Chp6 Page 22
Is there anything less dignified than getting hit gently with some paper?
I guess maybe having to sit around on a medical bed with your shirt off. that doesn’t help.
Is there anything less dignified than getting hit gently with some paper?
I guess maybe having to sit around on a medical bed with your shirt off. that doesn’t help.
Yes, tell crazy grandpa about your daughter. This, I promise, will go super well.
*aggressively tries to read the pamphlet myself*
SMALL FONT ABFAKGMTLBH;BH
I KNOW RIGHT?
Although looking from what we CAN see of the dossier, it seems like the author’s referencing the MECP2 mutation; so we have a case of Angelman Syndrome or possibly Rett Syndrome here.
Also, seeing as MECP2 is X-linked (thus in male Schtein, can only have gotten this mutation from his mother) AND crazy Opa here is the paternal grandfather… I can see why he’s slightly resentful that he can blame his grandson’s deficiency on the mother, credit the cure to himself, and the inability to perfect the cure for his grandson/do adequate post-clinical followup as something of a sore point…
ALSO: seeing as according the dossier, pretreatment prognosis includes sterility (really? I’m not sure how mutations in the MECP2 gene is linked with sterility, seeing as the protein it encodes is relevant for nerve cells…?), I’m pretty sure possible side effects of treatment including sterility is a no biggie.
That might also explain Opa’s surprise; he’s expecting Schtein to be sterile one way or the other with both pretreatment prognosis and possible treatment side effects working against him here…
the mecp2 mutation isn’t the cause of the possibility of sterility, it’s the xy/xxy mosaicism.
Oh my god, you are discussing genetics and the root science of a webcomic character and I love all of you now. Forever.
Ha! I knew he has a sister! Also, loving grandpa peeking out from the last panel.
Eeeee, this will be great. I love Oppa peaking into frame.
Wait, 98%? What of that 2%
It may be that 1) his theoretical estimate of sterility effect was low and 2) he hasn’t tried it very many times so 3) his conclusion remains 98% despite always observing sterility.
That’s what I was thinking. Still, it’s the word choice that interests me: “of my subjects, 98% of them became sterilized.” Not “all of my subjects became sterilized” and not “the results showed an 98% chance of sterility.”
It’s one of those things which isn’t actually important, but fascinates me… It was probably just the good Doctor combining an incomplete grasp of the English language with the grammatical imperfections that come with a normal conversation, but what if it wasn’t? What if he had, say, a hundred subjects, and there are three or four children out there? Or maybe there were children, but didn’t survive long due to the affects of the treatment on their genes.
He’s got to have had a sample of at least fifty, so I think doc’s just lucky.
the first and last panels crack me up so bad. I love Opa Schtein’s antics so much
That last panel is perfection
was that something like “tingling in extremities” among side effects in the last line? could be relevant to Doc’s need for gloves.
I like how that last electrode pops off when he gets whapped in the head
“More family to have visit!”
hooray! Orville claps his hands together excitedly.
Oh Orville, you are just a TREAT
This page is just too cute. Ops Orville is so dramatic and has the silliest expressions XD especially the first and last panels.
Dang. Hell of a way to find out your ex was a cheater. :(
what are you kidding? Alice looks like Dr. Schtein in a wig. <:D
I can not tell you how happy I am that the “read my plamphlet, dum-dum!” panel is an actual panel! It’s hilarious! I love all of disss!
Holy crap, Schtein didn’t know about Margot? :O
Information retention well above normal? I had suspected Oppa’s the reason Schtein is so intelligent.
Oh, one of his projects reproduced! And they are family, and female….oh the possibilities.
The final panel made me happily convulse in story-furthering glee!
