Chapter 109: Plant-based Pharmaceuticals (2)

“These are the forty completed kits that diagnose thirty-two diseases in groups or individually,” said Park So-Yeon as she pushed the box containing forty kits towards Young-Joon. “I backed up all the research notes of the development process on the company’s cloud, and I left the hard copy in the laboratory archive, so you can use it when you need. And this is an explanation of each project. I just wrote the basic things.”

Young-Joon took the explanation that Park So-Yeon handed him. He flipped over each page and read through it.

“Wasn’t yesterday your last day? I heard that you left everything in my secretary’s office when I wasn’t here,” Young-Joon said.

“I did, but I had a couple of things to add to this explanation and data, so I came for that. I dropped off all the products here in the secretary’s office yesterday.”

“I see.”

Young-Joon organized the explanations and put them on one side of his desk.

“So, are you leaving now?”

“Yes. I’m going straight to the airport because my flight is soon.”

“Do you want me to go with you?”

“Oh, it’s okay...”

“Let’s go in my car.”

Young-Joon took Park So-Yeon and went to the parking lot. He shook his hand as the K-Cops security team was about to escort them to their van.

“It’s alright. I will drive.”

Young-Joon declined and went into the driver’s seat.

“Then we will follow you in a different car,” Kim Chul-Kwon said.

“Alright.”

Young-Joon took Park So-Yeon, who was sitting in the passenger’s seat, out of the company. On the way to Incheon Airport, he asked, “Where are you going now?”

“America. I’m going into the WHO,” Park So-Yeon replied while staring at him as the strictly formal tone he had been keeping with her disappeared.

“The WHO?”

“Yeah. I’m already confirmed to join them.”

“It’s not easy to get into there. It’s amazing.”

“They took me as soon as I said that I was one of the developers of the diagnostic kit.”

“Haha, I guess it was a valuable project. Then what are you going to do there?” “I’m going to go to Switzerland after I finish a few things in America. The WHO headquarters are there. After that, I’ll probably be dispatched to Africa.”

“Africa?” “The place where the diagnostic kit is being used the most is Africa. They’re using a lot for HIV eradication.”

“So, you’re doing something related to the diagnostic kit in Africa?”

“Yeah. I think they talked about the need to produce the diagnostic kit within Africa. I’ll probably go there and work on optimizing the production process in their conditions.”

“...”

Young-Joon thought for a moment, then said, “So-Yeon, the Diagnostic Device Department is going to start the Genome Project.”

“The Genome Project? You’re talking about collecting DNA data from different races?”

“That’s right.”

“You’re going to find disease-related mutants based on the DNA data you obtained from the Genome Project?”

“Yeah.”

“It’s not going to be easy. The relationship between gene mutations and diseases is clear, but the data will greatly vary between individuals. The same mutation can present differently in different people.”

“Probably. So, I’m thinking of gathering the genomic data of at least one hundred million people.”

“What?”

Park So-Yeon was filled with shock.

“How many people did you say?” she asked again.

“One hundred million.”

“...”

“Individual differences will gradually fade as the sample size becomes enormous. If one million people out of one hundred million are skin cancer patients, I can get values beyond individual differences if I compare their genetic variation against the remaining ninety-nine million people.”

Chills ran down Park So-Yeon’s spine.

“You’re probably the one person who can start a project that big.”

“I am going to request cooperation from other companies and universities that work on DNA analysis. It’ll be an international project like HIV eradication.”

Of course, Young-Joon could find genetic mutations with Rosaline. However, the fitness consumption to scan the entire DNA of humans, which was about three billion letters, would be too great. Additionally, it would be difficult to convince people if he found mutation points like that. In this project, it would be most effective to use Rosaline to overcome the important obstacles.

“Come back any time if you are interested in the Genome Project,” Young-Joon said.

“This is why you offered to give me a ride, isn’t it?”

Park So-Yeon smiled.

“That’s not why. It’s just... I wanted to see you off.”

