Mott Project

The Mott Project was a genetic engineering project that succeeded in raising the intelligence of non-sophontic creatures, but was not able to uplift them.

• The intelligent creatures modified by the project have come to be known as E-specs and are valued service beasts.
• Some have argued that they are proto-sophonts.

Description (Specifications)

By 710, genetic engineering was sufficiently developed to allow manipulation of specific species. Dr. Octavia Mott proposed to the Imperium that a experimental program be initiated to modify animal species to enhance their already valuable traits. The proposal was accepted by both the Scout Service and the Imperial Academy of Science. A joint facility was set up at the IISS' Gashkin Special Projects Lab on Hefei/Gaussi (Zarushagar 2820) with Mott as its director.

History & Background (Dossier)

The trial experiment in 715 involved modifications to Terran canines. Within three years, prototype "smart dogs" were accompanying Scouts in the field on exploratory assignments. While not sentient, the dogs were capable of learning and remembering complex instructions and performing lengthy tasks independently. Further experiments were conducted on Apmeeshiar (Zarushagar 1826) Nightwings and the Mullinar of Collingswode (Zarushagar 1409), both successfully.

In 820, a selected catalog of enhanced species was released to the public sector and became commercially available. Today, these animals continue to provide a low cost, low maintenance alternative to robots in a number of fields. In civil applications, E-specs (as they are commonly called) perform contraband detection, sophont tracking, area security, crowd control, hunting, herding, basic repair and maintenance and search and rescue duties. Military applications include detection of opposing forces, ordinance disposal, surveillance, recon, infiltration and even close combat functions with special forces. (Rumors that some E-specs are used for political assassination have been discredited by the Imperial military.

Worlds & Sectors (Astrography)

This project was mainly conducted in the following areas:
Charted Space:

• Zarushagar Sector
  • Triton Subsector
  • Wolf Subsector

World Listing: 1105

The following systems and worlds are associated with this project:

2 of 2 World articles in Mott Project

Collingswode  •  Zecu  •  

startbacknext(2 listed)

References & Contributors (Sources)

This list of sources was used by the Traveller Wiki Editorial Team and individual contributors to compose this article. Copyrighted material is used under license from Far Future Enterprises or by permission of the author. The page history lists all of the contributions.

• Traveller Wiki Editorial Team
• Author & Contributor: Greg Videll
• Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master of Sophontology Maksim-Smelchak of the Ministry of Science