Building Pandora

It was over that quickly. In the course of one woman's lifetime, she had destroyed the entire human race.

It started in 2008. A researcher named Dr. Panela Dora discovered a symbiotic life form living in the bloodstream of almost every species of shark. It was discovered that this life form, dubbed the Dora Bacterium, had unique cancer fighting qualities, and was the reason sharks rarely got cancer.

Within weeks, the FDA was pouring money into her research. In two months, she had isolated the bacterium. In three, she was testing the bacterium on lab mice. By the fourth month, the first human trial of the Dora Serum commenced. The subject was Jocelyn Nunez, long time sufferer of ovarian cancer, and Pan's twin sister.

By the same time the next year, over 500,000 women worldwide were given this miracle cure. As women across the globe were cured of their afflictions, millions of women lined up to be immunized, first women at risk for cancer, then those with histories of cancer in their families, and finally anyone seeking the peace of mind from immunization. It seemed as though the world was finally at peace.

Then, Jocelyn fell terribly ill.

The bacterium, it was later discovered, had exhausted the cancerous tissues that served as its primary food supply. Over millennia, the bacterium had evolved to devour cancerous tissues whilst abundant, but then to recede and lay dormant inside the body of its shark host, subsisting off of trace minerals until its natural food supply once again became abundant.

But the bacterium hardly recognized the flesh of its new mammal hosts, and after dealing with the immediate threats, began attacking its own unfamiliar host bodies. In the next year, tens of millions of women succumbed to what was once hailed as humanity's savior.

Then, the situation turned bad.

Women who had never gone in for immunization began succumbing to the Dora Bacterium. Bodies of women were piled in dreadful stacks when there was no more resources (or, rather, will)to bury them. This created breeding grounds for the bacterium, and near major bodies of fresh water, proper steps weren't taken. The bacterium managed to invade major reservoirs, and women were exposing themselves without even knowing it. The death toll was staggering.