his country's government. The plot goes badly awry and leads to the collapse of the global economy and a descent into anarchy.

Years later, when the world has reverted to a kind of neo-fascist politically correct normality, a Danish billionaire is persuaded to fund research by the same geneticist into the genomic source of intelligence with a view to creating a superior strain of homo sapiens. However, the billionaire is more interested in creating an intellectual elite with himself at its apex. Things don't turn out exactly as planned, and a contest ensues for control of his industrial empire against a background of government corruption and a media culture that has given 'spin' a new meaning.