Mingling its Own Nature With it

The most compelling part of this episode, in my opinion, is the episode’s title. The title is a line pulled from Francis Bacon’s Novum Organum, which is translated to mean “New Method.” In this book, Bacon is focused on scientific experimentation and progression, arguing in favor of inductive reasoning. Unlike deductive reasoning, which begins with one or two premises to reach a conclusion, inductive reasoning forms a general truth based on experiences and observations. This process is consistent with the cloning happening in the show. The DYAD Institution is carefully observing its test subjects to better their experimentation and build up enough knowledge to advance their cloning techniques. 

Although what we see in the show is surely unethical, the process is consistent to what Bacon argues in his book. To Bacon, the process of induction is effective for its ability to provide us with empirical evidence. At the DYAD lab, Cosima and Delphine must perform an autopsy on a clone named Jennifer. They go through her tapes to discover she was suffering some sort of lung disease, and the treatment she received from Dr. Leekie only worsened her condition. As they work through the autopsy, Cosima and Delphine discover that Jennifer’s autoimmune condition started in her uterus, suggesting a flaw with the cloning process. This sort of experimentation (or trial and error) is, again, fitting under the title of the episode. The DYAD Institution must know the cause of Jennifer’s condition to aid in their own experimentation.