doctors are performing only works on people with mental disorders of some kind? This might be their working theory and what we see now is them testing guinea pigs.
Tracy had night terrors, Donovan seem to be suffering from IED, something which we coincidentally have been made aware of during season 4 because Liam was diagnosed with it (probably misdiagnosed, I still think it might just be signs of his werewolfitude manifesting). Liam also had trouble sleeping and was seeing berserkers around every corner even during conversations with others.
And who among our midst also show clear signs of some sort of mental diagnosis? And have perhaps already been subject to this for all we know. Perhaps his “treatment” was cut short when he made a perfect replica of himself?
We have a lot of references to Stiles and mental disorders
Anxiety
5x01
Malia: [sniffs Stiles] What’s wrong with you? You smell terrible.
Stiles: Yeah, it’s called anxiety. Should be a familiar scent for you by now, since it’s pretty much a constant state for me.
5x03
Stiles: It’s anxiety.
Scott: What is?
Stiles: The chemo signals? Oh, I’m well aware of how you all monitor my emotional state.
hyper-vigilance
Stiles: I'm fine. Yeah, aside from the not sleeping, the jumpiness, the constant, overwhelming, crushing fear that something terrible's about to happen.
Ms. Morrell: It's called hyper - vigilance, the persistent feeling of being under threat.
Stiles: But it's not just a feeling, though. It's - it's like it's a panic attack. You know, like I can't even breathe.
ADHD
Mentioned many times.
OCD
Perhaps more obsession than complusive, but it’s said he can’t sleep without his pillow.
Stiles: You know, these were his best friends and he just says he lost touch with them, you know. So I started thinking about things, like I always do.
Malia: Obsessively.
Stiles: Yeah.
Paranoia
Stiles: What do you want me to say? That I'm a stalker, huh? That I'm crazy, totally paranoid? None of this is new information.
Paranoid and distrustful of most.
Sleep disorder
Mentions of “not sleeping” to Morrell in 2x11
Didn’t sleep all night at Eichen House
Listed as a symptom in 3B, 8 hours sleep in 3 days.
Panic disorder
Stiles: No, you were having a panic attack. But thinking you were having an asthma attack actually stopped the panic attack. Irony. Scott: How did you know to do that? Stiles: I used to get them after my mom died.
He also got a panic attack in 3A
Mental disorder - condition needed or symptom of supernatural DNA
As I was trying to go to sleep last night I started wondering if it’s possible that the mental disorders might be a symptom of supernatural DNA and not just a requirement to be fit for experimentation.
I did sort of touch upon this with Stiles in relation to the third eye. He does seem like a possible candidate for someone with a third eye chakra with his uncanny intuition and how we have hints that he knows stuff before it happens
An example is how a footprint and a drawing that looks like the mute was on his walls way before season 4.
this is from 3x13
and this is in season 4
I suddenly remembered that having a third eye had some drawbacks which included
Learning disability - Stiles clearly is smart so i wouldn’t say he has a learning disability. But he does suffer from ADHD. ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder, assosisated with problems focusing attention, hyperactivity and impulse control issues. This can make a regular school situation challenging and concentrating sometimes difficult- unless the topic is of interest. Hence why Stiles writes about the history of male circumsition for Econ…(this point has been edited)
Poor coordination (see gifset of examples here)
Sleep disorders - We know he’s had trouble sleeping, and for all we know this might not be just about the “darkness around his heart” and the possession. Also remember that his mom suffered from insomnia. Problems with sleep is also sometimes associated with ADHD.
Read more about that in this post
And while I’m on the subject of third eyes - Stiles has the eye poster on his wall, but so do Tracy - in fact she has several, which is another parallel between them. Is it because they’re similar or someone’s watching them..
Basically I’m open to both ideas - mental disorder as symptom and/or requirement.
There it is, more rambles on this topic. I’ll stop now :)
TW 5x03: Genetic development and how do the doctors choose their “patients”?
Another great episode! I’m really loving this season so far. We’re continuing to get hints about supernatural experiment and the more I see the more I totally believe it relates to 3B and Stiles’ arc.
This post will focus mostly on the experiments, theories on how they doctors choose their subjects, different categories of “patients”. Basically a lot of rambling, but hey what else is new. Oh and I try to pretend to know about biology (I don’t)
(EDIT: Follow up meta: Supernatural experiments and “mental disorders” - symptom or requirement? )
The rest of the episode I will get back to later.
First let’s look at our “patients”.
