Next

　　想和別人來往嗎？那已經被申請專利了！

　　哥倫比亞大學的研究者最近宣稱他們發現了社交性基因，並提出專利申請。據說瑞士的大製藥廠都加入競標，希望能買到這個基因的使用權。

　　接下來會有什麼奇奇怪怪的基因出現呢？害羞基因？隱居基因？僧侶基因？有沒有「不要來煩我」基因？

　　「我發現葛羅士醫生把我的細胞賣了出去──他在做檢驗時從我身上拿的細胞──賣給一家叫做生物基因的製藥公司。」

　　「當你聽到這個消息時，有什麼感覺？」

　　「我很震驚。我去看葛羅士醫生時我在生病，我很害怕。我相信我的醫生，我把我的生命交到他手上。我信任他。我沒有想到他竟然欺騙我，毫無必要的讓我擔驚受怕這麼多年，就是為了讓他可以偷我身體的細胞去賺錢。他從來沒有顧慮到我，他只是想從我身上拿細胞。」

　　「你知道那些細胞的價值嗎？」

　　「製藥公司說三十億美元。」

　　陪審員個個都倒吸了一口涼氣。

　　《NEXT危基當前》揉合事實和虛構，在令人難以喘息的故事中新的世界不同於所見，挑戰我們對真實性的感覺、對道德的看法；巧妙平衡滑稽與無稽，使你感受到真正的恐懼和不安；打碎了我們的假設，在最後沒有預料到的地方顯露出令人震撼的新選擇。

　　Welcome to our genetic world.
　　Fast, furious, and out of control.
　　This is not the world of the future-it’s the world right now.

　　Is a loved one missing some body parts? Are blondes becoming extinct? Is everyone at your dinner table of the same species? Humans and chimpanzees differ in only 400 genes; is that why an adult human being resembles a chimp fetus? And should that worry us? There’s a new genetic cure for drug addiction-is it worse than the disease?

　　We live in a time of momentous scientific leaps; a time when it’s possible to sell our eggs and sperm online for thousands of dollars; test our spouses for genetic maladies and even frame someone for a genetic crime.

　　We live in a time when one fifth of all our genes are owned by someone else, and an unsuspecting person and his family can be pursued cross-country because they happen to have certain valuable genes within their chromosomes. . . .

　　Devilishly clever, Next blends fact and fiction into a breathless tale of a new world where nothing is what it seems, and a set of new possibilities can open at every turn. Next challenges our sense of reality and notions of morality. Balancing the comic and bizarre with the genuinely frightening and disturbing, Next shatters our assumptions, and reveals shocking new choices where we least expect.

　　The future is closer than you think. Get used to it.