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View Full Version : What exactly is ADAM? *Possible spoilers*


MannyManatee
08-13-2007, 02:46 PM
There seems to be a great deal of confusion about what ADAM actually is.

Here's the information from Wikipedia's BioShock entry:

"Two scientists studying ocean-floor dwelling creatures discovered a species of sea slug that secretes pure stem cells. These could be used to enhance one's body, improving physical or mental capabilities, curing diseases and healing injuries. A young entrepreneur named Tenebaum invested early on in the research to gain control over the material. The substance, dubbed "ADAM", became so sought after in the society, that it became the dominant currency of the city. A "full-scale genetic arms race" broke out between Ryan and Tenebaum as Tenebaum's monopoly on ADAM threatened the current social structure. Ryan eventually won, but everyone in the city was permanently changed. During the war, it was discovered that ADAM could be used to modify one's body, combining technology and mutations to adapt and survive the conflict, but losing their humanity in the process. During the conflict, all natural sources of ADAM were destroyed, which eventually resulted in a major shift in the "ecology" of the city, as all inhabitants had become biologically dependent on ADAM to survive."

Now from what I gather ADAM is/are the pure stem cells themselves and the "natural sources" of ADAM are the sea-slugs themselves. So somehow in the war all of the sea-slugs were destoryed so there's no more sources of new ADAM.

This is where the Little Sisters come into play, extracting the ADAM from the dead citizens of Rapture, drinking it and then using something in their bodies to recycle it into new usable ADAM.

Now they say that everyone is dependent on the ADAM to survivie but why is that? We all know that ADAM is used to add and upgrade more plasmids but what makes it so necessary for people to survivie? Is it like a drug that people get addicted to?

Atlas also says that Tenebaum is the one who created the Little Sisters to fight the ADAM shortage but what happens to the ADAM once the Little Sisters get it? Does it go back to Tenebaum? If so what does she do with it?

I know the game is coming out in 8 days but I just wanted to see if anybody have any ideas or thoughts about this.

LaughingManic
08-13-2007, 03:25 PM
I'm still not entirely sure what EVE is either, supposedly it is the usable for of adam, but I don't quite get what the relationship between adam and eve is.

BioShockWins
08-13-2007, 04:05 PM
ADAM was discovered by Fontaine, a fishery company owner, and Tenenbaum, who recognized the potential the stem cell breeding slugs had.

EVE is the stuff that was later used to commercialize ADAM. They used ADAM similar to how oil is today. Lots of people have cars. So what? What is the point of a car if you don't have gas? Same thing, and they got rich off of this too.

a couple of metephors.

ADAM is the tapestry, Plasmid is the paint, and EVE is the brush.
or you could say
ADAM is a car loan, Plasmids are the actual car, and EVE is the fuel.

MannyManatee
08-13-2007, 04:17 PM
I've seen the Fontaine posters in the BioShock demo.

Where did you hear/read about him discovering the slugs?

I'd like to read up on him as well.

Mac71
08-13-2007, 04:37 PM
I read about Fontaine controlling the ADAM in Game Informer when I first heard about the game.

LaughingManic
08-13-2007, 04:38 PM
ADAM was discovered by Fontaine, a fishery company owner, and Tenenbaum, who recognized the potential the stem cell breeding slugs had.

EVE is the stuff that was later used to commercialize ADAM. They used ADAM similar to how oil is today. Lots of people have cars. So what? What is the point of a car if you don't have gas? Same thing, and they got rich off of this too.

a couple of metephors.

ADAM is the tapestry, Plasmid is the paint, and EVE is the brush.
or you could say
ADAM is a car loan, Plasmids are the actual car, and EVE is the fuel.

That makes more sense, thanks.

BioShockWins
08-13-2007, 05:22 PM
I've seen the Fontaine posters in the BioShock demo.

Where did you hear/read about him discovering the slugs?

I'd like to read up on him as well.

I asked this same exact question in March

juanmi08
08-13-2007, 05:52 PM
ADAM is kickass, that's what it is :P

i think this is one of those things we won't be able to fully understand until we play through the game and see the story unfold, etc

however, the posts above me clarified a lot of things..thanks!