Well...
I can think of a few of the specific complications that would prevent them from getting the metagene into anything about a bacterium as Valles said.
Is the metahuman gene a single gene or a complex of genes? i.e., does superstrength come from one gene (or gene set), while magic comes from another? This
could slow things down as they look at 48 different genes that they KNOW are involved with meta-gifts, but which ones do what... that might take awhile.
Does the metahuman gene interact with other genes? For example, in embryonic development, genes have to be turned on and off at very specific times, and often
in specific ratios or areas - for example, some of the developmental genes for humans express in a gradient from head to tail - highest concentration at one
end, lowest at the other - if the concentrations are messed with, it screws things up. There are other genes that specifically regulate those genes to keep
those gradients as they are - and there are genes that are only expressed embryonically that AREN'T expressed after birth - they may still be in the
genome, but they are turned off.
DNA doesn't just go to the RNA then to the protein - there are some modifications and processing that can occur to alter things after you get your gene.
Does the DNA have variant splicing? Genes have subcomponents (exons) that can be variably spliced to give different versions of the protein. Perhaps only one
version acts as a metahuman gene?
RNA processing - there's a whole host of things that can be done to the RNA after it's been copied from the DNA - and all of those processing elements
have multiple regulators that may have to be determined before the metagene works properly.
siRNA is another idea - this was only discovered about 10 years ago. Basically, there are tiny segments of RNA (about 25 base pairs long) that bind to
transcribed RNA (copied from the metagene DNA) which effectively turns that gene off. If you don't find the siRNA when you try to clone your metahuman,
they may express the metagene, but get no effect from it because their body has turned it off.
RMH
I can think of a few of the specific complications that would prevent them from getting the metagene into anything about a bacterium as Valles said.
Is the metahuman gene a single gene or a complex of genes? i.e., does superstrength come from one gene (or gene set), while magic comes from another? This
could slow things down as they look at 48 different genes that they KNOW are involved with meta-gifts, but which ones do what... that might take awhile.
Does the metahuman gene interact with other genes? For example, in embryonic development, genes have to be turned on and off at very specific times, and often
in specific ratios or areas - for example, some of the developmental genes for humans express in a gradient from head to tail - highest concentration at one
end, lowest at the other - if the concentrations are messed with, it screws things up. There are other genes that specifically regulate those genes to keep
those gradients as they are - and there are genes that are only expressed embryonically that AREN'T expressed after birth - they may still be in the
genome, but they are turned off.
DNA doesn't just go to the RNA then to the protein - there are some modifications and processing that can occur to alter things after you get your gene.
Does the DNA have variant splicing? Genes have subcomponents (exons) that can be variably spliced to give different versions of the protein. Perhaps only one
version acts as a metahuman gene?
RNA processing - there's a whole host of things that can be done to the RNA after it's been copied from the DNA - and all of those processing elements
have multiple regulators that may have to be determined before the metagene works properly.
siRNA is another idea - this was only discovered about 10 years ago. Basically, there are tiny segments of RNA (about 25 base pairs long) that bind to
transcribed RNA (copied from the metagene DNA) which effectively turns that gene off. If you don't find the siRNA when you try to clone your metahuman,
they may express the metagene, but get no effect from it because their body has turned it off.
RMH