Chapter 143: Cultured Meat (9)

The level of infection of the wheat field was pretty high, but most of the hyphae were underground, and only a few fungi had infected the wheat. And regardless of where they were, all the fungi were dormant. They spread their hyphae in the ground, settling in and gathering nutrients. It had multiplied inside the wheat leaves, but it did not show.

But now, it was different. As the temperature dropped, they began to turn into spores. The fungi had to mix their spores and become diploids before winter came; simply put, the spores had to mate to mix their genes.

Next, they would go into a long winter hibernation in the ground with new genes. The last chance to gather energy before then was now, when the ground was rich in nutrients from the many leaves and fruits that had fallen.

The leaves of the wheat were golden brown, and the tips of the hyphae were peeking out of the ground. Now, the white spores began opening one by one. The wheat leaves would turn white from the remaining spore shells, and they would soon fade into a reddish color and begin to disease the plant. This fungus was named red mold because of this color.

Pshh

The spores that popped out from the ground first infected the wheat. The level of infection that was around five percent quickly became eighty percent. However, there were still countless spores. Then, the wind began coming down from the Rocky Mountains: Foehn wind.

Whoosh!

The sound of the wind rang in Young-Joons ears. The Foehn wind took the spores and headed East. Those spores would fall on the central region.

However, this was not the end. The newly infected red mold spores had a short incubation period. This is because the average temperatures were right now. As individual spores varied greatly, they would be able to extend their hyphae and form new spores in as little as a few hours or three days. The enormous amount of new spores would continue to blow toward the central region. They would continue to multiply until the temperature dropped further and they entered the filamentous body.

Lets go.

Young-Joon got up.

There will be talk about the appearance of red mold in the wheat fields any minute now.

* * *

Campbell was lost in deep thought. He was a supporter of Young-Joon, and he was also a supporter of cultured meat, but he was skeptical about the red mold outbreak. And Anthony, the secretary of the Department of Agriculture, was someone he had appointed himself; Campbell trusted him.

Do you really think Ryu Young-Joon is wrong this time? Campbell asked.

I know that you trust Doctor Ryu Young-Joon a lot, sir. And I like him as well. I mean, Im taking Amuc, the diabetes drug, as well.

But not red mold?

We had it contained last year, and I believe that it will not happen this time. And its already twenty days past red molds usual appearance period, Anthony said. Sir, Doctor Ryu, for once, is wrong. Unless he is a god, he cannot be right about everything. He misjudged the capability of that artificial intelligence program, thats all.

But I got this email.

Campbell opened his inbox. It was an email from Young-Joon.

[A-Gen will be producing great quantities of a red mold treatment in preparation for the outbreak, and if you arrange to purchase them through me in advance, you will be less resented by the farmers.]

It wasnt very long, and it was bold.

How did he get your email?

I told him it when we were doing cultured meat because Im going to make that my most important accomplishment of this term. I told him to email me directly if there are any problems with it.

But he wrote about red mold, not cultured meat.

If he is right, Doctor Ryu emailing me directly wouldnt be a problem.

Campbell rested his chin on his hand and tapped on the table with his fingers.

Im thinking of writing a contract to arrange something.

Dont do that. You will be criticized even more.

Is that so?

Even Tanya Manker, the creator of the artificial intelligence program, has stayed silent as well. Shes not confident either. That is how unlikely it is to happen.

...

Campbell let out a deep sigh and held his head.

Alright. I will think about it. You can go now. If red mold does not appear, that artificial intelligence program and Tanya Manker will be under a lot of fire, and shes the logical center of the cultured meat industry. Things could get a little difficult.

Dont worry too much, sir. You will still be able to push for the cultured meat industry, Anthony said. But it would be wise for you to not provoke corn farmers any further right now since they will suffer losses from having corn leftover during the setup process of cultured meat.

That leftover corn is the key to solving the food crisis.

Leave it to me to protect that land and those farmers until the time comes. All we need to do is win the cultured meat legislative hearing.

Anthony reassured Campbell and walked out. He returned to his office and sat down. New reports had piled up on his desk during his brief absence. Taking a sip of his coffee, he picked up the report that was at the very top of the pile.

Huh?

His eyes widened. Surprised, Anthony set down his coffee and read the report closely.

[Diseased plants were found in the wheat production area. The leaves have turned a dark red color, indicating one or more of the following infectious agents: red mold, leaf blight, leaf miner larvae, or mites.]

What is

The number of infected plants wasnt very high; only about thirty of them were infected in two farms. However, if this was red mold, the infection rate was probably close to one hundred percent. The rest just hadnt shown up yet.

...

