“Transgenic plants possess a gene or genes that have been transferred from a different species. Although DNA of another species can be integrated in a plant genome by natural processes, the term “transgenic plants” refers to plants created in a laboratory using recombinant DNA technology. The aim is to design plants with specific characteristics by artificial insertion of genes from other species or sometimes entirely different kingdoms.”
“Most interesting for our purposes here is Robert R. Chase’s “Five Thousand Light Years From Birdland,” which explores some of the difficulties of interspecies communication.The narrator is on his way to the alien planet of the title to serve as an ambassador to its avian inhabitants, the Rahnee’ah. But first he needs to figure out how to communicate with Screet, his Rahnee’ah shipmate, who may determine that humankind isn’t worth communicating with and eat him. There’s a translator that can figure out the vocabulary, but rarely conveys a statement’s real meaning. His best tool for learning the meaning beneath the language is Eutik Si Euban, an enormous history book that is the Rahnee’ah’s equivalent of the Bible. It’s the source of all of Screet’s mysterious allusions, so figuring it out the alien’s religion is essential to learning how to communicate with them without being eaten.”
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