Kaelepulu

If we dive into science you need to consider this:
- The human genome is enormous, and roughly 98% of it is non-coding DNA.
- The Comet Virus struck 124 years ago.
- The X-virus was discovered much later, let's say around 50–60 years ago.
- The X-virus sequence is coding DNA because it produces observable physical changes, just like genes that affect eye color or hair color.
- A hypothetical "self-marker" or dietary preference gene would likely be hidden in non-coding DNA.

From a reader's perspective, especially from hindsight, it can feel obvious that scientists should have looked for the marker first. The problem is that:

Such a marker was only a hypothesis. There was no proof it existed.
It would likely be buried in non-coding DNA.
If you don't know what a sequence does, it's difficult to test, verify, or even determine whether it's relevant.

Without evidence that a self-marker exists, researchers would naturally focus on what they can actually observe: the coding sequences.

The self-marker idea also feels more intuitive because the story is actively discussing it. In reality, viruses don't carry a built-in "don't eat me" tag. The concept itself is speculative, so scientists would first need a reason to believe such a mechanism exists before dedicating resources to finding it.

And even if they did isolate a sequence that appeared capable of altering zombie feeding behavior or marking humans as "not food," they'd still need to determine whether it was safe, effective, and practical. That's a massive research project on its own.

Meanwhile, X-virus and X-minus were producing tangible results. From a resource allocation perspective, it would be difficult to justify diverting people and start looking for a needle (marker) in haystack (98% of non-coding or junk DNA). That's partly why Mason's alone works on it, it's treated as a long shot rather a possibility now.

(The more illogical part of the story comes later (caution: spoiler) when Mason discover, produce it like days? after this chapter. But I'm not complaining, I would hate for the story to drag because of this research phase.)

That's all very nice. But I'm not speaking to the complexity of the human genome or the difficulty of coding it. I am saying they want us to believe that for 124 years, none of these great minds had the thought, "Hey, the zombies don't bite each other, maybe that's worth exploring"

They had the wherewithal to make the X-virus, and create superhumans, but at no point in 124 years did anyone wonder about that? ┑(￣Д ￣)┍

That's partly due to reading the story through Mason's perspective.

It can feel like he's the first person to ask the question, but that's unlikely. When a student asks "Why nobody thought of it before?", that's just arrogant phrasing. How would a student know what's been debated, has he attended all conferences in the whole world? Has he interviewed scientists? or submitted or oversaw projects that witnessed those topics being discarded? No.

Mason is probably not the first person in 124 years to wonder if such a marker exists. BUT institutions don't usually spend much time teaching every dead-end theory that was considered and discarded, it's unlikely a professor would tell a class, "There's a hypothetical marker that may or may not exist, buried somewhere in non-coding DNA, but nobody is pursuing it because the odds are terrible."

Another way to look at it is this:
Before Mason finds anything, or if the marker doesn't exist, imagine a random cadet asking the exact same question, and the professor answer with most of the points I mentioned earlier: there's no evidence the marker exists, it's buried in a genomic haystack, and there are more promising research avenues. You might come to accept that explanation or even think that cadet asked a stupid question.

The difference is that it's Mason asking the question, and because he's the MC, he eventually finds something, and made it easier to look back and feel like everyone else should have seen it too.

You've got some seriously great situational awareness, insight and quality feedback

I'm sorry, but that's nonsense. Your example of a random cadet posing a hypothetical question in a classroom has no bearing on this situation. The situation is a virus turning people into zombies. The top scientists, and everyone under them, will be desperately pursuing any avenue they can think of. And I would presume that them being scientists, they would probably record and share their research. Even dead ends would be studied intensively. Suggesting that such research would be isolated such that you would have to be lucky to catch a specific conference is once again suspending a massive amount of disbelief. Such research would have been published, and anyone even tangentially connected to this field would be familiar with it.

I feel like in a world of limited personnel and resources that it would be utterly ridiculous for them to waste time and materials pursuing dead ends. So I HIGHLY doubt that dead ends would be “studied intensively.” They’re called dead ends for a reason. It’s cause they didn’t go anywhere. They found alternative things to pursue and genuinely I feel like upgrading their living facilities and weaponry to keep out the zombies was their first priority. A cure would’ve been second. Simply finding a way for the zombies to not bite was likely low on their list of priorities if it were on there at all. After all, they can’t bite if they’re dead.

I explained why I put Mason and a random extra cadet in comparison, to explain your bias. You think scientists 'should've' thought of it because of Mason, where when it was a random extra asking, it's likely regarded as obvious question that's not worth considering.