Anthonys mind went blank. It could be a different type of disease, but if it was red mold? Microscopic spores that werent visible to the naked eye had already swept across the central region with the Foehn winds. The cornfields may already be infected. Young-Joons email that he read in the Oval Office lingered in front of his eyes. He quickly called the office.

Sir, I think I was wrong. There is a possibility of a red mold reemergence Anthony said.

A reemergence?

Yes. You havent written back to Doctor Ryu Young-Joon about not buying any treatments, right?

I was still thinking about it.

... We have to do a close examination to determine if it really is red mold. I think it will take about four to five days.

Is that the day of the hearing?

Is it?

If it is red mold, can it appear in the central region as well?

Yes. The incubation period is short as the temperatures are low and the fungus are spores right now. If spores flew over the central region, we will have an outbreak in five days, and things will become a mess.

𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

I see. Do a close examination. I will reply to Doctor Ryu Young-Joon, and you can take him to the Department of Agriculture and write a contract for the purchase of the red mold treatment yourself.

Yes, sir

* * *

As Tanya Manker, Mckinney, and Diego, who didnt know how things were going, hesitated, the cultured meat opposition crowd gathered momentum. Steven was now excitedly criticizing Young-Joon and the developers of the cultured meat technology.

The cultured meat regulation bill must be passed. It is ridiculous that we are having a legislative hearing over this. The world shouldnt be controlled by one mad scientist who is pretending to be a prophet. How much have the stock prices of agriculture and traditional livestock companies dropped? Steven shouted to a crowd of conservative groups.

He needed to gather as much power as possible right up until the day before the legislative hearing. It would become a powerful weapon in the hearing and would make or break the bill.

Above all, cultured meat is dangerous, everyone. Not only is it economically dangerous, it is dangerous to the health of the American people. Do you know how they make that meat? Steven shouted confidently. Its the same way cancer cells are made! The method of making the cultured meat borrows the mechanism by which cancer cells divide. Its made like a cancer cell! Ryu Young-Joon and his minions are trying to put cancer cells in our belly!

The final three days leading up to the hearing were basically a one-man show for Steven and the conservative organizations. Most of the conservative organizations came together. They gathered on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., even on the morning of the hearing, and began marching.

Get Ryu Young-Joon out of America!

Ban dangerous cultured meat!

Protect livestock companies!

Their chants echoed in front of the Capitol. However, the organizers sensed something wasnt right. Farmers from the central and western regions had not shown up to this last, important rally.

* * *

Steven, who sat in the hearing with experts from conservative groups, stared at Mckinney. He looked a little nervous. They were rivals and competitors who had fought for a long time.

It was like you to extend to the cultured meat industry first, Mckinney.

Steven thought to himself.

But you burnt your tongue trying to eat a potato that was too hot. After you stop the wave as the breakwater, I will eat it slowly. Break just this once.

Tanya Manker also looked nervous. She sat in her seat and whispered to Mckinney and Diego.

Today is the tenth day.

Mckinney nodded.

Theres still the rest of the day left, Tanya.

... We should be seeing some kind of sign by now if there is an outbreak of red mold.

If not, so be it. Well just have to prove the safety of cultured meat and argue for its food production efficienc

Mckinney paused.

Drrr.

It was because Young-Joon, who was coming to sit down in his seat, was pushing a huge cart. And there was a huge machine on top of it.

What is that?

The audience began whispering. All the panelists were shocked. Young-Joon put the cart behind the seat, pulled out the cord and plugged it in.

What are you doing! Steven shouted.

I got permission from the Capitol, Young-Joon replied briefly. Last time, I said that I would discuss the safety of cultured meat at the legislative hearing when I pointed out the danger of the red mold outbreak in the central region.

Young-Joon tapped the machine with his fingers.

This is the Foodscan 3.4 version we purchased from Force Healthcare. It is the newest product. It is the most efficient machine that can analyze the components of raw and processed meat products and even measure the CD value at the amino acid level.

...

The speaker of the House walked in front of Steven, who was frozen in shock. The speaker, who was in charge of leading the hearing, stepped up to the podium and picked up the microphone.

Before we proceed with todays legislative hearing, I would like to share with you a fact that may affect the outcome of the hearing, the speaker said. A disease has spread in corn and wheat fields in the western region. The number of infected plants was increasing slowly until yesterday afternoon, but the situation deteriorated rapidly since the evening, and most of the plants are showing symptoms.

What

Steven, who was surprised, stuttered.

The speaker said, The Department of Agriculture has closely inspected the site for five days, and we received the results this morning. The source of the infection has been determined to be red mold. This was announced thirty minutes ago. I am announcing this now as this is likely to have an impact on todays hearing, but you may have not heard it due to time constraints.