I think we should group them into two categories
Supernaturals with “mutations” - like Belasko
Humans developed into supernaturals. We can discuss whether or not they have latent supernatural genes or not.
MUTATED SUPERNATURALS
Belasko seems different somehow. Firstly because I got the distinct impression he was a willing participant. And I do think he was a werewolf originally. What he says to Parrish supports this
Belasko: Not a werewolf, but you're something. No, you're no ordinary creature, Deputy. But then, neither am I. Not tonight.
The “not tonight” part tells me that this is not his usual state. He immediately recognized that Parrish wasn’t a werewolf making me think he himself is. But not tonight - tonight he’s glow stick wolf, all glammed up with blue talons that suck the power out of you.
When he fails to take Scott’s power and he returns back to the lab with a shattered arm, he pleads for a second chance, for them to give him some more power. He’s not mind-controlled by the doctors like a puppet. But he does seem to fear them, so threats might be involved. But he's aware of what he’s doing at least. And he does seem to like the power - “I could do with a little more” - sounds like a drug addict needing a fix.
Belasko: Give me another chance. A little more power. I could do it with a little more. (DEMONIC RUMBLING) No! No! Wait, wait, wait!
Doctor: (IN DISTORTED VOICE) Your condition worsens.
Belasko: I'm okay. I'm okay, just... Just give me another chance.
The surgeon: You were supposed to remove the obstacles. Our time is limited.
Belasko: Whatever you're here to do, I can help.
Docotrs: No second chances.
Belasko: I can help you.
The pathologist: No second chances.
The geneticist: No second chances.
The surgeon: No second chances.
They have no more use for him, and even if he’s not “condition terminal” like Tracy, they still consider him not worth “fixing”. And kills him. He’s revealed with crows in his stomach. This parallels the flies coming out of both Barrow and Stiles in 3B.
Belasko had a clear mission: To “remove the obstacles”, which he failed. His target was Scott. Why? I’m going to suggest not because he’s a threat, but because he’s a resource they need - they need his power.
I think they wanted Belasko to absorb the TA spark. Why? Perhaps because it can tap into the telluric currents and fuel up on the supernatural energy floating around without killing for it. I’ve previously suggested Scott might unwittingly have become a sort of living Nemeton - a battery of supernatural power. Mostly his battery is fairly flat, but he gets boosts of power every now and then, like he accessed a hidden reserve. And I have a feeling whatever the doctors are doing they need a lot to fuel their “research”.
Or I might be way off base.
BUT if I’m right, what is the next best thing to stealing the spark? Recruiting the spark!
Scott: Here you go, Stephanie.
Stephanie: Thank you, Dr. McCall.
Scott: I'm not a doctor yet.
Foreshadowing much? I think there is a good chance our cliffhanger will be Scott willingly choosing to join the doctors. You don’t get to be more Anakin Skywalker than that..
GENETICALLY ALTERED HUMANS
Our next group of “patients” are the people who appear to be human originally and end up with something distinctly suspect injected or drilled into them, a procedure that seems to need multiple injections and a somewhat long “incubation” time.
How are they choosing them? What factors are they looking for? I’m going to suggest two things. It might be just the one, or the other, but I can find reasonable arguments for them, so I’ll just list them both. There might be more as well.
Factor 1: Sleep disorders
Tracy had a history of night terrors. It’s somewhat unclear if the experiments caused them, or she always had sleep disorders. I’m going to hazard a guess that people with sleep disorders might be better subjects, perhaps easier to access and manipulate. Tracy seem to have struggled with this for some time even before this began. I think the fact that she now remembers some of them, indicates that the doctors’ treatment is fairly recent and a side effect of that. She usually don’t remember them.
Usually.
Mrs Martin: You feeling a little overwhelmed?
Tracy: No, I'm... I'm okay.
Mrs Martin: Have you been getting enough sleep?
Tracy: Not really.
Mrs Martin: You know, teenagers have different circadian rhythms. When you're waking up for school your body is still producing melatonin. You all need more sleep.
Tracy: It's not just that. What do you mean? I get night terrors.
Mrs Martin: Actual night terrors? Parasomnia?
Tracy: I usually don't remember them.
Mrs Martin: Usually?
We have several cases of people with insomnia (Claudia, Stiles, Meredith) and now we also have Tracy with parasomnia/night terrors.
Claudia’s records
Patient is irritable and impulsive, complaints of vivid dreams during the day, inability to distinguish between fantasy and reality, occasional hallucinations, symptoms began with acute onset insomnia.
Sounds familiar?
Meredith’s records - acute insomnia.
