Arik Soong was a brilliant doctor of genetics in the 22nd century. He believed that Humanity's abandonment of genetic engineering after the Eugenics Wars was a mistake and hoped to show that genetically engineered Humans would not necessarily become tyrants like Khan Noonien Singh. He argued that the source of the problem wasn't, in fact, the technology, but Humanity's own inability to use it wisely.
Soong was a descendant of Adam Soong, a 21st century geneticist and engineer who had funded Project Khan. (PIC: "Farewell")
Soong's mother was a chemist by occupation. (ENT: "Cold Station 12")
Soong was the senior medical director at Cold Station 12 in the 2130s. While there, he stole a group of Augment embryos. He later made some improvements on the embryos, and subsequently traded for goods and supplies with the Orion Syndicate so he could provide for his "children," whom he raised on Trialas IV. Soong was captured ten years later in 2144, and imprisoned in San Francisco, where, on occasion, he attempted to escape. Once he programmed a PADD to open every security door in the prison and made it as far as Sausalito.
In the mid-24th century, Dal R'El, a Human Augment hybrid, was created as the handiwork of Arik Soong's protégés through a process known as artificial hybrid speciation. Dr. Jago, a geneticist, initially described Dal as a "beautiful specimen." However, after she discovered the source of his origins, she declared that, in her opinion, his construction was "sloppy work" and that "it was a miracle [he could] talk." (PRO: "Masquerade")
