Robin Cook: Chromosome 6

“That’s fantastic,” Laurie said. “What about that awful pig, Angelo Facciolo?”

“He’s still in the slammer,” Lou said. “We have him nailed on stealing Franconi’s body. I know it’s not much, but remember Al Capone was reeled in on tax evasion.”

“What about the mole in the medical examiner’s office?” Laurie said.

“Solved,” Lou said. “In fact, that’s how we have Angelo nailed. Vinnie Amendola has agreed to testify.”

“So, it was Vinnie!” Laurie said with a mixture of vindication and regret.

“No wonder he’s been acting so weird,” Jack said from the backseat.

“There was one unexpected twist,” Lou said. “There was someone else mixed up in all this who has taken us by surprise. He’s apparently out of the country at the moment. When he comes back into the country, he’s going to be arrested for murder of a teenager by the name of Cindy Carlson over in Jersey. We believe Franco Ponti and Angelo Facciolo did the actual killing, but it was at this guy’s behest. His name is Dr. Raymond Lyons. Do either of you guys know him?”

“Never heard of him,” Jack said.

“Nor I,” Laurie said.

“Well, he had something to do with that organ transplant stuff you people were so interested in,” Lou said. “But later for that. Right now I’d like to hear about the first part of your trip: the harrowing part.”

“For that you’ll have to buy us dinner,” Laurie said. “It’s kind of a long story.”

bonobo : An anthropoid ape classified as a species in 1933. Related to chimpanzees, they occasionally walk upright and are found only in a localized area of Zaire. The estimated population is less than twenty thousand.

centromere : A specialized portion of a chromosome that plays an important role in the reduplication of the chromosome during cellular division.

chimera : A combination of a lion, a goat, and a serpent in Greek mythology. In literature, a chimera is a creation of the imagination: an impossible mixture. In biology, a chimera is an organism that contains genetically distinct cell types. In genetics, a chimera is an entity containing a mixture of DNA from different sources.

chromosome : An elongated structure in the nucleus of a cell that contains DNA. In humans and anthropoid apes, there are twenty-three pairs of chromosomes for a total of forty-six.

cicatrix : A scar.

crossing over : The exchange of parts of chromosomes between chromosome pairs during meiosis.

dna : The acronym for deoxyribonucleic acid, which encodes genetic information.

endothelialization : The healing of the inner surface of blood vessels by the cells that cover such surfaces.

forensic pathology : A branch of pathology that relates pathological science with civil and criminal law.

gene : A functional unit of heredity that is composed of a sequence of DNA located at a specific locus or place on the chromosome.

genome : The complete complement of genes of an organism. In humans, the genome contains approximately one hundred thousand genes.

granuloma : A growth of a mixture of specialized cells as a result of chronic inflammation.

histocompatibility : A state when two or more organisms can share organs or tissue (e.g., identical twins).

homologous chromosome : Chromosomes that are similar with respect to their genes and visible structure: e.g., each chromosome of a chromosome pair.

homologous transposition : The exchange of corresponding portions of DNA between homologous chromosomes.

lymphokine : An immunologically active hormone produced by certain immune cells called lymphocytes.

meiosis : A special type of cellular division that occurs during the creation of sex cells (eggs and sperm), resulting in each sex cell having half the usual number of chromosomes. In humans, each sex cell has twenty-three chromosomes.

mitochondria : Self-replicating entities in cells that produce energy.

mitochondrial dna : DNA necessary for mitochondrial replication. It is inherited only through the maternal line.

merozoite : A stage in the life cycle of some parasites that enables the organism to disperse and infect additional cells within the host.

parasite : An organism that lives on or in another organism (or host). A parasite does not help the host; in fact, it typically harms the host.

parasitology : A branch of biology dealing with parasites.

pathology : A branch of medical science involving the cause, the process, the anatomic effects, and the consequence of disease.

recombinant dna : A composite molecule of DNA that has been formed in the laboratory with DNA from separate sources.

recombinant dna technology : The applied science of separating, producing, and recombining segments of DNA or genes.

ribosomal proteins : The proteins that form a ribosome. The DNA that codes for these proteins is species specific and is used to identify the species of tissue (e.g., to determine if blood is human blood or blood of a particular species of animal).

ribosome : A cellular entity responsible for manufacturing all cellular protein.

transgenic : An organism whose genome contains one or more genes from another species (e.g., pigs containing human genes to facilitate human reception of pig heart valves).

vaccine : A substance given to an individual to produce resistance to disease or infection.

xenograft : An organ or tissue taken from one species and transplanted into another species. Generally, a xenograft refers to an animal organ or tissue dial is transplanted into a human (e.g., a pig heart valve).