Kaputt with two t’s ;)
Also, “Bitte, weitergehen” is not a valid sentence in german. Sounds like something from Google Translator. The english “go on” or “move on”, which I presume you translated, have many possible translations in german, depending on context in english. “Bitte weitergehen!”, while not perfect german, could be used by a police officer telling curious bystanders of a crime scene to stop watching and move on, as in walk away, but not for telling someone to continue reading or to stop thinking about the past ;)
well I definitely don’t use google translator, if that at least puts your mind at some ease. I do a lot of research, and I guess that has failed me. :P
if you could offer a suggestion of replacement that would be lovely, though. Because otherwise I’m basically done with this page and I have to do moving on of my own. :D
Ok :) I wouldn’t try to do a direct translation in this case. There is a phrase commonly used when talking about letting the past be the past in german: “Schnee von Gestern” – water under the bridge”. That would fit here quite nicely. Also, it’s something Opa probably still would express in german despite knowing english on an academics level. Also used to express “it’s over, forget it – move on” is “Schwamm drüber”. The closest translation of that would be “No hard feelings!”, but it literally means to wipe something, i. e. the past in this case, with a sponge and forget about it. Also a classy way to accept an excuse :)
If you want Opa to say “go on reading” use: “Lies weiter”- “Read on” or “Mach weiter” – “Go on”. You can put a “bitte” at any position of those two sentences, but if you put it at the end, put a “,” before it.
Hope this helps!
German is a difficult language and I wouldn’t bother correction you If I didn’t know you cared about such little details. So don’t worry, I’ve seen worse used by professional comic writers in french, englisch and japanese comics. If it weren’t my native language…
What k just said. He/she beat me to it.
That last panel just made the whole strip for me. Wow. The psychologist in me is really wondering about the illegitimate offspring that implies.
actually, I’m pretty sure his children are completely legitimate.
Looks like he literally altered Schtein’s DNA, right? So the problem with reproducing would be the chromosomes being in an infeasible order or somesuch. Reproducing may just create a sterile child or one with other problems, but it might be that the trait will finally breed true.
No. Inborn sterility is often caused by chromosomal abnormalities. A somatic gene therapy (which influences body cells, not the germ cells) doesn’t alter the shape or number of chromosomes, it either inserts or knocks out genes (DNA sequences) or alters the expression/transcription of coding genes via their regulator genes.
His daughter looks just like him….interesting. He (the Grandson) is probably the .001% with a good or extended life span and good reproductive genes to pass on as well as the phantom pains and neurosis also…
I really hope they actually work together somehow. I think that Opa Stein does sort of care in his own way, even if it meant genetic manipulation. I’ll be a little disappointed if they leave on bad terms. Family is all you can count on sometimes. :)
I do too. I really like opa, and this would make an excellent next step for his super villain ascension
Yeah, same here. The best part is that they kind of mesh, too – I mean, they’re both bad-tempered, egocentric madmen and will probably end up bickering constantly, but they’re also both geniuses, and if they ever agreed on something they’d be frickin’ UNSTOPPABLE.
It doesn’t necessarily seem like they disagree, it’s just that Stein’s a bit apprehensive because of what’s been told to him about Opa Stein.
At the very least, Opa Stein could be a very good mentor to Stein, as he’s probably one of the few people in the world that could really understand him. Or really, more so than anyone else because of what he’s done.
Orville’s face in the last panel is just precious
…Schtein, the more I look at these pages, the more I want to say:
For goodness sakes, you’re paler than your elderly doctor grampa who lives in a wasteland!
Ecstatic at the news, once Stein leaves, Grandpa Stein sets about to putting his spare time to a knew use– By knitting sweaters and hats for his grandchildren.
Oh geez I’ve reread the archives and TODAY I notice all the needle marks in Shtein the Younger’s arms. That can’t have been comfortable.
Oh, man… I’m so excited…
(Oh, and uh, Mr. G, I sent a donation a couple of days ago and the wallpaper link never came through…)
My email is listed on the info page please write to me so I can send you the link. :)
The Schtein’sTwins : how terrific it sounds ! Too bad his sister’s dead :( She would have been awazome ! Wait : does it mean Alice is genetically altered too ? Sorry but i can’t stop laughing when i imagine an army of zombies and a loving Opa running after the teen. And Herville by his side : Welcome to the Family !!
yeah, too bad. Also she was older, not twins.