Promicin

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Promicin is a drug that features in The 4400.

Contents

History

Promicin

A government conspiracy was responsible for using regular promicin-inhibitor injections to suppress a 4400's potential new abilities.

After the government ceased injecting promicin inhibitor it led to every 4400 developing an ability.

Dr. Kevin Burkhoff devised a way to artificially create 4400 abilities through a series of promicin injections, using himself as a test subject which resulted in him gaining regenerative abilities. However, the government found out about this breakthrough and built up its own stockpile of a much purer promicin that was extracted from Isabelle Tyler. This in turn was used to create at least one group of soldiers with 4400 abilities, as demonstrated by the government's attack on Promise City. Jordan Collier came to steal the government's supply and began distributing it via human couriers to anyone who wanted the shot.

Dr. Burkhoff claimed to had discovered how promicin interacted with the body, thus being able to predict whether a person will survive the shot or not. It was explained that nine out of ten left-handed people who took the shot survived. In the brain, there was a small part called the corpus callosum that was essentially a bundle of neural fibres which connected the two hemispheres and it was usually slightly larger in left-handed people than it was in right-handed people. It was believed that this was the reason why left-handed people survived as the size of that part of the brain helped determine whether or not a person will be able to integrate a new neurotransmitter. With further research, Dr. Burkhoff believed a simple CAT scan would be able to tell how anyone's body would react to a promicin shot.

Overview

In appearance, Promicin was a special neurotransmitter among the 4400s that enables him or her to use parts of the cerebellum no human has previously used. This is the cause of the new abilities in each returnee. The human body produces neurotransmitters that control and regulate bodily functions. Promicin's behaviour and effects were unpredictable, potentially giving any ability.

An injection of promicin has a 50% chance of either killing the person taking the injection (by way of an aneurysm) or giving them a 4400 ability.

The promicin-inhibitor "piggybacks on glucose", after entering the brain through facilitated diffusion. It is a binding protein; that is, it binds itself to promicin in the body and neutralizes it. However, if there is no promicin for it to bind to, it remains in the body. Eventually, it builds up to toxic levels in the lymph nodes, damaging the immune system. The result is a chemically induced immunodeficiency. To counteract the promicin inhibitor, Dr. Burkhoff develops a serum containing Isabelle's pure promicin. This serum neutralizes the charge so the inhibitor is not able to cross membranes and can be flushed out of the body

There was a substance that could eliminate all traces of promicin in the human body, effectively robbing the injected individual of any 4400 powers and in addition making this person allergic to promicin. The identity and makeup of this substance was not stated, and the only known source of it so far was from the future. A second method also exists for removing promicin from non-4400 humans, through the promicin-neutralizing ability of Jordan Collier.

There also appeared to be a substance that can counteract the anti-promicin's effects as Tom Baldwin, during his time as a member of the "Marked", uses this substance to help Isabelle Tyler regain her powers by removing her promicin allergy. Like the anti-promicin, this substance appears to be from the future.

Seattle Presbyterian Hospital started using a flawed radiation machine to treat their cancer patients in 1969. The microswitches that controlled the machine were not functioning properly, so the doses were incorrect. This went on for just under five years. Once the hospital figured out what they were doing they tested everyone who had ever been exposed to it and in some cases the radiation induced a small mutation. This mutation was a slight alteration of the eleventh chromosome, named the "Starzl mutation" after the manufacturer of the faulty machine. The mutation is hereditary, meaning people that got it passed it onto their children. The Starzl mutation is both harmless and conserved in those offspring; they live normal healthy lives. While the offspring of a returnee normally do not retain the ability to generate promicin, a second-hand report from John Shaffner (an ex-special ops soldier) suggested that the offspring of a 4400 and a Starzl mutant will be "promicin-positive", meaning they will have abilities. This is believed by Tom Baldwin and Diana Skouris to be the reason why the abductees were returned to the Seattle area - it is the only place they are likely to encounter individuals who possess the Starzl mutation and therefore the only place they are likely to produce children with 4400 abilities.

Users

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Notes

  • Promicin was created by René Echevarria and Scott Peters where it featured in the setting of The 4400 universe.

Appearances

  • The 4400:

External Links

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