In the decades since such species had been seeded onto New Earth, this had been going on all the time. Epigenetic transformation had been rampant—and, since Survey was thin on the ground, largely unobserved by humans. Still, when it led to results that humans saw, and happened to find surprising, it was known as "going epi." Use of the phrase was discouraged for being unscientific, but Rhys Alaskov knew how to get away with it.