Chapter 193: Micro-dust (9)

Alice stopped interpreting.

‘He’s only angry at He Jiankui right now.’

Young-Joon was telling Xin Mao to be careful of what he says because he could include the Chinese government as his target.

Alice stared at Young-Joon like she was asking if it was okay to interpret this. Even if Young-Joon was the head of a major pharmaceutical company and a genius scientist, he was just a civilian. On the other hand, Xin Mao was one of the policymakers in a superpower as powerful as the United States.

‘If I interpret this, will we be able to go back alive?’

Alice gulped.

“Please interpret it. It’s okay, it won’t be a problem,” Young-Joon said.

Then, Alice interpreted it nervously.

“Phew...”

Xin Mao let out a deep sigh.

“Doctor Ryu, don’t become enemies with Doctor He Jiankui. China has to protect our best scientist.”

“If I were you, I’d abandon him right away,” Young-Joon said. “Soon, his reputation will be shattered, and the international community will condemn China. Before that happens, China should publish him first. Then, adopt and legislate the moratorium I’m going to announce. That’s the only way to save the Chinese government from international humiliation.”

“...”

Xin Mao stroked his forehead like he had a headache.

“Why do you say that? Is it because he did gene modification?”

“Do you know what happened before that? It’s not just a research ethics violation.”

Young-Joon pulled out a file from his bag.

“This is what I’ve found so far. It’s the whole story, starting with Atmox and Glaxoviroc,” Young-Joon said. “It’s also what will soon be reported by the world’s major foreign news outlets.”

“...”

The minister read the document slowly.

Atmox, alarmed by the plummeting sales of Glaxoviroc, came to an agreement with He Jiankui. After using his GSC membership to receive approval for a clinical trial regarding a dosage change for Glaxoviroc, He Jiankui conducted it shoddily at a small hospital. Now, it was very likely that HIV would be passed down from mother to child, who would die in a few months.

People didn’t care about specific changes in dosage; all they needed was the information and fear that Glaxoviroc could fail, as a genetically engineered baby would not be a paper to show scientists, but an event that would capture the attention of the world.

He Jiankui needed to make the public his ally to win the tedious ethics debate that would follow. The public’s lack of understanding of science would naturally link the clinical failure of Glaxoviroc and the modification of CCR5.

Impatient to see the results, He Jiankui proceeded to conduct another clinical trial; he recruited HIV-infected mothers to give birth to genetically engineered babies. However, the mothers were not given any explanation and were not even aware that it was genetic modification.

Additionally, although He Jiankui didn’t know it, CCR5 manipulation could lead to the decrease of telomeres in developing fetuses, resulting in a relatively short life span.

“

Sigh...

”

Xin Mao let out a deep sigh.

‘He Jiankui... If you were going to do something this bad, you should’ve done it perfectly.’

“Doctor Ryu, do you want Doctor He Jiankui to be punished?” Xin Mao asked.

“Let’s say that there was no law against genetic modification, but failure to explain the trial to experimental subjects and conducting a clinical trial on the dosage change of Glaxoviroc based on inadequate preclinical data are clearly illegal,” Young-Joon replied. “Soon, the world’s major foreign media will be reporting on this. I have already secured the blood of the genetically modified baby and sent it to A-GenBio, and we have genetic analysis data.”

“...”

“I’m sure you know how important this issue of genetically engineered babies is in the world right now and how many people are interested in it. I’m sure you also know that the secrecy behind the research and the fact that a baby’s life is in danger because a scientist of He Jiankui’s caliber failed will draw a lot of attention,” Young-Joon said. “Conservative organizations and religious groups who are against genetic modification will happily condemn it, and the image of Chinese science will be seriously damaged.”

Xin Mao chewed his lower lip. As if this wasn’t bad enough, the issue of organ transplants from executed prisoners was about to rise to the surface, which He Jiankui and the minister of the National Health Commission warned him about. If an accident like this were to happen... “Alright,” said Xin Mao. “Doctor He Jiankui will be punished according to the laws of China’s regulatory authorities.”

“I look forward to your just enforcement of the law. Everyone will be watching.”

“Doctor Ryu,” Xin Mao said.

“Yes?”

“Do you have any intention of coming to China?”

“To China?”

“We think you’re too important to stay in a small country like Korea. How can a whale live in a pond?”

“I’m sorry, but all my research bases are in Korea.”

“We can build you a new facility with cutting edge technology,” Xin Mao said.

Young-Joon shook his head.

“Even if you did that for me, realistically, it would be difficult to bring everyone at A-GenBio right now. And many of them are American. Even if they can put up with Instagram and Facebook not working, they will die of frustration if Google doesn’t work and go home.”

“...”

“And from what I hear from the Chinese scientists at my company, they tell me they have to use proxy programs to redirect their IP address to read a paper because of the Internet regulations in China, especially among the younger and broke scientists.”