“I know how you feel. Thanks.”

“It’s easy for former employees to join the team because the process isn’t very picky. And you can come back whenever you want, especially because you were a key person in developing the diagnostic kits.”

“Thank you, but it’s okay. I am going to find what I should do in Africa.”

“Okay.”

“We might meet again someday because of how small this society is. I look forward to working with you.”

Young-Joon drove to Incheon Airport. Their romantic relationship ended long ago, and they had settled all their old feelings last time. The project they worked on together as an employee and executive was over as of today. Their emotions and power would be equal the next time they met; they would just be another colleague working in the same field.

Young-Joon waved goodbye to Park So-Yeon who was going into the airport terminal and returned to A-Bio.

* * *

The most powerful technology that existed in manipulating genes was Cas9, the genetic scissors. The Cas9 and RNA complexes were going to be wrapped in double lipids and introduced to the chloroplast. If they put in the desired gene at this time, the gene would be inserted into the sliced part, which was cut by Cas9, through homologous recombination. It couldn’t be described as sophisticated work, but a chemical probability game. The success rate was very low, but it wasn’t that difficult for Young-Joon.

‘Finished.’

Young-Joon completed the experiment and cleaned up the sterile hood. There was no way to observe the molecular phenomenon even with a microscope, but he confirmed that he succeeded with Synchronization Mode.

“Please grow this cell,” Young-Joon said as he handed a scientist a cell culture plate.

“Yes, sir!”

Lead Scientist Jang Jin-Ho of the Plant-based Pharmaceuticals Research Department took the plate. He was a little amazed. This department was the one that lagged behind the most at Lab One. Then, someone huge called Young-Joon just burst onto the scene. Lab Director Kim Hyun-Taek berated the Plant Department a lot in the past, but he didn’t really provide any good directions for their research.

However, Young-Joon was different. He actually came into the lab himself and started off this major project himself. Dozens of department members were watching Young-Joon’s experiment behind Jang Jin-Ho with a tense expression.

“It was a simple transfection, but it looks different than us,” Scientist Lee Shin-Ju said.

“It looks like the pipette is shining...”

“Will the target gene really be expressed from that?”

The other scientists murmured.

Before leaving the lab, he said to them, “I am going to come to this lab for the next three weeks. Let’s correct the tobacco plant genome together. We have to manipulate a few genes that affect the sugar chain with Cas9 for the target gene to be properly expressed.”

Young-Joon actually came to the lab for the next three weeks. He was probably constantly busy as he held big titles like the CEO of A-Bio and Lab One Director, but he never left the frontlines of research. Since the project was in its beginning stages, the employees needed to become familiar with improving plants using Cas9 at the least. They were smart people, so they would follow along well if Young-Joon just showed them once.

However, Young-Joon was not only focused on this experiment.

“The Diagnostic Device Department will be divided into two teams. One team will work on the Genome Project. It will take at least two years, and they will be analyzing the DNA of over one hundred million people of all the races in the world,” Young-Joon said to the entire department. “You will obtain some skin tissue cells from subjects all over the world and use the Illemina equipment to analyze their entire DNA. There are two major points: one is to collect the entire three billion letters of DNA data of each subject, and the other is the subject’s disease information.”

“Disease information? I don’t think we can collect that information because it’s private information,” Song Yu-Ra said.

“That’s right. Because of that, we cannot record any personal information when conducting this study. Only write the age, sex, and race. Destroy all personal information like their name or contact information,” Young-Joon replied. “The Genome Project can be done because it is an academic study as long as it remains anonymous. We will also distribute all the data we have free of charge.”

“What will the other team be doing?”

“All academic studies are bound to be used commercially.” Young-Joon grinned.

* * *

SG Life was one of the oldest insurance companies in Korea’s private health insurance industry.

Senior Managing Director Lim Gil-Won was doing a presentation at the board meeting. He had become a senior managing director in his late forties, and he had quickly predicted problems for the company’s future with his unique sense of insight and danger detection skills. And recently, he had been focusing on Young-Joon’s new technology parade.

