Chapter 254: Cold Chain (6)

The photosystem of the chloroplast, which was in the thylakoid membrane, was surrounded by a space called the lumen. This was what the chlorophyll solar cells mimicked.

The semi-permeable membrane was densely packed with all types of chlorophyll and plastocyanin on both sides, and a layer of electrolyte solution was placed on the side that corresponded to the lumen. Then, a metal plate was attached to make it completely airtight. Electrodes were placed on the metal plate to receive the flow of electricity.

The solar cell made of chlorophyll was complete. The finished experimental solar cell was one meter squared, three centimeters thick, and around two kilograms.

“What is that?” Young-Joon asked as he walked into the lab and saw the trash that was pushed to one corner. “Why is there shattered glass rolling around? Did you break a beaker or something?”

“No,” Jung Hae-Rim replied. “Soon-Yeol bought a small lightbulb to see if it would light up, but he dropped it and broke it.”

“What a waste. It was brand new,” Young-Joon said.

“It wasn’t new. It was broken,” Jung Hae-Rim replied, grinning.

“Why was it broken?”

“Because we managed to connect it to the solar battery before dropping it.”

“So?”

“Instead of lighting up, the fuse blew out.”

“...”

“Because of the overcurrent.”

“Doctor Ryu, you’re here!”

Professor Kim Gwang-Myung ran out from inside the lab with a big smile on his face.

“Yes. I heard the solar battery was finished. I heard you were testing it, so I came to see the demonstration.”

“Haha, this is absolutely amazing, even better than the microdust reduction device. The whole world will be shocked. This will revolutionize energy, I mean it. The efficiency is incredible, it’s sustainable, and it doesn’t pollute the environment.”

Kim Gwang-Myung was so excited that as soon as he saw Young-Joon, he started talking about how the experimental solar cell could be further upgraded.

“The voltage is a little high right now, but that’s not always a good thing because solar cells should be able to run even when there is no sunlight. In a country where water is scarce, even if you can turn on the tap all the way, you should turn it a little and conserve it. Like that, I would change the type of cathode active material and also put a transformer on it to control the voltage,” Kim Gwang Myung said.

He added, “And we’re currently using plastocyanin to capture electrons at the anode, but I’m not sure this is the best strategy. Plastocyanin is quite large, so I think we need to use a smaller and lighter active material to increase the amount of electrons that can be stored in the anode. Also, it would be better to use an anode-active material that releases a lot of electrons at once relative to its size. For example...”

“Haha, alright. We have room for improvement. Let’s take a look at that one by one,” Young-Joon said. “But right now, I would like to see the little bit of success we have at the intermediate stage. I’m getting a little impatient. Let’s see the finished product first.”

Young-Joon and the members of the Life Creation team went to the back of the lab. There was a balcony next to the lab’s deep freezer and the incubators. It was the staff lounge area, where the chlorophyll solar cells were installed.

“Here we go.”

Cheon Ji-Myung connected the voltmeter to the solar cell. The voltmeter’s indicator rose rapidly. It briefly swayed once at the end before coming to a full stop.

[310V]

“The voltage of a single conventional solar cell is about 0.5 volts,” Kim Gwang-Myung said. “If you connect a hundred of them in series and parallel to make a one-meter square solar module, you get about fifty volts.”

“So that’s about a six-fold increase in efficiency?” Park Dong-Hyun asked.

“We should be able to increase it more since this is still a prototype. I can’t even imagine what the potential value of this could be. This could replace all the existing power plants.”

Kim Gwang-Myung was so excited that he was jumping up and down.

“Mr. Ryu, you said that you’re going to use this to make a huge mobile freezer and use it to secure the cold chain, right?” he asked.

“Yes,” Young-Joon replied.

“That’s a piece of cake. Seriously, it’ll be solved in no time,” Kim Gwang-Myung said. “I’ve found a distribution company that’s one of the biggest players in international distribution who do a lot of work on maintaining the cold chain in Africa. Do you want me to give you their information? I think you could make a lot of money if you contact them and do business with them.”

“Really?”

“Yes! Ahhh! This is my research dream that I’ve wanted to pursue my entire life since completing my degree!” Kim Gwang-Myung exclaimed, clenching his fists.

