Chapter 163: Ebola (6)

Young-Joon gathered the genes that made up the end of the anthracis cilia and put it in an E. coli plasmid. They were put into BL21, a strain of bacteria, then grown in LB broth. Then, all the bacteria were killed by sonication, and it was purified using a histidine tag that was attached to a piece of the cilia.

‘Done.’

Young-Joon proceeded with care and caution as if he was building an elaborate Lego sculpture. He attached DNase, a substance that destroyed DNA, to streptavidin, then added it to the cilia to anthracis with biotin. The scientists under the University of Kinshasa and Michelle were closely observing what Young-Joon was doing. All he was doing was mixing, measuring, and collecting solutions that were less than a milliliter. It seemed like nothing much to the human eye, but important things were happening in the microworld. The scientists followed along closely as they took notes.

“It’s done,” Young-Joon said.

“The treatment is done?” Nazir asked.

“Yes. We’re ready for the pilot experiment. Let’s take the samples you made and go to the lab.”

Young-Joon and thirty other scientists left the biology lab at the University of Kinshasa and drove forty minutes to a large space. It was an empty field that was blocked off by a huge wire fence. There was a small lab in the middle of it.

“Is it that?” Young-Joon asked.

“Yes. Follow me.”

MIchelle identified herself with her ID to the soldiers that were guarding the entrance.

“I’m with the Ministry of Public Health.”

After getting access, she walked in with the other scientists. They walked through three metal gates on the way from the entrance to the lab.

[Danger]

[Authorized Personnel Only]

The large words that were written in bright red warned about the dangerous animals that were inside.

[Biosafety Level 4 Laboratory (BL4)]

There were a total of four biosafety levels. The organisms that were used in biosafety levels one and two didn’t affect healthy adults very much or caused minor and easily treatable diseases. The organisms used in biosafety level three could cause pretty severe symptoms, but they were not contagious and could be treated.

In biosafety level four labs, The organisms used in level four had two common characteristics:

They caused serious illness in humans and were highly contagious, therefore posing a high threat to public health, and there were no effective preventions or treatments.

In other words, if someone came in here, touched the wrong thing and got sick, they were done for. This was literally the frontline of the war against disease. As such, the conditions for safety were strict. They needed to have the best HEPA-filtered air purification system, a chemical shower system, a breathing air supply, and a wastewater treatment facility. They needed to meet strict requirements for facilities in many areas.

The cost of construction and maintenance was also significant. Therefore, a mediocre lab could not maintain such a facility due to financial reasons. Even if they had the money, there was a huge amount of paperwork and evaluations required to set up a biosafety level four lab in Korea, at least. Although, Young-Joon didn’t know how it was done here.

“I’m opening the door.”

Michelle opened the last sealed metal gate.

Whirr!

The HEPA filter was purifying the air with a horrendous noise. Now, they were inside the facility before the actual entrance into the lab.

“This is the only level four lab in Kinshasa. You can study the Ebola virus, the variola virus, the lassa virus, and more,” Michelle said.

“Isn’t it too close to the University of Kinshasa considering it’s a level four lab?” Young-Joon asked.

A biosafety level four lab usually wasn’t set up near a university because they dealt with pretty dangerous things. It was kind of unsettling to put such a terrifying facility near a school where young people studied. Even in the United States, biosafety level four labs were set up near the National Institute of Health or the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases; they were rarely approved to be near private facilities.

“But Congo is not in a position to consider gains and losses. The University of Kinshasa is the best university in Congo, and the people here are the best human resources we have in the country. It’s in our best interest to bring them here and let them fight this fight,” Michelle said.

“I see,” Young-Joon replied.

“Let’s get dressed first.”

The scientists opened the closet for them. Everyone changed into protective clothing that looked like a spacesuit. After putting on latex gloves, they put on the thick protective boots they took out from the closet. Next, they put on a protective suit that looked like a jumpsuit and zipped it up. They hooked the elastic sleeve hole onto their thumb so that their wrists were covered. They had to cover their entire body because their skin could not be exposed. That was the same for their head.

“I’m putting on the PAPR,” Young-Joon said.

A PAPR was a device that filtered outside air and delivered it to the wearer. It was like a fully enclosed helmet, covering everything from the head to the chest, and one was only able to breathe out of a filter.

“The filter life is good, and the connecting hose looks good, too.”

Young-Joon checked the condition of the PAPR, then put it on his head.

Pshhh.

Young-Joon disinfected his protective year through the chemical shower at the entrance.

“Let’s go.”

Young-Joon moved to the lab with the scientists. He was already feeling stuffy in his heavy protective suit.

‘Phew...’

His neck was sweating.

—I’ll control your temperature a little bit. You’re heating up because your sympathetic nervous system is too excited.

Rosaline said.

‘Thanks.’

Even Young-Joon wasn’t used to a level four facility since he had only been here a few times. Even though A-Bio developed a vaccine for HIV, HIV was also a level three organism because it wasn’t thought to be very contagious. On top of that, HIV already had a treatment, even if it was expensive and just a life-sustaining one.

However, Ebola was different.

‘Ebola had no cure.’

