The Confederation Handbook

One
Adamist Culture

Adamists define themselves as normal humans, a classification governed by their lack of an affinity gene. The name derives from the biblical Adam, who was first and therefore untainted. It was also an obvious choice, given that those who possessed an affinity gene were principally living in the habitat Eden at the time (2090) when the two cultures began to diverge (A Second Chance at Eden). In general, Adamists live on colonized terracompatible planets and in asteroid settlements. Asmall number live in the five independent (non-Edenist) bitek habitats.
Thanks to genetic engineering (geneering), average Adamist life expectancy is approximately 115 years, though this can vary wildly. Most Adamists are now the recipients of geneering performed between 2050 and 2200, with descendants of European, North American, and Pacific Rim nations benefiting from the highest level of enhancements. There are three Confederation planets which are settled entirely by humans who have no genetic manipulation in their ancestry, all of which have pastoral- or religious-based constitutions. Some enclaves of "pure" humans also live on other worlds, though their numbers are now in decline due to constant contact with their geneered cousins. Most of those groups were founded on religious or ethical grounds. Although isolated during the first stages of colonization, such separatism from a planet's mainstream culture is difficult to maintain. After learning of the outside world, the children of such groups normally find it very hard to understand why their ancestors have denied them this beneficial genetic heritage, and they tend to drift away from their enclaves.
With most hereditary diseases eradicated, organ efficiency improved, and substantial enhancement to the immune system, there is little need for geneering to be performed on fetuses now. The type of geneering which is still researched and practiced is concentrated principally on extending life expectancy. Among the very rich there is a fashion for having cosmetic geneering performed on their children; not just for classical beauty, but for blending of distinct racial traits, e.g. combining red hair with black skin.
The main exception to this slowdown of basic physiological alteration is the Royal Saldana family, whose members are still being modified for increased intelligence and memory capacity, and reduced sleep requirement, as well as expanding their life expectancy, which currently stands at 180 years. In short they are (ironically) becoming close to the Edenist ideal, lacking only affinity.
The second exception is the starship owner-operator families (such as the Calverts), who undergo dominant-gene modifications to cope with the long periods of zero-gee on their ships (again similar to that of Edenists). These families have eliminated vertiginous disorientation and organ decay, while bone-calcium levels will not decrease in the absence of gravity. Internal membranes are strengthened to cope with periods of high-gee acceleration (a function which is more commonly augmented with nanonic membranes), thus preventing organs from tearing, and their heart capacity has been increased to ensure their blood supply remains regular under acceleration.
Adamists, however, remain totally opposed to using the affinity bond (see below for exceptions). Although it began as a mild disagreement between users and non-users to start with (2050-2090), this attitude is now irrevocably entrenched among them, and has become the symbolic difference between the two principal human cultures. Because of its association with bitek (which it was originally designed to control), this affinity-bond technology has also been virtually abandoned by Adamists. Both Islam and the Christian Unity Church have proscribed the affinity gene as inhuman.