''The Tissue-Culture King'' (1926 in ''

Cornhill Magazine ''The Cornhill Magazine'' (1860–1975) was a monthly Victorian magazine and literary journal named after the street address of the founding publisher Smith, Elder & Co. at 65 Cornhill in London.Laurel Brake and Marysa Demoor, ''Dictionar ...

'' and in ''

The Yale Review ''The Yale Review'' is the oldest literary journal in the United States. It is published by Johns Hopkins University Press. It was founded in 1819 as ''The Christian Spectator'' to support Evangelicalism. Over time it began to publish more on hi ...

'', reprinted 1927 in ''

Amazing Stories ''Amazing Stories'' is an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction. Science fiction stories had made regular appearances i ...

'' and many times afterwards) is a

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

short story by biologist

Julian Huxley Sir Julian Sorell Huxley (22 June 1887 – 14 February 1975) was an English evolutionary biologist, eugenicist, and internationalist. He was a proponent of natural selection, and a leading figure in the mid-twentieth century modern synthesis. ...

. The story tells of a biologist captured by an African tribe. It incorporates the idea of

immortality Immortality is the concept of eternal life. Some modern species may possess biological immortality. Some scientists, futurists, and philosophers have theorized about the immortality of the human body, with some suggesting that human immorta ...

based on reproduction from a

tissue culture Tissue culture is the growth of tissues or cells in an artificial medium separate from the parent organism. This technique is also called micropropagation. This is typically facilitated via use of a liquid, semi-solid, or solid growth medium, su ...

and

genetic engineering Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification or genetic manipulation, is the modification and manipulation of an organism's genes using technology. It is a set of technologies used to change the genetic makeup of cells, including t ...

, and an early mention of

tin foil hat A tin foil hat is a hat made from one or more sheets of aluminium foil (commonly called "tin foil" in the United States and New Zealand), or a piece of conventional headgear lined with foil, often worn in the belief or hope that it shields the Hu ...

s and their supposed anti-telepathic properties.Julian Huxley, ''The Tissue-Culture King: A Biological Fantasy '', ''

'' vol. 60 (New Series), #358, April 1926, pp. 422-458
Magazine table of contents

Plot

A group of explorers of Africa stumble upon a strange two-headed toad, and that leads them to meet an

endocrinologist Endocrinology (from ''endocrine'' + '' -ology'') is a branch of biology and medicine dealing with the endocrine system, its diseases, and its specific secretions known as hormones. It is also concerned with the integration of developmental events ...

Dr. Hascombe captured by an African tribe, who saves himself by using "magical" powers of modern biology.p.118
/ref>p. 190
/ref>p. 39
/ref>

Critical evaluation

Patrick Parrinder considers the story as an allegory to the servile place of science within a capitalist political world.Patrick Parrinder, ''Scientist in Science Fiction: Enlightenment and After'', in: ''Science Fiction Roots And Branches: Contemporary Critical Approaches''
pp. 72-23
/ref>

References

External links

*
"The Tissue-Culture King"
at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

British science fiction Science fiction short stories Genetic engineering in fiction 1926 short stories Works originally published in Amazing Stories Africa in fiction {{1920s-sf-story-stub