La hormiga gigante

*La hormiga gigante* (The Giant Ant), by Peter Kapra, is a science-fiction novel set in a futuristic Galveston featuring automated transportation and electronic communication. The narrative follows Rona Nowara, a biochemist in her mid-twenties, and her troubled engagement to Jan Alderney, a brilliant but eccentric biogenicist expelled from the Biological Institute for his unconventional theories. Jan has established a private laboratory in abandoned salt marshes, where he pursues research on ant mutations. When Jan fails to meet Rona for a dinner date, she discovers him at his laboratory with Dr. Alice Farrow, a visiting scientist from New York. Jan reveals his astonishing discovery: a *pogonomyrmex* ant subjected to sodium fluoride injections and "cappa" radiation has begun undergoing dramatic size mutation. Intrigued by the scientific breakthrough despite her romantic jealousy, Rona drives to the laboratory to witness the phenomenon firsthand.