Stiles
His symptoms from 3B
We also have indicators from way back in season 2 that he has issues with sleeping
2x11
Ms. Morrell: How about we get back to you? Stiles?
Stiles: I'm fine. Yeah, aside from the not sleeping, the jumpiness, the constant, overwhelming, crushing fear that something terrible's about to happen.
3x17
Stiles: Blackouts. But not for that long. And sleepwalking, which I used to do a lot as a kid. Um Also having some really bad anxiety.
Melissa: Panic attacks?
Stiles: Yeah, a couple. Oh, and I temporarily lost the ability to read. But that might have had more to do with this giant magic tree and a whole human sacrifice thing.
Melissa: I recall something vaguely about that, yes. How many hours of sleep are you getting?
Stiles: Eight.
Melissa: A night?
Stiles: In the last three days. Yeah, definitely eight.
Melissa: Been feeling irritable?
Stiles: Yeah. Possibly to the point of homicide.
Melissa: Inability to focus?
Stiles: No, the Adderall's not working.
Melissa: Impulsive behavior?
Stiles: More than my usual? Hard to tell.
Melissa: Vivid dreams during the day?
Stiles: Okay, basically all of the above.
Donovan
I’m going to make a case for our new friend Donovan possibly also having sleep issues, possibly sleepwalking.
5x01
Donovan: What the hell are you trying to do? Break my arm?
Deputy: Keep struggling and I'll be aiming for a compound fracture.
Sheriff: Donovan, you forgot what the judge said, didn't you? "Next time is jail time."
Donovan: Stilinski... What? Hold up. Come on.
Sheriff: What's he in for? B and E. And he was carrying a loaded .38.
Donovan: Okay, it wasn't mine. Sheriff, come on. It wasn't mine.
Sheriff: Book him.
Donovan: Oh, you're dead. Hey, look at me! You're dead! You're dead! You're going to do this to me? You son of a bitch, you're dead!
He keeps insisting the gun wasn’t his. What if it wasn’t? What if he doesn’t remember doing it? Like sleepwalking. It’s a stretch I know, but I thought I’d mention it.
Also, he’s very aggressive and irritable. To the point of homicide. Which he is threatening the sheriff with - he goes even further in 5x03. And this is exactly like Stiles described himself in season 3B. Clinical observations also suggest that sleep problems may be a causal factor in the development of reactive aggression and violence.
5x03
Donovan: Stilinski! I'm going to kill you.
Sheriff: Donovan, if you think that shocks me, remember it was well-documented in your Anger Expression Inventory. Deputies, escort the prisoner out.
Donovan: I'm not angry like I'm gonna throw a brick through your window. I'm angry, like I'm going to find you, I'm going to get a knife and I'm going to stab you with it until you're dead. And when you look at me and you ask me why, remember right now. Because this is why.
Factor 2: Dormant supernatural gene
I think this is the second condition needed. That they at least need to have traces of supernatural DNA in them. Why do I say that?
Firstly because the dread doctors tells Tracy she’s awakening which suggests that there’s something inside her already that they’re either kickstarting, or perhaps more accurately, altering/developing.
Remember also Peter from 3B telling Lydia how her abilities became activated:
Lydia: The last time I was alone with you... I almost bled out on a lacrosse field. She stays.
Peter: Do you actually think I was trying to kill you when I bit you? You were my backup plan, remember? Not to mention, the bite is what brought out your nascent abilities. You think power like that was going to come out on its own? I'm the spark that lit your fire, sweetheart.
Allison: You attacked her and nearly killed her.
Peter: Power doesn't come without a little pain and struggle.
Peter’s bite - his supernatural teeth and saliva was introduced to Lydia’s body and it awoke her ability, changed her DNA. Not for the first time I do wonder about Peter and if he’s really “our” Peter or yet another one the chess pieces put into play by whoever is behind all this.
I also believe this is a necessary factor since I think Stiles is one of these people, and we’ve seen signs of his somethingness even prior to 3B, for instance breaking the mountain ash with telekinesis like he did in 2x08 and that we saw Tracy do as well in this episode. The two was eerily alike.
Stiles’ experience during 3B seem to have at least partially awakened whatever he possibly inherited from Claudia. But I suspect his “treatment” was cut short when he replicated himself, with the abilities as far as they had developed at the time still intact.
As “nogi” he was stronger (tossing Derek around, knocking out Kira, holding Scott down) and we’ve seen cases of that since like breaking holding back Malia, holding down Brett (”I’m not the only one with werewolf power), holding onto the lacrosse stick while Coach was pulling to name a few.
