Forward the Foundation - Isaac Asimov [211]
"And what would you do with them if you found them, Dad?"
"I have the notion that they are what I need for the further development of psychohistory."
Raych said, "And Wanda is the first of the type you know about and you intend to make a psychohistorian out of her?"
"Perhaps."
"Like Yugo. -Dad, no!"
"Why no?"
"Because I want her to grow up like a normal girl and become a normal woman. I will not have you sitting her before the Prime Radiant and make her into a living monument to psychohistorical mathematics."
Seldon said, "It may not come to that, Raych, but we must have her genome. You know that for thousands of years there have been suggestions that every human being have his genome on file. It's only the expense that's kept it from becoming standard practice; no one doubts the usefulness of it. Surely you see the advantages. If nothing else, we will know Wanda's tendencies toward a variety of physiological disorders. If we had ever had Yugo's genome, I am certain he would not now be dying. Surely we can go that far."
"Well, maybe, Dad, but no further. I'm willing to bet that Manella is going to be a lot firmer on this than I am."
Seldon said, "Very well. But remember, no more lecture tours. I need you at home."
"We'll see," Raych said and left.
Seldon sat there in a quandary. Eto Demerzel, the one person he knew who could handle minds, would have known what to do. Dors, with her nonhuman knowledge, might have known what to do.
For himself, he had a dim vision of a new psychohistory-but nothing more than that.
6
It was not an easy task to obtain a complete genome of Wanda. To begin with, the number of biophysicists equipped to handle the genome was small and those that existed were always busy.
Nor was it possible for Seldon to discuss his needs openly, in order to interest the biophysicists. It was absolutely essential, Seldon felt, that the true reason for his interest in Wanda's mental powers be kept secret from all the Galaxy.
And if another difficulty was needed, it was the fact that the process was infernally expensive.
Seldon shook his head and said to Mian Endelecki, the biophysicist he was now consulting, "Why so expensive, Dr. Endelecki? I am not an expert in the field, but it is my distinct understanding that the process is completely computerized and that, once you have a scraping of skin cells, the genome can be completely built and analyzed in a matter of days."
"That's true. But having a deoxyribonucleic acid molecule stretching out for billions of nucleotides, with every puring and pyrimidine in its place, is the least of it; the very least of it, Professor Seldon. There is then the matter of studying each one and comparing it to some standard.
"Now, consider, in the first place, that although we have records of complete genomes, they represent a vanishingly small fraction of the number of genomes that exist, so that we don't really know how standard they are."
Seldon asked, "Why so few?"
"A number of reasons. The expense, for one thing. Few people are willing to spend the credits on it unless they have strong reason to think there is something wrong with their genome. And if they have no strong reason, they are reluctant to undergo analysis for fear they will find something wrong. Now, then, are you sure you want your granddaughter genomed?"
"Yes, I do. It is terribly important."
"Why? Does she show signs of a metabolic anomaly?"
"No, she doesn't. Rather the reverse-if I knew the antonym of 'anomaly.' I consider her a most unusual person and I want to know just what it is that makes her unusual."
"Unusual