Hari Seldon walked into Dr. Endelecki's office, a nervous smile on his face.
    He said, "You said a couple of weeks, Doctor. It's been over a month mow."
    Dr. Endelecki nodded. "I'm sorry, Professor Seldon but you wanted everything exact and that is what I have tried to do."
    "Well?" The look of anxiety on Seldon's face did not disappear. What did you find?"
    "A hundred or so defective genes."
    "What! Defective genes. Are you serious, Doctor?"
    "Quite serious. Why not? There are no genomes without at least a hundred defective genes; usually there are considerably more. It's not as bad as it sounds, you know."
    "No, I don't know. You're the expert, Doctor, not I."
    Dr. Endelecki sighed and stirred in her chair. "You don't know anything about genetics, do you, Professor?"
    "No, I don't. A man can't know everything."
    "You're perfectly right. I know nothing about this-what do you call it?-this psychohistory of yours."
    Dr. Endelecki shrugged, then continued. "If you wanted to explain anything about it, you would be forced to start from the beginning and I would probably not understand it even so. "Now, as to genetics-"
    "Well?"
    "An imperfect gene usually means nothing. There are imperfect genes-so imperfect and so crucial that they produce terrible disorders. These are very rare, though. Most imperfect genes simply don't work with absolute accuracy. They're like wheels that are slightly out of balance. A vehicle will move along, trembling a bit, but it will move along."
    "Is that what Wanda has?"
    "Yes. More or less. After all, if all genes were perfect, we would all look precisely the same, we would all behave precisely the same. It's the difference in genes that makes for different people."
    "But won't it get worse as we grow older?"
    "Yes. We all get worse as we grow older. I noticed you limping when you came in. Why is that?"
    "A touch of sciatica," muttered Seldon.
    "Did you have it all your life?"
    "Of course not."
    "Well, some of your genes have gotten worse with time and now you limp."
    "And what will happen to Wanda with time?"
    "I don't know. I can't predict the future, Professor; I believe that is your province. However, if I were to hazard a guess, I would say that nothing unusual will happen to Wanda-at least, genetically-except the gathering of old age."
    Seldon said, "Are you sure?"
    "You have to take my word for it. You wanted to find out about Wanda's genome and you ran the risk of discovering things perhaps it is better not to know. But I tell you that, in my opinion, I can see nothing terrible happening to her."
    "The imperfect genes-should we fix them? Can we fix them?"
    "No. In the first place, it would be very expensive. Secondly, the chances are that they would not stay fixed. And finally, people are against it.
    "But why?"
    "Because they're against science in general. You should know this as well as anyone, Professor. I'm afraid the situation is such, especially since Cleon's deat............