Boren's Syndrome

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This article is about the fake disease. For the Bungie writer, see [[Brannon Boren]].

“Untreated or unsuccessfully treated, Boren's can be fatal or debilitating. While some symptoms can be managed with medication, the tumors will always become malignant. Because of this, treating Boren's Syndrome invariably means treating cancer. The only way to cure Boren's Syndrome is an intensive regimen of chemotherapy lasting for thirty weeks.”

— Fabricated medical information

Boren's Syndrome is a fabricated human disease contrived by ONI to cover up the ORION Project, which would later be known as the original SPARTAN-I Program.

Origin

The details about Boren's Syndrome were fabricated to explain the side effects and DNA changes caused by SPARTAN-I augmentations. Information about the syndrome was spread to the public and included a number of false symptoms such as tumors and migraines to appear like any other illness caused by radiation poisoning. Claims as to the cause of the disease include inhaling the gases released when a Covenant Carbine's clip is ejected and being exposed to Plasma Grenade radiation.

In order to avoid investigation into a SPARTAN-I's altered DNA, ONI would perform a "Paris" or "BS spoof," falsifying the person's medical records to show that he or she had contracted Boren's Syndrome. Staff Sergeant Avery Johnson's falsified medical records reported that he had contracted Boren's on Paris IV after coming in contact with a high amount of radiation from a crate of captured Plasma Grenades.

Trivia

• Boren's Syndrome (the SPARTAN-I augmentations) is typically credited for Johnson's immunity to Flood infection, but this cannot be proven or disproven because Johnson is the only known SPARTAN-I to ever come in contact with the Flood.
• Brannon Boren, a writer of Halo: Combat Evolved, might be the namesake of Boren's Syndrome.