Binary Helix
From FABT
| |
|---|---|
| Type: |
Genetic engineering/biotechnology |
| Industry: |
Biotechnology |
| Founder: | |
| Dates: |
18 June 478 BCE - 23 February 2216 CE |
| Owner: | |
| Headquarters: |
Rannadril (478 BCE - 1250 CE) |
| Facilities: |
Peak 15 (2180 CE - 2183 CE) |
| Area served: |
Entirety of the Milky Way Galaxy |
| CEO: |
Tatan Raerbana (last) |
| Key people: |
Alestia Iallis |
| Services: |
|
| Number of employees: |
11.7 million employees |
| Extranet site: |
binhelcorp.gal |
- "Using curiosity to your benefit."
- — Binary Helix motto.
Binary Helix Corporation (BH) was a multi-species interstellar corporation specializing in genetic engineering and biotechnology. Starting out as a salarian biotech company headquartered on Rannadril, Binary Helix was a leader in genetic engineering, biotechnology and later biotic implants, being one of the largest corporations actively involved in various ventures into genetic research including cloning, medical advances, physical enhancements, gene therapy, and more. Binary Helix was first founded in 478 BCE, not long after first contact between the salarians and asari, and from the onset was competing against not only other salarian biotech companies, but also its asari counterparts, but over the centuries Binary Helix clawed itself a mark within the new galactic economy, and eventually established itself as the leader of the industry of genetic engineering and biotechnology, toppling virtually every other company in terms of revenue and advancements in the field it specialized in. In 1140 CE, Binary Helix had effectively become a multi-species company, hiring from the many species in Citadel space, creating a far more diversified environment for research and development. Many conspiracy theories surround the corporation, the most famous being the claim that Binary Helix had been contracted by the Salarian Union to develop the genophage, a claim that ultimately had no merit, but one which was entertained for centuries afterwards, so much so that desperate krogan groups even contracted Binary Helix in 2182 CE to perform a study to discover a cure for the genophage, an effort that ultimately proved fruitless, leading to a class action lawsuit in 2183 CE against Binary Helix, but which ultimately settled out of court. While the genophage cure was a failure, the research conducted would later be used by Doctor Quiath Droya in his own efforts to cure the genophage.
Binary Helix established facilities across the galaxy, and even rented one of the Peak facilities on Noveria, Peak 15, from which to conduct its more private ventures without the scrutiny of Council law. When humanity joined the galactic community in 2157 CE, Binary Helix grabbed as many human geneticists as it could, and even established facilities within Alliance space, one of them being the Nautilus facility on one of Jupiter's moons, Europa. In 2180 CE, Binary Helix discovered a derelict rachni ship with a lone unhatched egg onboard, and the egg was brought back to Peak 15 for study: when the egg was hatched and it was discovered to be a rachni queen, Spectre Saren Arterius, one of Binary Helix's investors, proceeded to contract them to use the queen to breed an obedient army of rachni loyal to Saren. Binary Helix was ultimately successful, but attempts to condition them to be obedient were a failure and the rachni broke containment, slaughtering most of the Binary Helix staff and inflicting significant damage to the facility. After the incident and the intervention of the Normandy Squad, Binary Helix called a blank slate on the project and wiped all records of it, liquidating surviving staff involved and disavowing any and all involvement with Saren. Binary Helix still received negative press for the incident, and conspiracy theories about them being in cahoots with Saren ran rampant, along with less truthful claims that Binary Helix and Saren were part of a galactic illuminati-type organization.
Despite the negative press, Binary Helix remained a successful company, despite a scandal regarding Armali Council performing corporate espionage on Binary Helix, where it was discovered Binary Helix had stolen thousands of petabytes of data regarding new, currently unreleased or cancelled Armali Council biotic implant prototypes, leading to claims of intellectual property theft and corporate espionage, with Binary Helix once again settling out of court. Binary Helix also teamed up with Guanghui Solutions and Sonax Industries in 2185 CE when Sonax funded and launched an illegal corporate invasion of the planet Garvug, with Binary Helix planning to exploit the planet for its research into eco-engineering, supplying logistical support staff for the invasion and to secure resource rights. Binary Helix pulled out of the war when Sonax and Guanghui began resorting to chemical weapons, citing ethical concerns, although it was more likely that Binary Helix had begun to demonstrate a financial loss from their investment in the conflict, and that the sunk cost, plus Council promises to extract heavy legal concessions from the companies involved, persuaded them to pull out. Binary Helix later returned when Sonax and Guanghui feinted a withdrawal, catching the insurgency's leadership unawares and regaining the initiative. This new offensive came just as the Reaper War broke out, and Binary Helix broke off its involvement as the war worsened, with many of their facilities in occupied territory being lost or raided by Cerberus forces. The war, plus the heavy economic depression that followed afterwards, almost crippled Binary Helix, although the company was able to bounce back in time for the Post-Apocalyptic War, where it provided the New Council with its full cooperation in developing whatever research it could to counter the Dominion. After the war, the Galactic Dominion had the leadership of Binary Helix arrested and tried as war criminals, and Binary Helix was forcibly broken up into several smaller companies, all of them becoming state-owned entities.