Sign for the Noonien-Singh Institute
The Noonien-Singh Institute for Cultural Advancement, abbreviated NSI, was an organization based in Toronto on Earth during the early 21st century. Beneath its public facade, it conducted top secret research into cold fusion and Human genetic engineering.
In 2022, the time traveling Romulan operative Sera sought to destroy the NSI's experimental cold fusion reactor. She was opposed by the Department of Temporal Investigations, who sent La'an Noonien-Singh into the past to avert the attack. La'an was able to use the phosphor in a divers' watch to locate the reactor, as the phosphor glowed in the presence of tritium, which the reactor gave off.
Noonien-Singh discovered that her handprint could grant access to the NSI facility, due to her inherited DNA markers. She and an alternate James T. Kirk managed to bar Sera from the reactor by alerting the guards. Sera then attempted to kill a young Khan Noonien Singh, one of NSI's test subjects, but was again stopped by Noonien-Singh. The origin of Khan and other augments in the NSI was itself a consequence of previous temporal incursions.
In an alternate timeline, Sera successfully destroyed the reactor, which wiped out Toronto and triggered a war between Humans and Romulans that prevented the formation of the Federation. (SNW: "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow")
Personnel[]
- See: Noonien-Singh Institute for Cultural Advancement personnel
One of the few fictional 21st-century Toronto locations depicted in the episode, the institute was portrayed by The Royal Conservatory of Music.[1] Both the real-world conservatory and the fictional institute are located near the Royal Ontario Museum, which Kirk and La'an are standing near when they notice the tritium glowing.