Willing agents versus forced soldiers
I already mentioned that Belasko seemed like a willing participant, and judging from how he talked about “werewolf business and history” when he met Scott (A true alpha, the one who took down Deucalion and Gerard) I think he was already supernatural.
Tracy and Donovan also seemed to “incubate” in a different manner buried in holes in the ground.
Mason: Liam, I... I thought you said this was a sinkhole.
Liam: It's a hole. What's the difference?
Mason: I mean, look at all these handprints and look at all this dirt.
Brett: She didn't fall in here. She was buried.
Liam: I don't think this is the one.
Mason: What do you mean?
Liam: It was closer to the bridge. Much closer. This is a different hole.
Brett: Then who crawled out of this one?
Belasko on the other hand was hidden inside an abandoned building. Like he didn’t need the “nurishment” from the ground in the same way.
The thing with them buried and changing does give a vampire vibe, and made me think of the Renfield and Dracula mention with Stiles’ arc. Curious.
The other way they differ is also in their actions. We don’t yet know what Donovan will do, but judging from the trailers he looks to be going after Stiles and have already flagged his intentions towards the sheriff. Tracy didn’t know what she was doing, still in a dream Donovan has not been flagged for his sleep issues, but rather his anger issues.
Regardless of state of awareness, it does seem to me like their moral codes, their restraint have been stripped away and they’re doing the things they perhaps only thinks to themselves, but conscience and common sense prevents them from acting on it.
We’ve seen this with Derek, Isaac and the twins in 3B when the flies entered them. They were already supernatural so it only affected their actions and mind. I think what the doctors are doing too the human potentials is three-fold
Awakening their supernatural DNA
Experimenting with “mutations”/cross-breed
Affecting their minds
The last bit might be intentional to better control them, or it might be a side-effect - they gain strength and power, yet lose mind-control.
What I do know is that they seem to get vengeful.
Tracy targeted the people who had tried and failed to help her with her night terrors. Her dad who boarded up the window and gave her a dreamcatcher, her psychiatrist and Lydia’s mom who offered advice at school.
Donovan seems likely to go after the sheriff - for not accepting his application and for arresting him, Stiles possibly for mocking him.
Stiles also targeted people/places that had overlooked or failed him - Lydia was kidnapped (rejected/ignored him), Scott (ignored him), the hospital (failed him, his mom died), coach (mocked him, not allowed him on the team), his dad for distrusting him).
It fits - and makes me scared for Hayley who openly admits to being vengeful...
Genetic development
This episode brought with us some more hints about genetics, DNA replication and the like.
Scott’s test is all about DNA and DNA replication.. this hints about cloning.
And then he’s asked to lead them in a review of last night’s reading and it’s about genetic development.
Interestingly we see Scott turn the pages of his book, and it’s the same page two times in the same book, but with different things highlighted and with different colors.
This is what the page says
Italics = the yellow highlights
Bold = the blue highlighs
Chapter 20: Genetics of our development
The application of genetic analysis and DNA technology to the study of developments has brought about a revolution in our understanding of how a complex multicellular organism develops from a single cell. In 1955 Swiss researchers identified a gene that functions as a master switch to trigger the development of the eye in Drosophila. A similar gene triggers eye development in mammals.
Developmental biologists are discovering remarkable similarities in the mechanisms that shape diverse organisms. While geneticists were advancing from Mendal’s laws to an understanding of the molecular basis of inheritance, developmental biologists were focusing on embryology.
Embryology is the study of the stages of development leading from fertilized egg to fully formed organism. In recent years the concepts and tools of molecular genetics have reached a point where a real synthesis for genetics and developmental biology has been possible. When the primary research goal is to understand broad biological principles, the organism chosen for study is called a model organism. Researchers select model organisms that are representative of a larger group, suitable for the questions under investigation, and easy to grow in the lab. For study of the connections between genes and development, suitable model organisms have short generation times and small genomes that are suitable for genetic analysis. Model organisms used in developmental genetics include the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, the mouse Mus musculus, the zebra fish Danio rerio and the plant Arabidopsis thaliana.
Concept 1.2 Embryotic development involves cell divisions, cell differentiation and morphogenesis…
An organism arises from a fertilized egg cell as the result of three interrelated processes: cell division, cell differentiation and morphogenesis. Through a succession of mitotic cell divisions, the zygote gives rise to a large number of cells. Cell division alone would produce only a great ball of identical cells. During development, cells become specialized in structure and function, undergoing cell differentiation. Different kinds of cells are organized into tissues and organs. The physical processes that give an organism its shape constitute morphogenesis, the “creation of form”. The process of cell…
Lots of interesting things here, and like with Thermodynamics I’m way outside my field of expertise here.
