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Ask Your Questions to The X-Files Scientist Anne Simon

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Pike avatar
Pike
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Joined: 2017-10-13
By Pike on Wednesday June 20, 2018 02:23 pm

Fans of the TV series and movie franchise [url=https://www.tvore.com/?page=series&id=1]The X-Files know [url=https://www.tvore.com/?page=star&id=545]Anne Simon. Author of the 2001 book [url=https://www.tvore.com/?page=book&id=336]The Real Science Behind the X-Files: Microbes, Meteorites, and Mutants, Simon has been a close scientific advisor to showrunner [url=https://www.tvore.com/?page=star&id=10]Chris Carter. As we are currently preparing an interview of Mrs. Simon, mostly focused about her book, we are giving an exclusive opportunity to our members to ask her questions.

We do not promise that all of your questions will go into the final interview, but we'll definitely pick some of the most interesting ones.

Feel free to reply to this message with your questions. We will be updating this topic along the way, until we do the interview.

Here are the current questions:

Question 1 - By IronButterfly83
Thinking back on Ice and Fight the Future: In light of recent discoveries of viruses found alive in thawing permafrost, back in the 90's, did you ever think something like this could actually have become a reality?

Question 2 - By IronButterfly83
On season 11, the threat of global pandemic: There is fear that smallpox and the bubonic plauge could be found alive in the permafrost of Siberia. With the smallpox vaccine phased out, the threat of an actual global pandemic seems to be a reality. What are your thoughts on this?

Question 3 - By IronButterfly83
These previously dormant viruses could potentially find their way into the oceans. Birds could collect and transport during migration. Animals restricted to arctic regions could face extinction if exposed to the wrong virus. Do you think we could see some kind of global event in our lifetime? Other thoughts?

Question 4 - By DuaneB
Would you say that the show would have had the same resounding if the scientist aspect were not so strong and as best as possible threated in a realistic way? Or could we say that it goes together with the emergence a female archetype like Scully? How could you analyze the difficult position for a creator that is to create an intelligent scientist presence in show that mainly speaks about irrationality? Isn't it a contradictory but creative position?

Question 5 - By JoAnne Corrigan (@corrwest)
In chapter 3, section “Aliens ‘R Us” at p.163, you discuss how the “genes of the human genome take up less than 5% of DNA in a cell”. The other 95% known as “junk” DNA had no known purpose. What do we know about its purpose now?

Question 6 - By JoAnne Corrigan (@corrwest)
If I have this straight, chromosomes (23 pairs in every human cell) contain our genes and are made of DNA. Scully has alien DNA in Season 10. Is it in every one of her cells? Is it on any particular chromosome or is it an extra one? How could it get there?

Question 7 - By JoAnne Corrigan (@corrwest)
I’ve done some reading on CRISPR/Cas9 (which I know is mentioned in X-Files recently) but since I am not a scientist it is quite confusing. I am wondering if you can explain what it is and how it works in plain language?

Question 8 - By JoAnne Corrigan (@corrwest)
Scully tests her DNA and gets back a gel with short black lines. I think this is “agarose gel electrophoresis” (thanks Google) and the lines represent different separated parts of the DNA, but again it is confusing. How are these gels read and what do the lines mean?


Pike avatar
Pike
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By Pike on Wednesday June 20, 2018 02:38 pm

Our member IronButterfly83 has shared the following questions:

Question 1 - By IronButterfly83
Thinking back on Ice and Fight the Future: In light of recent discoveries of viruses found alive in thawing permafrost, back in the 90's, did you ever think something like this could actually have become a reality?

Question 2 - By IronButterfly83
On season 11, the threat of global pandemic: There is fear that smallpox and the bubonic plauge could be found alive in the permafrost of Siberia. With the smallpox vaccine phased out, the threat of an actual global pandemic seems to be a reality. What are your thoughts on this?

Question 3 - By IronButterfly83
These previously dormant viruses could potentially find their way into the oceans. Birds could collect and transport during migration. Animals restricted to arctic regions could face extinction if exposed to the wrong virus. Do you think we could see some kind of global event in our lifetime? Other thoughts?


DuaneB avatar
DuaneB
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By DuaneB on Wednesday June 20, 2018 05:35 pm

My question will be much more a three in one:
Would you say that the show would have had the same resounding if the scientist aspect were not so strong and as best as possible threated in a realistic way? Or could we say that it goes togather with the emergence a female archetype like Scully? How could you analyze the difficult position for a creator that is to create an intelligent scientist presence in show that mainly speaks about irrationality? Isn't it a contradictory but creative postion?


Pike avatar
Pike
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By Pike on Thursday June 21, 2018 09:28 am

Excellent, thanks DuaneB. I will update the original message to add your question. I cannot wait to receive the book!


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Pike
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By Pike on Wednesday June 27, 2018 03:02 am

We have updated the original message with lots of questions from members.


kimmy avatar
kimmy
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By kimmy on Friday July 13, 2018 04:17 am

Thank you for the opportunity!

- Dr. Anne participated in writing the My Struggle II episode, then at the final moment Chris Carter cut the final ten pages and made a cliffhanger out of the episode. Were these ten pages what we saw in My Struggle III or even IV, or was it something else entirely (and what?)?

- In My Struggle II there are all these conspiracy theories about what really triggers the Spartan virus to shut down the immune system (microwaves, chemtrails, CO2), so how does it really happen?

- Are we to understand that the Spartan virus is alien, or was it created by humans? Was it derived from the Black Oil virus from the first movie?

- So what's the Black Oil up to these days?

- You wrote the "Real Science" book when the series was starting season 6. Did you continue to be involved as science advisor during seasons 6-9 when the show was shooting in Los Angeles? Do you have an example where they called you for advice during those years?

- How likely is it that a scenario like the one in the series, with biological warfare helped by weakened immune systems through genetic engineering, might happen in the real world?

- A lot has happened since the 1990s in science, do you have an example where the science we saw in the show would have been different had it been written today?


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Gruic
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By Gruic on Friday July 13, 2018 04:34 am



Quote:
- A lot has happened since the 1990s in science, do you have an example where the science we saw in the show would have been different had it been written today?



Great question. +1.




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