A.J. Symon
Imagination has always preceded science. Artificial Intelligence. Biometric identification. Space travel. Designer babies. Cloning. All these technological feats existed only in some writer’s mind, an outlandish fantasy, until science caught up. It could be argued that nowhere does life imitate art more than in the realm of science fiction.
Often, science fiction is wish fulfillment. Science is the genie in the bottle, and once that genie gets loose, watch out! Take Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein for example. Dr. Frankenstein wants to conquer death, perhaps the most fundamental human wish, but his hubris eventually leads to tragedy, including his own destruction.
Humanity has, as of this writing, not succeeded in conquering death, but that’s not for lack of trying. Cryonics and digital consciousness are just two examples of our refusal to go gentle into that good night.
We wish the same for our pets. It is the sad destiny of every pet lover that we eventually have to say goodbye to our best friend. And that is exactly what the main character in my novel Golden Boy refuses to do. Emma Branch is a teen science prodigy who, in trying to save her golden retriever’s life by enhancing his genetic code, accidently transforms him into a human boy. (Hijinks ensue when he becomes the hero of the failing high school football team.) I think of it as a comedic take on Frankenstein where the “monster,” i.e. Emma’s golden-turned-human, goes on a rampage of unconditional love.
There is an actual, legitimate scientific basis for this premise. First, dogs and humans share 90% of their DNA, and second, dogs only express about half. So what would happen if you activated those other genes? We know that the aging genes in both species are similar, so what if Emma figured out how to “turn on” the dormant human aging genes in her dog but goes just a little too far and turns on enough shared genes to make him homo sapiens?
When I came up with this concept a couple of years ago, there were a few studies on the subject but nothing mainstream. Now, however, coincidentally just as Golden Boy is hitting the market, the number of studies linking canine and human biology has mushroomed into an avalanche. Just check out the documentaries on your favorite streaming app. Even 60 Minutes did a story.
There is definitely something in the zeitgeist. Science wants to know, how much do dogs understand? Do they have language? Do they feel love like we do?
(I can save millions of research dollars and answer that last one right now: Dogs feel love more than we do. Does your spouse jump up and down and kiss you all over every time you walk through the door? Even if you just left for five seconds to set the garbage at the curb? I rest my case.)
Perhaps the fastest-growing area of research is the exact one that Emma tackles in Golden Boy: the link between human and canine aging. This doesn’t surprise me in the least. I’d bet the majority of scientists are animal lovers. If they’re big nerds like me and Emma, their dog or cat or iguana was their best friend for most of their childhood, and losing them broke their burgeoning genius hearts.
So what has this plethora of research shown? Not only do dogs and people share almost 90% of our DNA, our aging genes are almost identical. Here are a few representative samples:
- Dogs and humans share the same early warning signs of aging, especially in kidney function.[1]
- Rapamycin may help slow inflammatory conditions like heart disease in dogs which makes it a promising treatment for slowing the same processes in humans.[2]
- Dogs’ brains show the same signs of Alzheimer’s as human brains, which may hold the key for abating the disease in both species.[3]
Notice a pattern? These conditions are basically the same ones that appear on that Family Medical History questionnaire the doctor’s office makes you fill out every time you visit. Genetically speaking, humans and dogs are cousins. We are family.
Not a particularly shocking discovery. Especially to dog lovers. We all sense it intuitively, but for some reason, some of our species require empirical validation. (Now, if you asked my golden retriever, he’d think the entire question absurd. Not because it’s not true, but because he already thinks he’s a human being.)
So, now that science confirms what we all suspected, what do we do with that knowledge? The line between humans and dogs, genetically speaking, is thin. Can we continue to treat our cousins as property instead of the sentient beings that they are? And what about the rest of the beings on this planet?
The fact is we are all related. The deeper we dive into genetics, the more we discover that we are essentially the same. The arbitrary constructs that divide us, those differences that seem monumental on the surface are, genetically speaking, insignificant. At our most basic level, we have much more in common than what separates us.
This is, I hope, what readers take away from Golden Boy. No matter what form you take on the outside—canine, human, or any other wonderful possibility—we are all on the same team, and we are all capable of giving and worthy of receiving unconditional love.
A.J. Symon was born and raised in the South where he was instilled with a love of football, dogs, and any food that’s been breaded and deep-fried. He got the idea for GOLDEN BOY when what he assumed was a game of fetch with his golden retriever turned into a game of keep-away. If that dog were human, he thought, he’d be an amazing running back. Symon lives with his family in Barnesville, Georgia, where the proceeds from this book will help keep several golden retrievers in the lifestyle to which they’ve become accustomed.
[1] https://dogagingproject.org/dogs-and-humans-share-biomarkers-of-mortality
[2] https://dogagingproject.org/scientific-results-test-of-rapamycin-in-aging-dogs-triad-study-design-and-rationale-for-a-prospective-parallel-group-double-masked-randomized-placebo-controlled-multicenter-trial-of-rapamycin
[3] https://www.cbsnews.com/news/studying-dog-aging-brains-longevity-60-minutes/
If you enjoyed this article, consider subscribing to The Strand Magazine.
We publish newly discovered stories, original fiction, and interviews with major writers.
Be the first to comment