Additionally, there was an eighty percent chance one would die if they caught it due to its high lethality rate. Looking at it from that perspective, Young-Joon was basically going into touching the most terrifying thing that existed in this world. He could see that the other scientists were tense.

“...”

No one made a single joke. In the heavy silence, one of the scientists went to the deep freezer, which was at negative seventy degrees.

“Here it is.”

They handed Young-Joon a vial. The small plastic bottle had about three hundred microliters of liquid. It was the Ebola virus.

—Ugh...

Rosaline, who popped out of Young-Joon before he put the protective suit on, came close to him.

‘Are you nervous?’

Young-Joon asked.

—It’s just a trivial organism to me.

‘But why are you clinging to me?’

—Because it’s not trivial to you. It’s going to be a hassle to clean up if there is an accident.

‘Don’t worry. I have my protective suit on, and I won’t make a mistake.’

Young-Joon drew out the virus from the vial with a syringe. He then went to the cage and injected it into the thirteen mice. Then, he took out the Ebola treatment from the styrofoam box he brought.

“From now on, we are going to inject this into two mice every two hours,” Young-Joon said. “We are going to observe the efficacy of the treatment. Please record it.”

* * *

“Ack... It’s done.”

The scientists came out of the experiment exhausted. They went through the chemical shower one by one. Now, it was time for them to take off the stuffy protective suit. They also had to follow an order when taking the suit off; they could not just do it randomly. They had to take it off while turning it inside out so that nothing touched the skin. It was the suit first, then the boots, and then the PAPR. The gloves were last, but they also had to be careful to not let the gloves touch the exposed skin, like the wrist. They had to take one hand off half-way and take off the other hand with the tip of their fingers.

“Phew...”

The scientists, who were letting out a deep breath, were soaked in sweat. It felt like they had just surfaced from a dive into the dangerous deep sea. The HEPA filter kept making noise. There was a moment of silence from exhaustion. Everyone looked tired.

“It feels like we just fought a war or something,” Young-Joon said as he looked at them.

“I’m telling you as a citizen of a country that has civil wars often, but this is worse than a war.”

“Really?”

“You can relax at home after a war ends, but we have to be anxious about whether we’ve been infected or not.”

“Haha, I see.”

Some of the scientists chuckled.

“But we’re going to have to do this experiment dozens of times,” Young-Joon said.

“...”

“Will everyone be okay?”

“We will,” Nazir said. “Doctor Ryu, my wife was part of the ten thousand people who died in West Africa due to the Ebola outbreak in 2014.”

“...”

“I will win this fight. We have nothing more to ask if you help us, Doctor Ryu. I’m actually happy that I have the chance to get revenge.”

Young-Joon grinned.

“Thank you all. I know it’s hard, but keep up the good work. If we fight with all our strength, there will be one less person who dies from Ebola.”

* * *

“Sir, there is another case of Ebola.”

A member of the Union for Democracy and Social Progress reported.

“Be careful to not let confusion spread among the people,” Paulo warned.

He had no time to talk about this in detail, as he had to go on television and give his speech.

“Let’s talk later.”

Paulo walked to the studio. This broadcast had the most political power in Congo.

Paulo was greeted by the host and sat down.

“The government has assembled a team of researchers, led by Michelle, the secretary of the Ministry of Public Health, to develop a cure for Ebola. And it looks like they’ve brought Doctor Ryu Young-Joon from Korea. What do you think?” the host asked.

They started off with the issue about Ebola.

“We don’t need a treatment,” Paulo said firmly. “There isn’t an outbreak of Ebola. There are a few patients who have been diagnosed with Ebola, but are they really? Has anyone seen anyone die from Ebola in the past three years?”

Paulo began to spew propaganda.

“I’ll be honest. Ebola has killed countless people in West Africa during 2014 and 2015. I know it is a dangerous disease. However, everything about the government making a vaccine or treatment for Ebola is...” Paulo said. “... For show.”

Paulo clenched his fists.

“They say they brought Doctor Ryu Young-Joon for this. Some commentators say that how could Ebola be a lie when we have brought the famous Doctor Ryu Young-Joon here to make a treatment?” Paulo said. “It is a lie. I can be sure. Everyone, Doctor Ryu Young-Joon is not interested in politics in Congo. That person will go study on the moon if he could destroy Ebola. He even went to Sweden to make an anticancer drug. Of course, he could come to Congo to study Ebola, since there are a lot of clinical data here.”

Paulo spoke straight at the camera.

“But the fact that Doctor Ryu is studying here does not prove that there was Ebola in Maibi. The diagnosed patients are also a lie. It was unconstitutional to ban voting in Maibi, and this election was manipulated,” Paulo said. “We need to have a re-election. Currently, we have petitioned the constitutional court for a reflection. Everyone, this is the first democratic change in power in sixty years. Even if I am not chosen, there must not be any unfairness. Please support me.”

Paulo shouted into the camera.

There really may be Ebola in Congo. However, the one thing that Congo needed was not an Ebola treatment; it was a leader who could ignite the flames in the people who were tired of the long dictatorship and civil wars.

And Phillip wasn’t a leader like this. The constitutional court absolutely had to announce a reelection.