Chapter 176: GSC (8)

It was time for the press conference. There was a crowd of reporters in front of Young-Joon, who went to sit down at the table for the interview. Cameras flashed and clicked from all over. The atmosphere was more tense than usual. People wanted an explanation for the allegations that were spreading right now.

However, Young-Joon didn’t have the time to worry about them right now. He had more serious matters to attend to. Young-Joon was going to keep his explanations to clear the air as short as possible and get back to work.

“I have never developed or been involved in the development of anthrax bioweapons, and I have never harmed Doctor Kim Hyun-Taek. I will accept any investigation, and I will confront the rumors that are being spread right now,” Young-Joon said. “It has been said that I developed the weapon in the Life Creation Department at Lab Six of A-Gen. As the director of Lab One and an executive of the research department, I posted a data release draft yesterday. I asked that all the research records of the Life Creation Department be provided to the prosecution and, to the extent that there is no problem, the public.”

The reporters quickly wrote down Young-Joon’s statement. The sound of keyboard clicking rang throughout the conference hall.

“All of A-Gen’s research records are stored in a secure online cloud associated with the National Research Foundation of Korea. Depending on the access level, they can be viewed by both the government and the company, but they cannot be modified. Therefore, there are no concerns about the destruction of evidence; all allegations will be put to rest once the research records of Lab Six are made public. I would like to make this clear in advance,” Young-Joon said. “The possibility that the anthracis fence caused the disease instead of the biological weapons is also being raised. This is also not true. The anthracis fence did not install anthracis, but rather vaccinated the anthracis that was already in the wild.”

Young-Joon presented the entire genome of anthracis on the minotaur.

“Anthracis has about one thousand six hundred forty-one genes. Do you know how many of these genes the anthracis fence affected?” Young-Joon asked. “Zero. The anthracis fence didn’t touch those genes. All it did was insert DNA fragments of the Ebola virus into the empty spaces between the genes. And those fragments don’t have any biological effect either.”

Young-Joon continued as he went on to the next slide.

“Next, the genetically engineered baby,” Young-Joon said. “I am somewhat in favor of genetic engineering.”

The reporters who were taking photos and typing all stopped. They looked like they couldn’t believe it.

“I’ve seen an editorial that said it was time to press the brakes because the technology was moving too fast and shaking the foundations of human history, but that’s not true,” Young-Joon said. “I will give you an example. It’s a story about a soldier named Jeff Carroll who served in the U.S. army. While Jeff and his wife were preparing to have a baby, they found out that they had a genetic mutation that caused Huntington’s disease. If they were to have a child, there would be a fifty percent chance of the baby having Huntington’s, so they gave up on trying to have a baby.”

Young-Joon went on.

“However, they had hope and studied more about biology and modern medicine, and eventually found out that there was a process called PGD, preimplantation genetic diagnosis. It’s a kind of test-tube baby where you can test for genetic mutations in the embryos and find the ones that don’t have any problems since there’s also a fifty percent chance of having a healthy baby,” Young-Joon said. “Jeff and his wife gave birth to a healthy baby. This was in 2006. Jeff, who was inspired by the power that biology held, is working at the University of Washington as a researcher.”

“...”

“That’s what the advancement of science looks like. In the past, we would have only known if a baby had Huntington’s after it was born. But modern medicine has made it possible to test amniotic fluid for the possibility of Huntington’s and offer the option of abortion. And with IVF, we now have the option of selecting only healthy embryos before implantation. So what lies beyond the invention of Cas9?” Young-Joon asked the audience. “We will now be able to fight against diseases that are one hundred percent genetic. Science means more choices and greater freedom.”

“...”

“Vast freedom for those who are unprepared may lead to catastrophes like nuclear war, but we can’t let the fear of that hold us back from advancing science and leaving citizens like Jeff in difficulty.”

“...”

“However, in the case of Doctor He Jiankui’s engineering of CCR5, it could be a problem because if that gene doesn’t work properly during embryonic development, it could cause early death or accelerated aging.”

Young-Joon went to the next slide and showed a schematic of CCR5 and telomeres.

“Doctor He Jiankui did that research because he didn’t know much about CCR5,” Young-Joon said. “That’s why I am doing genetic analysis at A-Bio because people can only choose the right path when they can clearly see the choices in front of them. The genetic manipulation of Cas9 is already under discussion at the International Research Ethics Forum, so it will be regulated appropriately, including the punishment for Doctor He Jiankui.”

* * *

“Hey, is this going to be enough?” Park Joo-Hyuk asked Young-Joon on the way out of the press conference.

“What else should I have done?”

“You should have crushed that bastard Yoon Bo-Hyun! Should have sued him for defamation and been more aggressive!”

“That’s the kind of fight that Yoon Bo-Hyun wants.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Yoon Bo-Hyun is Yoon Dae-Sung’s son.”

“... Huh?”

Park Joo-Hyuk’s eyes widened.

“Maybe Dispatch[1] will figure it out soon enough. Anyway, Yoon Bo-Hyun’s goal is probably to make this as noisy as possible and drag me into mud-slinging. What he wants is Yoon Dae-Sung maintaining control over A-Gen.”

“Then, why is he making all the fuss instead of using someone? This will become a weakness for both of them if it gets out that he is Yoon Dae-Sung’s son.”

“Because Yoon Dae-Sung wants to give me the company,” Young-Joon said.

Rosaline had read Yoon Dae-Sung’s brain waves when they were talking about the merger, and Yoon Dae-Sung was sincere.

“So, Yoon Bo-Hyun did this all on his own. If he used someone, Yoon Dae-Sung could just fire him and stop it. But if Yoon Bo-Hyun does it himself, he has no choice but to side with him.”

“...”

