Chapter 116: The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (3)

Park Dong-Hyun was talking to the Life Creation Team members. The topic of conversation was whether it was a good choice to go to the conference in Sweden.

“No, why are we thinking about this? They are saying that they will guarantee us free time excluding the time for the conference seminar. It’s a chance to go on a five-night trip to Sweden. On top of that, they said we could use our days off back-to-back with the trip and go on vacation,” Jung Hae-Rim said like she couldn’t understand them.

“That is true, but there is some pressure in attending the conference seminar,” said Park Dong-Hyun.

“Huh? Dong-Hyun-ssi, is a conference seminar too much pressure for you?”

Jung Hae-Rim was surprised as if it was unexpected. She said, “It’s not like we have to do difficult experiments or solve a problem with no answer. We just have to listen to what others have worked on and learn, right? Isn’t it fun to listen to lectures?”

“Of course, it’s entertaining to listen to a lecture about a field I am interested in. And since everyone is so tired of studying, listening to a conference seminar isn’t very stressful, but...”

Park Dong-Hyun trailed off. “But what?”

“We’re going with the CEO,” Cheon Ji-Myung replied instead of Park Dong-Hyun.

Park Dong-Hyun nodded and added, “Hae-Rim-ssi, can you imagine what he will want from us after he takes us to Sweden, paying for our plane ticket and hotel, to listen to the conference?”

“Um...”

“The list of professors lecturing there is no joke. All the immunotherapy and anticancer experts are there,” said Cheon Ji-Myung.

“Hae-Rim-ssi. If the CEO goes there, I am one hundred percent certain that he will start another cancer project. He’s going to be like, ‘I went to the seminar, and it looks like we can conquer lung cancer now. Let’s get rid of lung cancer now.’ Then, he’s going to start something new. Who do you think he will give the project to?”

“... Someone who listened to the conference?” Jung Hae-Rim replied with a slightly frozen face.

“That’s right!”

Cheon Ji-Myung snapped his fingers.

“He’s going to say, ‘This project is related to what this professor presented at the conference; we listened to the lecture together, right?’ Then, he is going to make us do it. If we go, we are going to be awarded with bootcamp from hell. He won’t stop until we destroy a type of cancer.”

“But there’s the Anticancer Drug Department at Lab One, and there are teams at A-Bio that worked on developing the pancreatic cancer cure. Will he really make us do anticancer research?”

“He might make us do it since it’s related to immunotherapy. We’re the first team that started stem cells.”

Jung Hae-Rim was lost in thought. She looked serious. There was a pretty heavy silence at the table.

“What about you, Soon-Yeol-ssi?”

“Eh? I was going to go in the first place,” Koh Soon-Yeol replied.

“Really?”

“Seo Yoon-Ju-ssi said there’s a famous Kohaku figurine shop in Stockholm, and she wants to go there.”

“...”

“Ah, whatever. Then I’m going, too. I kind of want to see Karolinska,” said Jung Hae-Rim. “And all the research we do here is difficult anyways. The work intensity was already high.”

“I’m going, too. When would we be able to go to Sweden if not now?” Bae Sun-Mi said.

“You know what? Let’s go, all of us. If he tells us to get rid of lung cancer after we get back, he will give us good research directions.”

Park Dong-Hyun shot up from his seat.

“Then, we’re all going to go, right? I’m going to sign us all up, okay?”

* * *

Young-Joon was looking into Professor Kakeguni and Professor Oliver with his office computer.

Kakeguni was one of Young-Joon’s former teachers. He was a professor at the University of Tokyo, and his grandfather was Korean. He had a special love for Korea as he was taken care of by his grandfather.

Many years ago, when Young-Joon was still a second-year undergraduate student, Kakeguni visited Jungyoon University as an exchange professor. He lectured and taught experiments at the university for one year. He didn’t come as an exchange professor for money or prestige as he was already the face of the University of Tokyo and considered a Nobel Prize nominee.

There were two reasons why Kakeguni came to Jungyoon University; the first was because of his affection for Korea, which was his grandfather’s native country, and the second was because of his belief that science in Asia should progress as a whole. As one of the only star scientists in Northeast Asia, he was trying to share his knowledge in Korea, China and more.

At the time, Kakeguni gathered passionate students and started a project. One of those students happened to be Young-Joon.

‘Reminds me of the old days...’

Young-Joon smiled cheerily while reading the introduction of Kakeguni that was on his lab homepage. The conversation he had with Kakeguni when they experimented together in his lab came to mind.

* * *

“Why do you want to be a scientist, Young-Joon-kun?” Kakeguni asked.

After some hesitation, Young-Joon told him about Ryu Sae-Yi. Then, he responded to Young-Joon with something unexpected.

“The reason I started working on cancer is similar, too. I lost my closest friend to cancer when I was in grad school.”

“Really?”

“Yes. That’s when I got the ambition to catch cancer. Young-Joon-kun, Korea hates Japan, right?”

“Uh... I guess there are some feelings like that.”

“Because Japan killed a lot of people and stole a lot of resources when Japan colonized Korea. As a Japanese person, I feel bad. However, that is something I find strange as a scientist.”

“What about it?”

“Like how Korea hates Japan, many countries that were damaged by colonialism dislike the colonizing countries. But if that’s the case, why don’t people hate this disease called cancer, which has killed the most people in the world and consumed the most societal resources? Because it is a natural disaster?”

“...”

