In our world of increasing cyber-attack, threatened nuclear war and climate change, mankind seems locked into ancient hard-wired tribal patterns of suspicion and aggression.
Popularist nationalism, fuelled by fake news via social media and vested mega-industry interests, is an overwhelming scientific reality. The evolutionary jump 200,000 years ago, which enabled an insignificant ape in Africa to develop the critical social skills to dominate the planet, is now threatening its existence. Homo sapiens sapiens needs another evolutionary jump - but will it come in time?
In a laboratory in Cambridge University, a distinguished neurologist is close to developing a revolutionary brain stem cell therapy which may restore lost functions. Unexpectedly, he is forced to use it secretly when a close friend and colleague develops rapidly progressive dementia. The results are far, far more than ever dreamed of. Could this be the beginning of a new era of hope for humanity, and can it survive the hostile agents committed to eliminate it?