“Yoon Bo-Hyun can’t inherit a company as big as A-Gen because he’s too young and incompetent. But he’s trying to stop it from getting into my hands because he can inherit it later if it’s kept in his father’s hands.”

“So that’s what happened.”

“Are the people from the KDCA[2] at the office right now?” Young-Joon asked.

“Yeah. They’ve been waiting there since before the press conference started.”

“Good. I have to be there right now. That’s a more urgent issue than Yoon Bo-Hyun.”

“What are you having a meeting for?” Park Joo-Hyuk asked.

“Korea might be a target for an anthrax attack.”

Park Joo-Hyuk stopped in his tracks.

“What?”

“I talked with the CIA, and they said there’s a possibility of an anthrax attack coming to Korea.”

“Wait, why? What do we have to do with Africa? They only target Western countries like the United States or Europe, right?”

“Yeah, but most of the scientists who are leading science in the world are in Seoul right now, and most of them are from the United States of Europe.”

“The GSC International Conference...”

“It might be a coincidence, but we have to be prepared if there’s even a glimmer of a possibility. Our government was probably warned by the CIA, and that’s why they’re here to see me.”

“Oh my god.”

“The government probably contacted the organizers for the GSC conference to stop the whole thing and send people home.”

“But I haven’t heard anything about the members going home.”

“They’ll start going one by one. But some people may stay,” Young-Joon said.

Young-Joon had already gotten a few emails from GSC members. It was about how they were going to stay to join him in planning a defense strategy against the possible bioterror that may happen.

“Sir!”

Yoo Song-Mi, Young-Joon’s secretary, called him as he entered A-Bio.

“The KDCA? I’m going to see them right now.”

“No, not that...”

“Is someone else here for a meeting?”

“Mr. Nicholas Kim is here.”

“The KDCA is my priority. Please tell him to wait.”

Young-Joon walked past Yoo Song-Mi and headed to the elevator. However, Nicholas was standing in the hallway.

“Were you waiting here?” Young-Joon asked Nicholas.

“No. I went to the bathroom and saw your secretary leaving, so I thought that I would take a chance and wait,” Nicholas replied. “Let’s go together, Doctor Ryu. You’re going to the meeting with the KDCA, right?”

“How did you hear about it?”

“Because they asked for A-Gen’s cooperation as well.”

“Let’s go.”

Young-Joon stepped on to the elevator with Nicholas.

“I’m going to leave right away after the meeting, so please prepare the car,” Young-Joon said to Yoo Song-Mi so that she would leave.

“Yes, sir.”

Young-Joon, who was left alone with Nicholas, pressed the button for the sixth floor, which was where the meeting was being held. The elevator started going up.

“...”

There was so much Nicolas wanted to say, but he hesitated because he didn’t know where to begin. He had heard Young-Joon’s press conference, and he only asked for Lab Six’s records to be released. If Young-Joon had requested an audit of all of A-Gen’s records, A-Gen’s anthrax weapons could have been revealed before the merger. And if that happened, Young-Joon would have been able to claim that he was unaware of the problem.

But that’s not what Young-Joon did.

“I’m saying this just in case, but don’t tell the KDCA about the anthrax weapon,” Young-Joon said out of the blue.

“What?’

Nicholas was surprised.

“It’s exactly what I said. Don’t talk about A-Gen’s anthracis. I am going to let Mr. Yoon finish that on his own.”

“... Doctor Ryu. I have something to confess,” Nicholas said with a tense face after making up his mind. “The anthrax going around in the Middle East right now was the anthrax bioweapon A-Gen developed in the past. Yoon Bo-Hyun sent the sample that was left for development to Africa... That got into the hands of the rebels, and they made a weapon.”

“Is that what Yoon Bo-Hyun said?”

“Yes... Doctor Ryu, we have to confess everything to the KDCA and prepare a plan based on the records we have.”

“No.”

Young-Joon shook his head.

“Yoon Bo-Hyun probably doesn’t know, but the rebels did not use that.”

“What?”

“The anthrax weapon that caused the epidemic in Africa is unrelated to the one that A-Gen developed.”

“It’s unrelated?”

“Yes.”

Extreme confusion flashed across Nicholas’ face.

“What are you talking about?”

* * *

Young-Joon talked to Michelle on the first day of the GSC conference. Michelle suspected anthrax, but she wasn’t sure.

“Could you send me a sample of the patient’s blood?” Young-Joon asked Michelle.

—Of course.

He received the blood sample two days later, but it was when Yoon Bo-Hyun was directly attacking Young-Joon after the anthrax mess had begun.

Young-Joon put the fuss aside and analyzed the anthracis in the patient’s blood.

—This isn’t the bioweapon that A-Gen had.

‘I thought Yoon Bo-Hyun had sent A-Gen’s anthrax bioweapon to Africa and used it along the anthracis fence.’

—You’re talking about the male anthracis that Director Kim Hyun-Taek had?”

Rosaline asked.

—I told you that it was safe early on. That was considering the danger of the bacteria itself, but also considering the possibility of it falling into the hands of terrorists.

‘Even if terrorists got hold of the carcasses of A-Gen’s anthracis, they can’t revive it?’

—Yes.

‘Why?’

—It’s not visible to the human eye, but there was a lot of nuclease activity.

Nuclease was an enzyme that destroyed DNA.

—The DNA in those bacteria carcasses is so degraded that it would be difficult to use. It’s probably been twenty to thirty years since they developed it, so it’s possible. If Yoon Bo-Hyun sent it to Africa, he did something completely useless.

‘Then what’s this?’

Young-Joon frowned as he looked at the blood sample.

1. A famous Korean news outlet that reports a lot of gossip about celebrities; the TMZ of Korea. ☜

2. Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency ☜