DAY 20: The Day the Hipsters Saved Milwaukee

The salvation of American beer was discovered in a corner bar of Bennington, Nebraska.  With gluten allergies afflicting over 15% of the population and rising, many wheat-based products were facing extinction.  The major beer-producing labels, having long been globally owned, largely gave up on the American market, and concentrated their resources on the rest of the world, while micro-brewers attempted to cater to the remaining Americans that could still legally and healthily imbibe (and not drive to Canada.)

Sam Baidong, son of a third-generation wheat farmer, knew the severity of the problem, and also happened to have a genetics degree.  Sam's early genetics work had concentrated on improving transmission techniques for CRISPR microbes.  CRISPRs were customized enzymes that could reprogram established DNA - but it only worked on underdeveloped bioforms (like embryos, or certain active neoplasms.)  Human trials revealed that the technology was limited and temporary: a person have to remain submerged in the enzymes to maintain their reprogrammed genetics.  

Setbacks like these were the reason Sam had moved back home.  He spent his days doing farmwork, and his nights hanging at The Poop Deck with friends that could still enjoy a brew.  In the midst of their lubricated ramblings, someone noted that if more people could stop being allergic just long enough to have a beer, they'd love it again; that was Sam's epiphany.  So he invited a few friends to the family farm, to help him make the world once again safe for beer.

Sam's family had a family recipe dated before the era of Prohibition; to this, Sam added his contribution of reprogrammed microbes.  Genetic markers for gluten allergies had been identified (although it was unclear what other attributes they might be tied to.)  Sam's microbes travelled with the beer as it was drank, "curing" the drinker just long enough to get drunk.  He brought his first batch to the Poop Deck, and served it to some volunteers; the result was a smashing success, and Baidong Beer was born.

He made no attempt to launch his brew beyond the town limits; the scientist in him was continuing his studies.  The word got out anyway, and the town was invaded by a parade of well-wishers, skeptics, and protestors.  Representatives from each of the major brewing concerns also arrived, eager to see what Sam Baidong had accomplished. 

And Hilary Templeton gave them plenty to see.  Ms Templeton, an aspiring model and former Ms Nebraska finalist, had become an early adopter of Baidong Beer.  Having harmlessly enjoyed her first beer in six years, she made up for lost time.  And after a two-day float trip/bacchanal, she woke up the next morning to get ready for work... and discovered a significant side effect, growing above her lip.  

Baidong conferred with his other 'test subjects' and confirmed that the same reprogramming that allowed a bypass of the gluten allergy, contributed to increased follicular production on the face and chin.

This development, as it turned out, was not as much of a deterrent as expected.  Instead a new generation of men and women developed an appreciation of well-aged hops and well-groomed mustaches.  By the time Sam began licensing his patented formulas to established labels, his Baidong Beer was #3 in the country.  He diverted his share of the fortune back into his studies, hoping to find a way to make wheat products - like cake and bread - palatable for more Americans again.  He has every right to be confident in his chances; he made America safe to drink beer again...


inspired by Discover Magazine article, "Gene Editing - Now Faster, Cheaper, and More Precise"