Some key phrases
identified a gene that functions as a master switch to trigger the development - the doctors clearly know how to trigger the development in their subjects.
Developmental biologists are discovering remarkable similarities in the mechanisms that shape diverse organisms - clearly since they’re combining wolves and eagles, human and lizards etc.
the organism chosen for study is called a model organism. Researchers select model organisms that are representative of a larger group, suitable for the questions under investigation, and easy to grow in the lab. - is this the things we see in the tanks, “organisms” being studied? Are the stuff they inject them with extracted DNA from them, triggered to change the DNA of their subjects?.
Am I the only one slightly intrigued by the mention of flies as used in genetic development?
With cell division, cell differentiation and morphogensis we’re basically given the recipe for what the doctors are doing
In developmental biology, cellular differentiation is the process by which a cell changes from one cell type to another.[1][2] Usually this is because a less specialized type becomes a more specialized type, such as during cell growth.
Human to supernatural - what happens when someone gets bitten, unless the body isn’t receptive to it.
Morphogenesis (from the Greek morphê shape and genesis creation, literally, "beginning of the shape") is the biological process that causes an organism to develop its shape. It is one of three fundamental aspects of developmental biology along with the control of cell growth and cellular differentiation[1][2].
On one of the pages it’s also mentioned different ways of achieving mutation - spontaneous mistakes in base pairings, chemicals, radiation, high temperatures.
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I’m not sure I made much sense here, and the biology stuff I am way out of my league, so please jump in with better explanations and interpretations.
Hey!Just wanted to tell you that your meta on thermodynamics was awesome and that I think the possibility of the 'mirrorverse happenings' actually being the supernatural and the natural dimensions working towards a state of equilibrium is a VERY neat and elegant way of explaining things. I'm no PhD in physics but I do know more than hs level and kudos to you. Now onto The Doctors: when I first read their names/titles the first thing that came to mind about their MO and possible goals is this: >>
>>the Surgeon cuts out the interesting bits for the Geneticist to isolate the supernatural gene so that the Pathologist can than make it viral. I’m a believer that the thing that makes one supernatural isn’t a virus/bacteria but a dormant gene with multiple variations(allele). It’s long&technical to articulate why but trust me on this one, the virus/bacteria alternative is hella messy/even impossible. So I’ve arrived to the part that made me want to post this ask: plasmids!>>
>> Plasmids might be HUGE for TW. Because I’ve long suspected that the supernatural gene might be plasmidial in nature. And for humans (all superior organisms actually) the only plasmidial DNA is mitochondrial DNA. Which is only transmitted on a maternal line. And I don’t know why I haven’t realised this sooner but we sorta- kinda have proof of that in the show. Malia has a werewolf father and a coyote mother and she’s a coyote herself… It’s just one example but it’s looking cohesive so far:)
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First of all thanks for the kudos on the thermodynamics meta. I’d been debating posting about it for a while, and finally felt it was time to throw it out there :)
Second, this is awesome stuff :) I totally agree with you that the virus/bacteria thing is unlikely. We did see a supernatural virus in season 4, but I don’t think that was in any way meant to do anything else than identify, weaken and kill; not change.
I also think your reasoning of the roles for the three doctors is good. It makes sense, and I guess they’re pumping their experimental stuff into the subjects like Belasko, Tracy and in the coming episode Donovan seems to be next in line.
And plasmids are already launched as a thing that might be important with this little dialogue in 5x02
Mrs Finch: Can somebody tell me what plasmids are? Lydia: Circular, self-replicating DNA molecules often used in cloning proteins.
Which I think is plain awesome since I’ve been a huge fan of clone theory in TW for a long time.
The bit about supernatural gene being plasmidal and mitochonidrial DNA being the only plasmidal DNA for humans, and it following a maternal line is very interesting. Like you point out Malia who seem to have a werewolf father and a werecoyote mother is a coyote. And Kira is another example, her dad is human, her mother some form of kitsune, and so is Kira.
But what about Lydia? Her banshee powers seem to come from her paternal side, since her grandmother was her dad’s mother..?
Also, if it turns out Stiles is something, this strengthens the theory that Claudia was something more than just human.
I’ve been saying for a while that I love how TW seem to be borderline Fringe and basing much of the supernatural elements on scientific principles instead of just plain magic. This ties nicely into that. Thanks again for sharing this :)
