Green and Lupo investigate a package bombing at a research laboratory owned by a company called Genotech. A pregnant security guard, Lori Emerson, was seriously injured and is now in a coma. Dr. Sheldon Hoffman, who works at the laboratory, plans to publish controversial research that he claims is proof of homosexuality being genetic. The detectives learn that Lori's brother-in-law Dean Emerson has been researching Hoffman and has a regular psychiatrist's appointment in the same building as Genotech - which coincides with the time the bomb was left to be picked up by a courier. With evidence that Dean used his father's heart medication as an ingredient in the bomb, he is arrested.
However, the defence gets most of the evidence excluded. While looking to shore up the case, Cutter and Rubirosa discover that Lori was part of Hoffman's current study. He is trying to find a way to identify the "gene" for homosexuality in an unborn child, and since Dean is gay, Hoffman wanted to see if Lori's child would inherit the gene. Dean now wants a plea deal to spare his elderly parents the embarrassment of a trial, but Cutter refuses. At trial, Dean's defence challenges Hoffman over his research; Hoffman says he can prove it's scientifically sound, and that he has identified the gene for homosexuality in Lori's baby.
Lori's father now comes forward with an alibi for Dean, even though it's clear he strongly dislikes Dean. Cutter and Rubirosa learn that Lori's baby is due to be aborted the following day; there is a very slim chance of saving her even with the abortion, whereas the baby would otherwise survive. They realize that Lori's father does not want a gay grandchild, so he provided an alibi in exchange for her husband Ryan agreeing to the abortion. When the trial judge refuses McCoy's request to force a delay in the procedure, Cutter confronts Dean and Ryan with his knowledge of the abortion.
Dean confesses to the bombing. He didn't want Hoffman's research to be published, so that parents would not try to abort potentially gay children in-utero. He begs Ryan not to go ahead with the abortion, but Ryan says he has to; Dean has experienced a lifetime of homophobic abuse and Ryan does not want his own child to go through it. Cutter later tells McCoy and Rubirosa that Ryan agreed to postpone the abortion but will probably go ahead with it anyway. McCoy reflects that there's no way to test for a gene that causes poor decisions.
This episode contains examples of:
- Camp Straight: Ryan describes Dean as this trope.
- Didn't Think This Through: Lupo accesses a psychiatrist's Blackberry phone behind his back to get enough of a hint that sends the detectives Dean's way in figuring out the ingredients used for the bomb. Green rightfully calls him on it, but it's enough to get them a warrant to search Dean's house — yet not enough to hold up in the chain of evidence, as McCoy points out the only way it could've been seen would've been through unlawful possession of the phone, no matter how temporary. This results in most of the evidence being stricken from the record and they’re having to rework the case.
- Homophobic Hate Crime: Played with. Ryan wants to abort his baby for having a gay gene. Ryan suggests that he wants to keep the baby from experiencing homophobia, but Dean views it as an act of homophobic genocide.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Lori's father describes Ryan and Dean as this; Ryan doesn't have consistent work, while Dean is expected to provide for the family financially and to take care of their sick father.
- No Ending: The ending of the episode does not reveal whether Lori survived, whether Ryan went ahead with the abortion, or what sentence Dean received.
- Ripped from the Headlines: Based on then-current news stories about studies attempting to prove a genetic cause for homosexuality.
- Someone to Remember Her By: Lori's baby was supposed to be this although her husband and parents do not want to keep the child.
