Summary

Prologue – A newspaper article from March of 1995 announces the arrest of “renowned immunologist” Dr. Norton Perina “on charges of sexual abuse … originat[ing] with one of Dr. Perina’s adopted sons” (3). Narration in the article describes Perina’s successful history as a researcher (including his being awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine), and particularly his research into the unique slowing of the aging process among the population of a remote island in Micronesia (Ivu’ivu). That slowing, the article also reveals, was the result of the population’s consumption of a rare turtle, the flesh of which contained a chemical compound that biologically slowed the aging and deterioration of human cells. Finally, the article references how Perina adopted 43 children from the island’s population, and concludes with a quote from Dr. Ronald Kubodera, described as one of Perina’s closest friends, commenting...