Axolotl tank
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Axolotl tanks are a technology in the fictional Dune universe created by Frank Herbert in the 'Dune' series. Axolotl technology is also mentioned in but not elaborated upon. The name comes from the axolotl, an aquatic salamander native to Mexico.
Description
Axolotl tanks are produced by the Bene Tleilax and serve as wombs in which a ghola (a clone) can be grown; in later books, the axolotl tanks have been engineered to be capable of producing the spice melange.
During the final two Dune books, Heretics of Dune and , it is remarked that nobody has ever seen a Tleilaxu female – this is because females in Tleilaxu society are taken and transformed into axolotl tanks through a process of genetic mutation. In essence, the women become huge, immobile wombs, which are then used by the Tleilaxu Masters to grow whatever biological products are required. This process is a deeply-guarded Tleilaxu secret, which is why nobody has ever been able to duplicate their technology.
In the final book Chapterhouse Dune, the last remaining Tleilaxu Master Scytale is coerced into revealing the means of creating the tanks to the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood.
In the Prelude to Dune series of novels by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, the Tleilaxu invade the planet Ix on the orders of the Emperor Elrood IX. The Tleilaxu attempted to create artificial melange (or "Amal"- Arabic for "hope"- as they called it) and the best results were gained by using a Bene Gesserit sister to create the axolotl tank.
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