“The item I am bringing up today is regarding CEO Ryu.”

“Ryu Young-Joon again?”

Executive Vice President Baek Joong-Hyuk frowned.

“I keep bringing up this item because we have not come up with a concrete alternative,” Lim Gil-Won explained.

“Now, stop with all this.”

“CEO Ryu bought DNA analysis equipment.”

“DNA analysis equipment?” Chief Executive Officer Hwang Jun-Young asked.

“Yes. I heard he bought two hundred of them. Where would CEO Ryu use that? I believe that he will use that to start a gene analysis business.” “A gene analysis business?”

This time, the directors’ faces changed. The gene analysis market was one of the future industries that was quite worrisome among insurance planners. Of course, the insurance industry still required information such as family history when customers subscribed to insurance products. However, if gene analysis data became commonplace, the probability that was previously lumped with family history would become much more accurate. From the perspective of insurance companies that developed and sold products based on uncertainty, the future of more accurate predictions was burdensome.

“Is that information accurate?” Hwang Jun-Young asked.

“I am certain. Dozens of Illemina’s equipment came into A-Bio,” Lim Gil-Won said. “And I don’t think that is all. We need to come up with countermeasures against the huge structural changes that CEO Ryu will make in the...”

“Stop,” Baek Joong-Hyun cut him off. “Director Lim, you’re talking about CEO Ryu like his work is going to cause some sort of structural reform in the whole insurance industry, but have there been any kind of changes to our work even though he has been on the news countless times?”

“...”

“Now there are only people who think that glaucoma is no longer one of the three major eye diseases. Now, our insurance covers glaucoma stem cell therapy. That’s all the change we’ve seen.”

“That is because the only kit that has been commercialized is the glaucoma cure kit. If you look at the business that CEO Ryu is doing...”

“You keep bringing up that item every time we have a board meeting, but I don’t think we need to be that nervous. Let’s keep watching. Slowly. Let’s hear the next item on the agenda,” Baek Joong-Hyuk said.

“One of the new cancer insurance products that Boryung Life has released provides living expenses...”

The next director began presenting.

An hour later, the board meeting came to an end. Lim Gil-Won, who returned to his office, couldn’t calm down his anger and kicked his sofa.

Thud!

“Damn it, these grandpas...”

He swung his fists in the air. He felt like he was going to die from frustration. Stagnant water was bound to rot; those senile old men were so stuck in the old-fashioned insurance industry and could not predict the future.

‘The entire medical insurance industry is on the verge of chaos. What good is the new product that Boryung Life released?!’

Knock knock!

“Mr. Director!”

Executive Manager Lee appeared outside.

“Yes.”

“You have to see this.”

He handed Lim Gil-Won his tablet. A news article was on it. As soon as he saw Young-Joon’s name in the headline, he thought that the time had come.

[Ryu Young-Joons succeeds at producing Alimap, a kidney cancer treatment, from plant cells.]

“Plant cells?”

He was expecting something about the Genome Project, so he was a little surprised when he saw that it was completely different. However, his fingers trembled as he read the news.

[... As such, it is predicted that Alimap’s production price will fall to less than one-thousandth of the original price, and Director Ryu Young-Joon stated that he would apply this production method to other drugs as well. Each drug will need its own optimization process, but theoretically, there will be a major drop in the price of all kinds of bio-based drugs, and...]

“No way.” Lim Gil-Won turned off the news. The diagnostic market was not the only problem; he could also reform the price of treatments like this.

“Damn it.”

He sighed.

“I didn’t even think of this... Anyways, thank you for giving me this important information, Mr. Manager.”

“Um... Sir, there’s more news after it.”

“There’s more?”

Lim Gil-Won turned on the news again.

[Ryu Young-Joon begins Genome Project for one hundred million people.]

[Ryu Young-Joon provides genetic testing services.]