Scientists of the Human Genome Project discover a gene they believe codes an individual's propensity for violence. The Genome Responsibility Agency, in a macabre partnership with the National Institutes of Health and school-based health clinics, creates the Genome Enforcement Bureau to identify young teens possessing this odious trait. Kelly, a pregnant teenager, and her best friend, Jabaar, are forced into a fugitive existence when Kelly's DNA is found to contain The Oppressive Gene.