“Perhaps people have given up on naming cancer as the nasty enemy. Maybe they excluded it from revenge because it is too powerful of an enemy. But scientists shouldn’t do that. I’m telling you because you have a clear goal and you say that you will study your entire life, but this job is not something to have with soft emotions like curiosity or snobbism. The public might think of scientists like that, but scientists should not think of themselves like that. Scientists are warriors. You must remember that.”

At the time, this conversation was shocking to young Young-Joon. It was because he thought being a scientist was a romantic job where he would find new knowledge that mankind did not know yet.

Click,

Young-Joon closed Kakeguni’s website.

‘He was already a Nobel Prize nominee when he came to Jungyoon University. He might actually get it this time if he hasn’t been eliminated and is still one of the final candidates.’

If Kakeguni were to receive the Nobel Prize, it would probably be because of the research he did last year. He studied the process of immune cells finding cancer cells. He discovered a number of biomaterial immune cells used to recognize cancer cells and other cells that worked together.

Rosaline was doing something similar now to commercialize chimeric immunotherapy. How long would it take for Rosaline to find the knowledge Kakeguni found alone? If Young-Joon used his fitness without wasting any, it would take about a month. It was an incredible speed as it was about twenty years of Kakeguni’s research.

However, if Young-Joon could listen to Kakeguni’s seminar and get his help, his work might progress faster.

‘Although, it’s funny that I will be judging him.’

Whoosh!

Young-Joon could hear the sound of wind from outside his door. A small cell flew in through the cracks. To him, it looked like Ryu Sae-Yi shot through the door like a ghost.

—I’m back!

Rosaline said with a bright smile.

“Did you have fun?”

—I observed your subordinates.

“Please call them colleagues.”

—There are a lot of people who want to participate in the conference.

“Really?”

—I memorized the list. Would you like me to tell you?

“Yeah.”

—Carpentier, Jacob, Park Jae-Hong, Yoon Jae-Don, Cheon Ji-Myung, Bae Sun-Mi, Park Dong-Hyun, Jung Hae-Rim, Koh Soon-Yeol, Felicida, Chloe, Park Mi-Young, Choi Tae-Il, Hong Soo-Jung, Lee Jung-Nam, Elliot Kim, Kim Jin-Ju, Park Hee-Sun, Kim Ji-Won...

“Wait, stop. Why are there so many?”

—Maybe they want to go to the conference.

“I don’t think I would like it if my CEO asked me to go to a conference together...”

—By the way, Ryu Young-Joon, why did my name become Rosaline?

“Huh?”

Young-Joon was a little flustered.

“Your name?”

—Yes. What does Rosaline mean?

“Um... The Life Creation Team gave it to you. I don’t know much about it either.”

Now that Rosaline asked, he was curious as well.

‘Maybe I’ll ask them when I see them.’

* * *

Most people applied to the conference while only a few stayed back to keep Lab One and A-Bio. Young-Joon decided to take them all. Thankfully, everyone was able to attend as there was no limit to the number of people who could attend. Although, a lot of people wouldn’t be able to listen to the popular lectures because of the competition.

Young-Joon made a reservation at a hotel, and he reserved nearly half of the rooms.

On the morning when they arrived in Sweden, Young-Joon let everyone listen to the lectures freely, and he went to the anticancer immunotherapy seminar and talked with the professors.

“It’s been a while, Professor Kakeguni,” said Young-Joon.

“Ah, yes.”

Kakeguni greeted Young-Joon cheerfully and shook his hand.

“Young-Joon-kun, or should I say Mr. Ryu?”

“Just whatever you are comfortable with.”

“Then, let’s call you Doctor Ryu, a universal title in our field. Haha.”

“Thank you.”

“Anyways, I wanted to see you after hearing about your success, and now we meet here.”

“Yes. We were relatively near each other, but we’re seeing each other on the other side of the world.”

“Haha. Anyways, although this is long overdue, congratulations on A-Bio, your great papers, and the treatments. I should have given you scholarships and living expenses and taken you to the University of Tokyo as my student.”

Kakeguni made a disappointed face jokingly.

“I didn’t study under you, but I still remember what you taught me back then.”

“That makes me happy.”

Thud.

As the seminar doors opened, another professor who looked to be in his fifties showed up. It was Oliver P. Allison. He worked at the Cold Spring Laboratory, then moved to MIT.

“Here comes my rival,” Kakeguni said with a chuckle.

“I have never met him,” Young-Joon said.

“He is an amazing person. I would congratulate him even if he received the Nobel Prize. I hope you get along with him as well, Doctor Ryu,” Kakeguni said.

The moment Young-Joon was going to approach him, the doors to the seminar room opened. An old, gray-haired professor with age spots on his face appeared. All the scientists in the room froze.

“Jamie Anderson...?”

Carpentier, who was standing beside Young-Joon and talking to other professors, frowned a little.

—He was asked for counsel.

‘How do you know that?’

—

I heard the Karolinska professor talking.

‘... That’s why he’s here.’

—

Is he a remarkable person?

‘Yeah.’

Young-Joon replied to Rosaline.

‘He discovered the double helix structure of DNA at the age of twenty-four.’

Jamie Anderson was the greatest biologist after Darwin; he was the father of modern biology and living history. He was the person who built the foundation of DNA research, the origin of all biological processes.

The sound of his footsteps echoed in the silent room. Jamie Anderson passed several professors and Nobel laureates and stood in front of Young-Joon.

“Hello,” he said as he held out his hand. “Nice to meet you, Doctor Ryu. I wanted to meet you.”