ADAM

ADAM is the raw form of the unstable stem cells harvested and processed from a type of Sea Slug parasite. It is believed to consist of totipotent stem cells that have the ability to differentiate into any cell type. ADAM can be genetically manipulated to produce cells that would not normally be present in the human body. It acts like a seemingly benign form of cancer, destroying native cells and replacing them with the unstable stem versions. While it is this instability that gives it its amazing properties, it is also what causes the cosmetic and mental damage. In the end the instability of the stem cells means that the user will have to take in more and more ADAM just to keep back the tide. In its raw form, ADAM is a viscous, green liquid.

The problems were exacerbated by Andrew Ryan's beliefs. His hands off approach to running the city meant that there was no regulation of ADAM, and no prevention of its side effects. By the time the war began and Ryan was running the city with an iron fist, the damage had already been done.

ADAM was discovered by Brigid Tenenbaum in a sea slug that had bitten one of Rapture's dock workers and healed his long-crippled hand. However, the sea slugs alone could not provide enough ADAM for experimentation and work, let alone marketing. But when the slug is embedded in the lining of a host's stomach it was discovered that, through regurgitation, they could have twenty to thirty times the yield of usable ADAM. This was the original purpose of the Little Sisters and the orphanage.

The exact date of ADAM's discovery remains murky, but we can say it was before 1952 due to the fact that Tenenbaum, Suchong and Alexander are seen in a "Rapture's Best and Brightest 1952 Poster". All key figures in Rapture's scientific community. It is unlikely that especially Tenenbaum would have been so revered prior to ADAM's discovery.

Game Use


ADAM is used for character growth. The player can spend ADAM at a Gatherer's Garden to gain plasmids and gene tonics to give Jack new abilities or improve the ones he already had.

ADAM is retrieved from Little Sisters. There is a choice regarding whether to rescue the Little Sister by using a special plasmid given to the player by Tenenbaum which destroys the slug inside them while allowing her to live, curing her, but gaining only 80 ADAM; or by forcibly extracting it and receiving the full 160 ADAM, but at the cost of ultimately killing the Little Sister (described in an Audio Diary as removing life support from a terminally ill patient). While choosing to rescue the Little Sisters provides less ADAM in the short term, after each third saved girl a gift will be placed in a teddy bear at a Gatherer's Garden which contains 200 ADAM well as unique gene tonics and supplies. The total ADAM received from rescuing three Little Sisters is therefore 3*80 + 200 = 440 ADAM, which is only 40 less than the total of 160*3 = 480 ADAM received from harvesting three Little Sisters.

This choice also affects the ending, see the storyline for more details.

In BioShock 2, new ways of gaining ADAM appear in the game. They are listed below as follows:


 * Adoption: Subject Delta can adopt a Little Sister and have her extract the ADAM from a corpse. Each harvest yields 40 ADAM, and each Little Sister can harvest up to two corpses. In total, this yields 80 ADAM per Little Sister and per adoption. The harvest bonus can be increases to 60 ADAM through the use of the Proud Parent gene tonic. This tonic is in the first gift received after saving a number of little sisters.
 * Save/Harvest: After adopting a Little Sister, Delta has the option to either save or harvest her, with different ADAM rewards for each choice.
 * Kill a Big Sister: Each Big Sister corpse yields 40 ADAM, and constitutes the main reward after fighting her.
 * Harvest a Sea Slug: Sea Slugs can be picked off the ocean floor, and yield 10 ADAM each.

In the multiplayer, ADAM also serves as the player's main form of advancement, and can be obtained in various ways. They are listed below as follows:


 * Kill. Reward: 10 ADAM. Granted upon killing an enemy.
 * Assist. Reward: 5 ADAM. Granted upon dealing damage to an enemy without having dealt the killing blow.
 * Hack. Reward: 10 ADAM. Granted upon successfully hacking a machine.
 * Research Photo. Reward: 10 ADAM. Granted upon successfully researching an enemy corpse.
 * ADAM Vial. Reward: 10 ADAM. Granted upon collecting one of the ADAM vials scattered across the level.
 * Killing Streaks. Reward: 50 ADAM. Granted upon killing three enemies in a row without dying.
 * Big Daddy Suit. Reward: 50 ADAM. Granted upon picking up a Big Daddy Suit in the level.
 * Kill Big Daddy. Reward: 100 ADAM. Granted upon landing the killing blow upon a Big Daddy.
 * Trial Complete. Reward: Varies depending on the trial and its level. Granted upon completing a trial.

Trivia

 * ADAM and EVE are a reference to the Biblical characters Adam and Eve, who were cursed with physical mortality after eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. This mirrors the fall of Rapture and its citizens.
 * Tenenbaum's visual description of ADAM in her Hatred audio diary, describes ADAM as it looked in the BioShock X06 Trailer, though in the game it appears as a reddish orange or red substance, suggesting that was the ADAM's color in the little sister's vomit or it's actual color and the ADAM's reddish color comes from it being the splicers blood, or this may mean that one was ADAM in it's raw form and one was ADAM in it's refined, usable form.
 * The removed audio diary "A Capitalist’s Best Friend" states the price of ADAM to be $7.25 an ounce at the time it was recorded. Adjusted for inflation (and assuming the value of one Rapture dollar is equal to that of an American dollar), this would mean Ryan was charging the equivalent of about $54 for an ounce of ADAM.
 * In his last fight with Fontaine, Jack drains Fontaine's ADAM with little sister needles, getting a large amount every time he does so. However, as there are no more Gatherer's Gardens around, this ADAM is completely inconsequential.
 * In the book "Deco Devolution" - the art book included in the BioShock 2 Special Edition - there are some references to ADAM being called EDEN, perhaps in its early stages.