ReGenesis is a landmark Canadian TV series that presents an irresistable combination of a trashy office telenovella and a biology procedural. Through four seasons, we follow the many dramatic adventures of geneticist David Sandström (Peter Outerbridge), bioinformaticist Mayko Tran (Mayko Nguyen), physician Carlos Serrano (Conrad Pla), biochemist Bob Melnikov (Dmitry Chepovetsky), Executive Director Caroline Morrison (Maxim Roy), administrator Weston Field (Greg Bryk), and others as they work to promote public health at NorBAC (North American Biotechnology Advisory Commission), a fictitious agency in Toronto that is a collaboration between the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
ReGenesis takes on many issues lifted straight from the headlines: human cloning, bioterrorism, mysterious disease oubreaks, gene therapy, genetic determinism, scientific rivalries, corrupt and stupid governments, sociopathic religions, unchecked capitalism, and more. The crew at NorBAC uses state-of-the-art molecular biology, bioinformatics, and epidemiology to take on its many simultaneous and competing challenges.
On the human side, it is easy to like the colorful characters at NorBAC. David Sandström, the Scientific Director of NorBAC, is brilliant, brash, and occasionally reckless. He is passionate about science, but can't stay out of inappropriate relationships at work, and until he goes into rehab in the third season, hits the bottle hard. We grow to like him quickly. The writers have us hooked as David is exposed to various exotic life-threatening illnesses, and people that he cares about are either taken down or taken out by bad biology or violence.
Bob Melnikov, a gifted biochemist with Asperger Syndrome, serves as the show's walking database, always ready to solve the mysteries with detailed information on obscure subjects. Bob needs a little help from his friends to get through work and life, and we quickly grow fond of him as well. The writers count on this, and as the series goes on, Bob encounters several biological challenges that endanger his identity and his life.
Carlos Serrano is the guy you want as your doctor: knowledgeable, compassionate, and dedicated. In the field, he is the one most able to talk to grieving relatives, and sometimes has the job of restraining David Sandström. It wouldn't be much fun if Carlos always operated within bounds, so just as we come to take his professionalism for granted, the writers give him some humanity.
Mayko Tran is cool and collected as the team's top talent in bioinformatics. Between sifting through mounds of data to uncover key information, she helps to guide other characters through their many crises as a dependable friend. You can sense the pattern here. Just when we think that we can always count on good old Mayko, the writers decide to hurt her, bad. It is one of the biggest shocks of the series. She gets through it and soldiers on.
Executive Director Caroline Morrison has the challenging task of keeping NorBAC funded, keeping David Sandström out of trouble, and shaking down her contacts in the American government for information and assistance. Where do we start with her assistant, the creepy Weston Field? There is something definitely shady about Weston underneath his chilled professionalism, a hint of extensive training in secretive methods combined with an icy ruthlessness. Neither of these two are scientists, with makes for some workplace tension that the writers skillfully exploit.
Many other characters move in and out of the series as allies or bad guys. The body count is like a Shakespeare tragedy for these poor folks, cannon fodder to drive the show's tense plots.
I have avoided revealing any of the show's big secrets, because this sprawling series is meant to be enjoyed without spoilers. I went through the box set of the first season (available from Amazon) in less than a week, consuming 53-minute chunks of fiercely-addictive fare at odd hours of the night and large parts of a weekend. Most of the series is available free on Hulu. Start watching at your own risk. Make sure that you don't have any important deadlines looming.
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Scientific consultant Aled Edwards, a Canadian molecular biologist who directs the Structural Genomics Consortium at the University of Toronto, keeps the science in this series at a high standard. We see displays of DNA sequences, BLAST results, and protein structure, exactly the way that working laboratories see them. Scientists carry out microbiology and molecular biology procedures (cultures, ELISA, PCR, DNA sequencing, and more) while shuttling from crisis to crisis and traveling to sites of mysterious outbreaks.
There is far too much content to evaluate in detail here. Some of the biological challenges faced by NorBAC are completely real, with painstakingly accurate science. Others are slightly farfetched and bend but don't break known science. Even these speculative challenges are faced down with highly accurate scientific methods. Overall, the series depicts the nature of science as a collaborative argument among people with many different styles and personalities.
The scope of this project and its wonderful verisimilitude earn it five flasks.
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There is plenty of ELSI content here, too much to map out in great detail. There is a fair amount of unauthorized experimentation on people in the series, often with bad outcomes. There are real bad guys using biological agents as weapons of terror, or as a means to manipulate government policy or capital markets. The interplay of the sometimes conflicting interests of patients, scientists, and governments are explored in many episodes.
Between the science and the drama there is not much room for a nuanced discussion of ethical, legal and social issues in these brief episodes. We see these issues raised as conflicts between characters or as plot drivers. Despite being a Canadian series, this is not a panel discussion. Still, there is plenty to talk about after watching a few episodes, so this gets rated as four hearts for raising the talking points.
1. First season of ReGenesis at Amazon. No commercials!
2. Most of ReGenesis on Hulu. Free, with commercials.
3. More on ReGenesis at IMDb.