Dr4ma

A group of four students in a classroom wearing alternative, punk-style clothing.

The Dr4ma students in 2048. From left to right: Harold Naaktgeboren, Ahmed Izem, Judith Blanckvoort, and Sureer Streepje.

Dr4ma is the name of a controversial student collective at the Hieronymus Bosch Lyceum (HBL) in ’s Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands that focuses on maker culture and DIY biohacking. The four members are Judith Blanckvoort, Ahmed Izem, Harold Naaktgeboren, and Sureer Streepje.

In 2049, Dr4ma was identified as the ringleader of a student protest following an HBL campus quarantine due to the outbreak of a modified strain of E. coli that they engineered and released.

Table of contents

  1. Formation
  2. 2049 student protest
  3. See also
  4. References

Formation

A photo of a school building in the Netherlands, surrounded by parked bicycles and waterways.

The HBL campus in 2049.

Dr4ma was started in November 2048 by Judith Blanckvoort, Ahmed Izem, Harold Naaktgeboren, and Sureer Streepje, four students at the Hieronymus Bosch Lyceum (HBL) in ’s Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands. They drew the collective’s name from the fourth-grade drama class where they first met and shared their mutual interest in DIY biohacking. [1]

In early 2049, Dr4ma claimed successive wins and special mentions in a series of biohacking competitions organised by the science faculty of the HBL under the auspices of Curriculum 2100, which supplied low-cost, open-sourced devices and gene editing kits to the students via its partnership with Branch Education. [2]

Dr4ma claims to have been inspired by DIYBio, a citizen science movement that encourages biological research and experimentation among laypeople to bring personalised physical improvements. DIYBio became particularly controversial for engaging in the production of patented medications and encouraging the development of nootropics, hormone treatments, and neural colloids on the illicit market, though this practice is considered legal in the Netherlands due to a 2007 trademark ruling. [3]

2049 student protest

On October 4th 2049, the HBL campus was quarantined by the National Institute for Public Health (NIPH) on the request of Irina Koval, the mayor of ’s Hertogenbosch. In her statement, Koval claimed that she had been in communication with the World Health Organisation (WHO) after G6 flagged an outbreak of an unknown pathogen among the students, which was initially believed to have been Cariappa-Muren disease (CMD). [4]

After two days marked by miscommunication between NIPH officials and police forces over the enforcement of the quarantine, a published and subsequently deleted post on the MeHive account of Dr4ma indicated that they had barricaded themselves inside the campus along with an unknown number of students. [5] No attempt at entry was made, and a police negotiator arrived on the scene to establish communication with the students. [6]

On October 8th 2049, police commissioner Myrthe Cornelissen issued a statement to confirm that the outbreak “most likely” resulted from a modified strain of E. coli, adding that Dr4ma was being investigated for its role in the creation and spread of the pathogen. [7]

On October 9th 2049, a NIPH hazmat team entered the HBL campus as part of a “supervised testing scheme” to allow the release of students and staff that exhibited no symptoms of infection with E. coli. When they learned that those who were infected would remain in quarantine “for up to three weeks,” the parents of the Dr4ma students announced their intention to press charges against the police for “defamation, false imprisonment, and unwarranted use of force.”

One of the parents, Isabel Blanckvoort, published a video on social media to call out repeated attempts to smear the Dr4ma students and shift the blame for the outbreak, stating that “those children have appeared in numerous photos where they’re smiling while accepting awards, but then you pick a photo from last year, from a drama class where they’re intentionally trying to look tough and nasty for an assignment.”

See also

References

  1. Naaktgeboren, H. (November 2047). “we’re dr4ma, we’re gonna hack your bio.” MeHive. ↩
  2. Vermeulen, R. (May 2049). “HBL racks up series of wins in renowned biohackathons.” Brabants Dagblad. ↩
  3. District Court of Gravenhage. (October 2007). “Orphan Europe v Haagse Transvaal Apotheek KG ZA 07-931.” Rechtspraak. ↩
  4. Klaver, K. (October 2049). “School lockdown in Dutch capital related to suspected outbreak of CMD.” De Telegraaf. ↩
  5. Naaktgeboren, H. (October 2049). “it’s not cmd we’re so tired of this shit.” MeHive. ↩
  6. Nuijen, J. (October 2049). “Has the HBL quarantine turned into a hostage situation? Signs point to yes.” Elsevier. ↩
  7. Klaver, K. (October 2049). “CMD lockdown of Hieronymus Bosch Lyceum attributed to outbreak of E. coli.” De Telegraaf. ↩