Cloning Decay Syndrome

Cloning Decay Syndrome, or Clone Rot, is a disease that affects, as the name implies, Grineer clones. It is responsible for the decaying physical state the faction as a whole exhibits.
==History==
It is unknown when Cloning Decay Syndrome first began to manifest, but it likely came about due to repeated re-cloning of already-cloned genes as the name suggests and if similar clone-decay tropes in media are any indication. Cloning Decay Syndrome may have first manifested sometime between the The Collapse (when Grineer appeared largely unaffected by the Syndrome) and the current era: A time interval on the order of millennia.
===Searching For A Cure===
The Grineer have been searching for a cure to the Syndrome for an indeterminate and presumably lengthy stretch of time. Notably, they have been searching in ancient Orokin ruins and derelicts for any promising knowledge or artifacts. Given that much advanced biotechnology fell into obscurity along with many—now ancient—Orokin technologies with the fall of the Orokin, it is possible the Grineer could succeed. In this pursuit, the Grineer have resorted to also engaging criminal elements such as smugglers and thieves, one of whom was Maroo who helped the Tenno foil the Grineer's pursuit of "arcane codices" during the events of Stolen Dreams which ended in the discovery and use of an Arcane Machine inside an Orokin Derelict.
==Attempted Cures==
The Grineer have approached solutions to Cloning Decay Syndrome in a number of ways:
* Captain Vor seemed to believe that the "divine blood" of the Tenno might hold the cure, and wanted to obtain a Warframe (against the wishes of the Twin Queens) in an attempt to study it. This is his driving motivation throughout Vor's Prize. His pursuit of this goal and failure to follow the orders of the Queens resulted in his demotion from the rank of Admiral to Captain. 
* Captain Vor also speculated that the power of ancient Orokin technologies hidden within Orokin Vaults (like the Arogya Medica) could be utilized to undo clone rot and revitalize the Grineer, so he subdued a Warframe and unleashed ghouls on the Ostron population to gain access to a Void gate leading to the derelict Orokin Tower which housed the Orokin Vault. 
* Tyl Regor is known to have made strides in curing the disease through genetics. The Manics are the results of his successes.
* The Grineer are able to extend their lifespans with recycled cloned parts, but their genetic material has degraded over time, and haphazard repairs have made many of them look oddly deformed and susceptible to skin diseases.
*Through decades of service, many of the Grineer elite can cover the expense to have flawed organic parts replaced with cybernetic augmentations.
*Compliant and high-performing variants are often technically augmented to extend their lifespan beyond the few decades they can normally expect in operation.
== Speculation ==
Some players have speculated that while the physical decay of the Grineer is a part of the Syndrome's symptoms the sterility of the Grineer is actually caused by another factor— namely Orokin design. Citing the similar terminology of "flaw" mentioned by Vor and exactly the same word used by both the Detron Crewman Synthesis and Lotus in Natah in regards to the Sentients. These players believe that such a flaw was intended to keep them in check should they ever rebel (as was the reason given for the weakness to the Void in the primitive Sentients in the Synthesis).
== Trivia ==
* Although a part of Grineer lore for some time, it wasn't until the introduced the Stolen Dreams quest that the Grineer's genetic deterioration was given an official name.
* The Old War-era Grineer soldiers seen during the Warframe Cinematic Intro that plays before the Awakening quest are notably younger and healthier-looking, indicating that cloning decay set in after the fall of the Empire, perhaps due to the absence of "maintenance" performed by the Orokin on the intentionally-stunted Grineer genome.
== Gallery ==
File:Ancestral Grineer Soldier without Helmet.png|Face of a male Grineer soldier from around the time of The Collapse unaffected by Cloning Decay Syndrome as seen in Warframe's 2019 Cinematic Introduction.
File:Samuel-compain-eglin-face-04.jpg|Facial model of a male Grineer soldier from around the time of The Collapse unaffected by Cloning Decay Syndrome.
File:Samuel-compain-eglin-oromalelight-02.jpg|Facial model of a modern-day male Grineer soldier affected by Cloning Decay Syndrome.
es:Síndrome de descomposición por clonación
Category:Update 15
Category:Grineer