Despite the name, science fiction can often be rather hostile to the concept of science.Star Trekis happy to depict the good and bad parts of scientific discoveries. A considerable portion of the heroes of the franchise are experts who set out on their space journey to explore, learn, and experiment. One of the most impressive in-universe accomplishments is the development of genetically grown life and advanced cybernetic organisms. The 24th century has one family to thank for most of those successes. The Soong family gave life to something new.
There’s a difficult line to be drawn between callbacks that pointlessly mine the good old days for content and those that keep the modern story in the context of what came before.Brent Spiner first joinedStar Trekin 1987, and he’s still an important part of the franchise. The idea of letting the performer play Data and Data’s creator lives on in that scientist’s ancestors. As a result, the Soong family is a long line of geniuses who happen to all look exactly like Brent Spiner.
Who was Adam Soong?
The first known member of the Soong family is Doctor Adam Soong. Born in the late 20th century, Adam Soong was a genius in the field of genetic engineering. Adam sought the ability to create new life through science. He was asort of Victor Frankensteinfigure who dreamed of developing an ideal child through a new method. Adam invented a mysterious technique called somatic nuclear cell transfer, which the show did not take the time to explain. With his new scientific mastery, Adam created several artificial human beings. He viewed each of his constructs as his daughter. He succeeded many times, but the first batch didn’t live long. Over time, he built new children who could survive for years instead of hours. Adam lied to his daughters, inventing missing mothers for each of them before their short lives ended. His finalcreation was Kore, who could last much longer than her late sisters. While she seemed perfect, genetic instability left her vulnerable to direct sunlight and air pollution. Adam Soong did everything in his power to fix his daughter.
Adam Soong performed countless experiments to cure Kore, routinely conducting those tests on homeless veterans through a military contract. When the public discovered his grim work, Adam’s life fell apart. He lost his career and his medical license, but a time-travelingalien named Q offeredhim a new path. Q ordered Adam to assassinate an astronaut named Renée Picard in exchange for a cure for Kore. Soong tried, but Jean-Luc Picard intervened, forcing Soong to flee. All the conflict pushed Kore away from Adam. Q told her how Adam created her and gave her a cure, but she fled Soong’s care. A Borg Queen emissary later reached out to Adam, informing him that Renée Picard would soon make a scientific discovery that would render his work obsolete. In an alternate timeline, he becomes known as the savior of the future. Adamtried to assassinate Picard again, but his scheme failed. Finally, Kore deleted all of Soong’s data, ostensibly setting them both free to live a new life. The last chapter of his story may still be untold.
Who is Arik Soong?
Arik lived about 100 years after Adam, but his specific relationship to the founder of Soong Dynamics isn’t clear. In the 21st century, Adam Soong helped to fund Project Khan, a genetic augmentation protocol that resulted in enhanced beings and the Eugenics Wars. Those events led humanity to abandon genetic engineering. Arik disagreed with that decision, leading him to steal a few Augment embryos from his workplace. He would later go to prison for that crime. His Augment children attempted to start a war between Klingons and the Federation.Johnathan Archer and the Enterprisecrew worked to stop them with Soong’s help. After helping to avert the resulting conflict, Soong returned to prison. He abandoned genetic engineering and shifted his focus to cybernetics. He knew that his work would be inconclusive and that it would be up to future generations to accomplish his goals.
Who is Noonien Soong?
The most iconic member of the Soong family is Noonien Soong, who would live up to the promise of his ancestors' dreams. Noonien developed the six Soong-type androids, which became the most advanced artificial life forms in the universe. Data, Lore, B-4, and their siblings resembleSoong in his prime. His progress is clear with each new creation. He gradually taught his children sentience, morality, and even existentialism through ever-evolving positron brains. His greatest creation, Data, joined Starfleet after the group found his body abandoned. Soong was presumed dead for several years, but Data and Lore would later find him. Lore killed Soong, but the scientist left behind an explanation of his work. Very few of his files lived on to see future generations, and most of his developments were too advanced for other scientists to copy.
The Soong family made some of the most fascinating advancements in human engineering and cybernetic enhancement in the galaxy. Unfortunately, these works came with tremendous drawbacks. Most known members of the family caused a ton of harm during their lives. Noonien was the most successful of the bunch,but even he created Lore. The Soong family demonstrates the risk of new developments, but in Data, they also depict its successes.
