Genetic engineer

A genetic engineer is a monster in SLASH'EM. Its attacks cause monsters or you to polymorph, making it both a formidable opponent and a useful polymorph form. This attack is nullified by magic resistance, and affected by magic cancellation.

Living with genetic engineers
Hopefully by the time you reach Gehennom in SLASH'EM, you will have magic resistance, making genetic engineers almost a non-threat. If you don't, then ranged weapons are advised; even though their attacks are affected by magic cancellation, they have a reasonable chance of being able to polymorph you once; if they then polymorph you into something that destroys your cloak or causes you to shrink out of it, all their subsequent attacks will polymorph you as well, as you will no longer have any magic cancellation.

Also be careful of them if you are causing conflict. Since monsters in SLASH'EM are not killed when you destroy their polymorphed forms, but rather revert to their original form, at best a genetic engineer hitting a number of monsters causes extra fighting for you. At worst it creates a crystal golem, which is not only almost certainly stronger but also resistant to further polymorph, in the manner of a gray dragon. If you are causing conflict, destroy genetic engineers with prejudice.

Living as a genetic engineer
Being a genetic engineer is quite an interesting life indeed. The polymorph attack is not considered magical for the purpose of monster MR, meaning that except against aforesaid crystal golems, (baby) gray dragons and any monster that has armor that provides magic resistance, your attack will polymorph them. This can be quite powerful, as it allows you to bypass or tame numerous formidable enemies, including some that cannot normally be tamed. Note that this is in fact the only way to tame Death in SLASH'EM, not counting sliming him which makes him permanently a green slime.

Note that being a genetic engineer does have its limitations. The form is not that strong, and many monsters may destroy you before you get a chance to polymorph them, particularly if you are surrounded. Also, there is the ever-present risk of creating a stronger monster (including the un-polymorphable crystal golem). Also be aware that if the attack does not pass the "needs +x weapon to hit" check, it will not polymorph a monster. The bare-handed attack counts as +0, but wielding a weapon will make it count as the enchantment of the weapon. Unlike demonic summoning, the genetic engineer's polymorph attack is not affected by whether or not you are wielding a weapon.