The Masterpiece Escapees

[matthunter]

23 colonists left the Moab IV colony in TNG's The Masterpiece Society. These were people genetically bred for specific roles in society, such as Hannah Bates who was their top scientist. Although she admitted her innovations were hampered by lack of necessity, she did create the idea of a multiphase tractor beam even before encountering the Enterprise.

DS9 later established that genetically engineered humans could not serve in Starfleet or practice medicine, although an exception was made for Bashir. So, were these refugees from Moab similarly hamstrung or were they allowed to fulfill the wider destiny they wanted? Did Hannah become a top Starfleet science officer (or civilian scientist)? How would others feel if she won the Daystrom Awards? Could there be Starfleet command track personnel out there who were genetic leaders like Aaron, with a weakness for Grecian-looking women?

Did they find the freedom they wanted, or did the rules against "supermen" hem them in? And why didn't Picard warn them about those laws? (OK, out of show, the writers hadn't come up with that yet).

 

[Tenacity]

Hannah Bates was born into a society that allowed genetic engineering, Bashir was not. That may be a important distinction.

Bates was open about the fact that she was engineered, Bashir knew he was and kept it a secret.

The prohibition against engineering wouldn't seem to apply to Bates, she wasn't from the Federation or Earth. Would the prohibit prevent Bate from working in the Federation or Starfleet, that's not a easy question, but I don't think it would. If anything she would be seen as a asset.

And does the prohibit apply to everyone across the Federation (maybe), or just to people born on Earth (with the Federation backing local law)?

 

[JirinPanthosa]

That's a good question. It's not something that the Enterprise crew mentions to them (Probably because the idea didn't exist yet when they wrote the episode). There must be provisions for alien cultures where genetic engineering has become the norm. It's also not clear whether it's an Earth law or a Federation law.

 

[Timo]

Unless we look myopically at individual episodes only, the UFP is fine with genetic engineering. It just has an issue with illegal genetic engineering.

What the Moab folks did would not be legal, i.e. officially sanctioned by UFP authorities, because those weren't aware of the deed. We just can't tell whether it would be illegal, i.e. of the sort that would not be allowed to be put to use within the UFP no matter where the deed was committed. Julian was treated outside the UFP, too - bringing him back to the UFP and having him exploit his new skills there was the illegal bit.

Julian didn't practice on Earth, or even within the UFP, when found in breach of the law. He did serve in a federal organization (which isn't an Earth organization exclusively, that much is certain). And he was allowed to keep on doing that, despite enjoying the genetic advantage. Bates probably would be treated the same: she can practice, but somebody has to pay (in this weird, punishment-oriented system of weeding crime, even though at the same time people who attempt genocide get but therapy, but hey, the crime is ancient conceptually, so the associated justice might be, too). Finding this somebody is a mere technicality, then.

Timo Saloniemi