It’s hard to summarise, there are two major threads. One of them is using experimentation and reasoning to understand and save the world. The plot involves a lot of science, and not just in a superficial way, but characters trying to work out the peculiar rules to their universe. There’s a major threat to their world that can only be tackled this way.

The other major thread is dealing with social issues that get in the way of science, but also of life in general. Again without spoilers, this involves the particular way that people reproduce in this world.