Star Trek The Next Generation
Object

Riker's Neural-Invasive Microbe

A vine-derived, neural‑invasive pathogen infecting Commander William Riker. Microscopic cluster/contaminant embedded within Riker's tissue, invisible to the eye but detectable by transporter and medical diagnostics; eludes shipboard capture protocols and triggers quarantine/containment responses. It is filamentous and plantlike at the microscopic level, actively pathogenic and clinically urgent.
8 appearances

Purpose

A pathogenic biological specimen under medical analysis — the direct cause of rapid biological aging in affected subjects and the primary target for diagnostic experiments intended to determine vulnerability and treatment options.

Significance

Operates as the episode's antagonist: an inexplicable contagion that reframes therapeutic choices into moral gambles. Its sensitivity to neural states converts memory therapy into a lethal accelerant, forcing Pulaski and Troi to confront the cost of clinical risk versus patient welfare and driving the urgent search for a cure.

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

8 moments
S2E7 · Star Trek: The Next Generation - Unnatural Selection
Pulaski's Last Stand

The altered DNA sample serves as both scientific subject and silent witness to the confrontation—its containment unit reflecting pulsing red warning lights across Picard and Pulaski's faces as they debate quarantine protocols. The unstable genetic material mirrors the deteriorating professional trust between them while physically anchoring Pulaski's reason for dissenting.

Before: Partially isolated but not fully analyzed
After: Remains unstable with heightened stakes due to Pulaski's condition worsening
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S2E7 · Star Trek: The Next Generation - Unnatural Selection
Authority at the Brink

The altered DNA sample serves as both scientific focus and unspoken timer—its irreversible mutations physically manifested in Pulaski's aged appearance, making it the biological warrant for her defiance. Though not actively handled during this confrontation, its presence charges the lab with dreadful urgency.

Before: Isolated but not stabilized under biocontainment protocols
After: Remains contained but scientifically unresolved
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S2E7 · Star Trek: The Next Generation - Unnatural Selection
The DNA Lifeline

Pulaski's altered DNA sample becomes the critical component for the transporter-filter solution, its abnormal genetic sequence serving as the template for the medical intervention. Though not physically present, its scientific significance drives the entire event's urgency.

Before: Contained in Pulaski's deteriorating body
After: Being prepared for transporter filtration
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S2E7 · Star Trek: The Next Generation - Unnatural Selection
Genetic Lifeline

Though not physically present, Pulaski's pre-infected DNA sample becomes the conceptual linchpin of the entire operation—its existence as a biological 'template' making the transporter modification theoretically possible when discussed by Picard and Rina.

Before: Presumably stored in medical lab archives
After: Identified as critical component for impending procedure
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S2E7 · Star Trek: The Next Generation - Unnatural Selection
The DNA Gambit

Although not physically present, Pulaski's altered DNA is the central scientific problem being addressed, with Picard and Rina's dialogue establishing it as the key to modifying the transporter. The need to filter these specific genetic alterations drives the entire technical solution proposed in this scene.

Before: Existing as the medical crisis requiring solution
After: Identified as the target for transporter modification
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S2E7 · Star Trek: The Next Generation - Unnatural Selection
Blueprint for Survival

The altered DNA sample's potential reversal becomes the theoretical foundation for Picard's proposed solution, its existence representing both the cause of the crisis and possible key to its resolution.

Before: Source of deadly contagion being studied
After: Potential template for curative process
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S2E22 · Shades of Gray
Endorphin Leverage

The vine-borne parasitic organism is the immediate antagonist infesting Riker; clinical dialogue establishes that its growth responds to host neurochemistry and that provoking primal survival memories slows it, making it the direct target of Pulaski's risky therapy.

Before: Growing within host tissues, growth rate recently reduced but still active and dangerous.
After: Temporarily further suppressed by targeted stimulation in theory, but host's collapse risk increases and the organism remains a looming fatal threat.
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S2E22 · Shades of Gray
Half‑Hour Memory Protocol

The vine‑borne parasitic organism is the antagonist: its growth responds negatively to spikes in host endorphins. Troi's identification of survival memories reframes the organism's physiology as manipulable, making it the target of Pulaski's risky neural stimulation.

Before: Present and active within Riker's nervous system; growth rate had been reduced but not neutralized.
After: Still present and threatening; the scene ends with the plan to intensify stimulation as the chosen intervention, so the organism remains the central clinical problem.
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