I think you're making a leap from "if someone thought of it" to "it must have been researched extensively and documented."

Those aren't the same thing.

Scientists don't investigate every possible hypothesis, nor do they publish records explaining every hypothesis they choose NOT to investigate.

A question like "Why do zombies perceive humans as prey?" may seem important in hindsight because we know the answer eventually matters. But scientists at the time don't have that hindsight. They have limited manpower (how many even survived the initial outbreak?), limited funding, limited lab capacity, and thousands of competing questions.

If we remove reader hindsight, the logical priorities would likely be:
-A cure (if infected individuals can be reversed)
-Understanding the effects of the virus (what cells, tissues, and biological pathways it targets)
-Prevention (vaccines or other forms of protection)
*These would take decades, and on-going even if they keep failing*

You argue that scientists would also investigate why zombies recognize humans as prey. But even if they did, there are countless explanations that don't require a hidden genetic marker.

A fly sense food in ultraviolet, a fish sense food in water. Humans use a combination of sight, smell, and other sensory cues. A zombie could simply be responding to visual, olfactory, thermal, or neurological triggers altered by the virus.

Without hindsight, why would researchers prioritize a speculative marker hidden somewhere in non-coding DNA over avenues that produce immediate, measurable results?

The issue isn't whether someone ever considered the possibility.
The issue is whether every idea that was considered would receive enough time, manpower, and resources to become a dedicated research program.
That's where I disagree.

The absence of published research doesn't prove nobody thought of it. It only proves it wasn't prioritized highly enough to generate a substantial body of work.

Otherwise, scientists would need to document not only every theory they pursued, but also every theory they chose not to pursue. That's simply not how research works.

Thank you, haha. I can't believe you read all that.

Okay, this is my last reply to you, because unlike your fanboy, I think your long-winded replies miss the mark every single time, and I'm tired of it.

First: "you think scientists 'should've' thought of it because of Mason" - ....what?

Second: please don't change the premise halfway through. I didn't say scientists would have questioned why zombies recognize them as food, I said they would have questioned why they don't bite each other. Those are very different questions. There is no reasonable scenario where that wouldn't have been at the top of their priority list.

There is one clear goal: save humanity from zombies. There are exactly two possible ways to do this. 1. Find a way to cure the virus. 2. Find a way to neutralize the threat posed from zombies.

You would have me believe that either they didn't find the second option to be important enough to prioritize, or that they did, but didn't immediately consider the follow up question: why don't they bite each other, is there any way we can take advantage of that? Or that, somehow, this is a question that would only occur with hindsight.

If I want to eat a bowl of cereal, I am going to check and see if I have milk, I am not going to eat it dry and then realize in hindsight that milk would have went well with it.

Fanboy? Are you for real being this petty after I said one thing, not even to you? The replies were actually pretty clear and I will add that I appracied them because I had your same thought process while reading the novel, and after you sit down and think about the POV bias and the points being made about lack of resources and there being hundreds of better leads on the subject of zombie-biting than the one MC is going for based on some random intuition, you might realize that comment made some great points. You know what really makes no sense? your damn milk cereal comparison. Next time you should try listening when someone wants to reason with you, instead of hurting you own ego. It's pretty useful in life. And it's Fangirl for you lol... also going to mute this uselessly long chain of comments

You've got a point fr, but I think situational wise, they were probably not thinking of anything else other than "how tf do we kill these guys to protect humanity?" and setting wise, they were probably putting a ton of their research into ways of exterminating the zombies rather than studying them and their nuances.

If you think about it, reswarchers in this world rarely go into the field with the agents. I think if people did think about it and tried to study it, they probably led to a dead end, and they also probably didn't have enough resources to continue pushing the study. Dead ends are rarely looked into again in science, not only in science but in any field really, bc a dead end is again, a DEAD END, so scientists probably looked at it went "you know what u right let's try and study this—oh nvm the previous researcher already said it was a a dead end, ok then, was a valid theory, worth the try, sad it didn't work out. Alright boys, let's study this other research study which had more evidence and side not least in a dead end". It usually takes a very determined person (which in this story is our MC) to take initiative and have enough passion to break through that dead end with a new discovery. Even our MC is looking through their database for any information of this possibility being already researched on in the past.

It took years for genetics and genetic investigation in crime to progress, I assume it would be same for scientific research in an apocalyptic zombie world where they are constantly worrying about zombie attacks and also terrorist attacks from groups with opposing point of views. Then again this is just what I think, and this is a story about zombies and virus-filled superhumans in an technologically advance setting. Anything is a possibility.