“Hm.”

“Reading papers is the most basic part of being a scientist. This is my personal advice, but you should lift those regulations,” Young-Joon said. “Science is about communication. Just reading other scientists’ work for thirty minutes can cut out years of research. The unique power of China is the reason why you were able to make it so far on the international stage with such a huge penalty, but who knows what will happen in the future?”

“... I don’t know what you think, but science has borders. You can say that so naively because you’re a scientist. It’s a different story when you’re in charge of a country’s business.”

“Before the merger with A-Gen, eighty percent of the scientists at A-Bio were foreigners. Not the ownership structure, but the human resource pool was that of a multinational corporation,” Young-Joon said. “The rapid growth of A-Bio wasn’t a one-man show; it was possible because individuals from all over the world supported me. Mr. Minister, science has no borders.”

Xin Mao looked even more worried.

𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Young-Joon said, “I don’t know about someone like He Jiankui, who researches for personal enlightenment, but I think everyone who purely searches for the truth in a chaotic world and fights for a better future will agree with me.”

Young-Joon stood up.

“I gave you the data and said everything I wanted to, so I think I’d better get going.”

“Doctor Ryu,” Xin Mao said, stopping him. “He Jiankui has given the Chinese government quite a bit of research policy advice over the years. There are a lot of people in politics and business who have connections with him.”

“I thought so, and I’m sure that’s why all those ridiculous clinical trials were approved. You should also punish those people as well.”

“You might be turning a lot of people in the Chinese government against you. I’m only saying this out of concern, Doctor Ryu.”

“Thank you, but I will be fine,” Young-Joon declined firmly but softly.

* * *

“He did what?!” He Jiankui shouted, shocked.

“It’s exactly what I said. Doctor Ryu is going to announce an international moratorium on research ethics, and he wants us to sign it. He also wants us to punish you.”

“This crazy bastard!” He Jiankui shouted. “There are only a few people who can touch me in China, but how dare a scientist from such a trivial country?”

“He’s too big to be underestimated like that. You said so yourself that he’s a scientist on another level.”

“He’s smart, but is he also strong? He’s still in China, right?” He Jiankui asked. “I’ll take care of him quietly.”

“Don’t do anything crazy!” Xin Mao said in fear. “Doctor Ryu has a whole security team, and they’re all under the protection of the Public Security Bureau.”

“Why is the bureau protecting Korean civilians?”

“Doctor Ryu requested protection from the bureau himself, and so did the Korean government through the embassy. He would be treated as a state guest in any country, so it’s not out of the ordinary. If something happens to Doctor Ryu right now, it’ll become a diplomatic issue, and the bureau will get destroyed.”

“,,,”

“And you know that the deputy minister of the bureau doesn’t like you, right?”

“Ugh...”

“Didn’t I tell you to stop lobbying everywhere and overstepping the law? The deputy minister has been keeping a close eye on you, so he might make this into a big issue.”

“Damn it!”

He Jiankui kicked the table.

“Build those smokestakcs high! Build more aluminum production factories near the coastline! This bastard...”

“I was going to continue with the aluminum factories no matter what you said. Anyways, I’ll take care of that, but you need to mentally prepare.”

“You knew about it too, sir!” He Jiankui shouted. “Didn’t you also know that I was doing that research?”

“I didn’t know.”

“Liar! I wrote it in the clinical trial registry! At the University of Science and Technology, we’re supposed to report all research expenditures. I’m sure the SAMR got it, too!”

“There was nothing approved by me.”

“... You’re going to abandon me?”

“Relax, Doctor He. I’ll do everything I can,” Xin Mao. “It’s going to be a little bit of a struggle for you, but we’ll prosecute you for now and get you out when things calm down. You’ll have to hold out until then.”

* * *

However, Xin Mao was so shocked when he saw the newspaper the next morning that he was speechless.

“What is...”

[A-GenBio, major pharmaceutical company, sues GSC member scientist He Jiankui and Atmox for damages]

A-GenBio’s legal team, led by Park Joo-Hyuk, filed a lawsuit for damages against Atmox and He Jiankui. It was only a week ago that A-Gen and A-Bio merged to become the world’s top pharmaceutical company. It was now owned by Young-Joon, one of the most influential people in the world. People all over the world were watching with interest to see what would happen next as he directed the research.

But their first step was a lawsuit, and the amount was staggering.

[The company is suing for ten billion dollars.]

“Ten billion!”

Xin Mao read the article over and over again.

[... This astronomical amount takes into account the brakes that would be put on future research using Cas9 and the damage to the company’s image...]

Shocked, Xin Mao flipped through the newspaper. On the next page, the moratorium was announced.

[Ryu Young-Joon, CEO of A-GenBio, holds a symposium to declare an international biology moratorium at the St. Regis Hotel in Beijing, China.]