Klingon Genetic Engineering 2220 – 2275
LCARS Computer Records
Researched and Compiled By Records Officer
Lieutenant Anthony Hughes
A unique period of Klingon/Human relations can be seen in the early to mid twenty-third century, during which time relationships between the two powers were extremely hostile and occasionally would result in short periods of armed conflict. It is here that there exists a “skeleton” in the closet of Klingon history, a chapter of which not even the Klingons will discuss, both in their history texts or with outsiders.
Shortly after first contact between humans and Klingons, which resulted in nearly a decade of undeclared war, a unique perception of humans developed in Klingon ideology which had never been seen before and has not been seen since. Due to the determination and battle tactics of the Federation Starfleet, it was felt by many Klingons that humans were actually superior warriors and should, in all ways, be emulated.
The result of this new found revelation was a major experiment in genetic engineering, in which Klingon and human DNA was fused to form a new breed of Klingon known as the Klingon-Human fusion.
The “Fusions”, as they were called for short, were Klingon soldiers who had been genetically altered to outward appear human. The traditional facial crests and ridges were erased from a Klingon’s features producing an individual who had a normal human brow, yet with copper tone dark skin and, in the Klingon warrior style, thick beards and mustaches.
Between 2240 and 2270, the Klingon-Human fusions were the only warriors who were permitted to have contact with members of the Federation. The “Imperial Klingons”, that is to say Klingons who had not undergone genetic engineering, were reserved for only high diplomatic meetings and as senior military commanders.
In the 2260s, the opinion of humans had undergone a sharp reversal in Klingon politics. No longer were humans praised as great warriors, superior to the Klingons, but were actually now seen as a weak species who would rather negotiate peace than fight in a battle. This view of humans was all but confirmed when, in 2266, war was declared between the two powers only to be halted prematurely by the forcible signing of the Organian Peace Treaty.
By 2270, reserve vessels of the Klingon fleet were now being manned by Imperial Klingons, with many of the Fusions undergoing reversal procedures to remove human DNA from their cells and return to a true Klingon appearance. The great military commanders Kor, Koloth, and Kang were but three of several high ranking officers who chose to do so, thus paving the way for mandatory DNA reversal a few years later.
In 2271, the famous Amar transmission was intercepted by Federation scientists as a squadron of Klingon ships was attacked and destroyed by the machine being V’Ger. The wide spread publicity of this incident, by the Federation News Agency, offered documentary evidence that Klingons had, for the most part, abandoned their emulation of humans and were now ending the decades of genetic engineering which had given rise to the Klingon-Human fusion.
By 2275, there were no more Klingon-Human fusions left in the Empire, and the Klingon High Council outlawed any more such experiments in genetic engineering. At the dawn of the 24th century, the topic of the Fusions had become so shameful to most Klingons (since humans were, in Klingon opinion, NOT a more powerful warrior race) that it became law that every mention of the Fusions in Klingon history would be erased.
By the mid 24th century, most Klingons and humans were unaware that there had ever existed such a thing as a Klingon-Human fusion. The subject is virtually un-researchable, as well, since the Klingons refuse to even mention the topic in non-Klingon company. To quote one Klingon official: “We do not discuss it with outsiders.”