“...”

A middle-aged professor who was over fifty years old was as excited as a child.

‘He’s acting like he won a patent or something.’

Young-Joon felt a little happy for some reason.

“Could you tell me what that distribution company is called?” Young-Joon asked Kim Gwang-Myung.

“It’s called Asham.”

“Asham?”

Young-Joon tilted his head in puzzlement. He felt like he had heard of the name somewhere.

“Asham... Asham...”

—You saw it at the Next Generation Hospital.

Rosaline sent him a message.

—You know, the delivery trucks that come in and stand in the parking lot on the left side of the hospital, the ones with the blue containers. They’re branded in English as Asham.

“What does that company deliver to Next Generation Hospital?” Young-Joon asked.

“Well, they’re a huge delivery company, and they deliver a lot of medical products as well, so they might deliver to Next Generation Hospital, too.”

“... Hm, I see.”

“I think they are headquartered in Saudi Arabia.”

“I’ll give them a call. Thank you.”

* * *

As Kim Gwang-Myung and the Life Creation team accelerated the development of the solar cell module, Young-Joon sent over some instructions to Lab One.

[Analyze and match the complete DNA sequence of the botulinum toxin strains used by LifeToxin and Woongdam Pharmaceuticals.]

The One Hundred Million Genome Sequencing Project, which was initially handled by the Diagnostic Device Research Department, was transferred to a new, dedicated department at Lab One: the Genome Decoding Department. That’s where Young-Joon’s instructions were handled.

“Bacterial genomes are much smaller compared to the human genome, so it shouldn’t take too long,” said Song Yu-Ra, the principal scientist.

Then, the scientists sheared the bacterial genome with a sonicator, then ran NGS with it.

As this was going on, Young-Joon was talking to Yang Hye-Sook on the phone.

“The reason why the government can’t manage

botulinum

strains properly is because politicians who don’t know the field have divided the responsible departments too roughly,” she said.

She added, “The

botulinum

strain and toxin is managed by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention under the Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act.

“But the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy tries to manage it through the Biological Weapons Prohibition Act and the Act on Prevention of Divulgence and Protection of Industrial Technology, and the Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs with the Livestock Infectious Disease Prevention Act.

“Meanwhile, the pharmaceutical formulations produced from botulinum toxin are managed by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and are subject to the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act.”

“It’s complicated.”

“So I’m going to introduce an amendment to the bill that would unify the legal regulations a little bit and change the existing law, which only requires you to report a strain after discovering it, to a permit system.”

“A permit system?” Young-Joon asked.

“Yeah. This is a field that deserves a higher barrier to entry; it’s a dangerous substance.”

“That’s what I think, too.”

“I’ll let you know the results. Oh, by the way, I heard you’re working on solar cells,” Yang Hye-Sook asked.

“Did that news make it to the National Assembly already?”

“News travels fast around here. Besides, I heard that you and Professor Ban Du-Il attended a seminar together at Jungyoon University and talked about developing solar cells during the question period, right? Of course, the news would reach me,” Yang Hye-Sook said.

“I see.”

“How far along is it?”

“It’s almost finished.”

“Finished?”

“We’ve improved its efficiency nine-fold. Now, it’s powerful enough to replace the plants that use coal or nuclear power.”

“Shit...”

“You use that kind of language, Professor?”

“I thought you were just an ecosystem destroyer of biology, but you’ve moved on to that now?”

“What are you talking about? I’m still a biologist,” Young-Joon said, chuckling.

“Well, it’s going to be quite a shock. There’s going to be some reorganization across the board in all sorts of industries. I’ll have to let Kepco[1] know.”

“Professor, about Lifetoxin and Woongdam Pharmaceuticals fighting...”

“Yeah.”

“Who do you think is in the right?” Young-Joon asked.

“I know both of the CEOs personally, but neither of them are the kind of people to lie.”

“Really?”

“There’s probably another issue.”

* * *

[The genome of LifeToxin’s and Woongdam Pharmaceutical’s

botulinum

strains were analyzed and found to differ by 870,000 base pairs in the DNA sequence and have functional differences in 37 genes. The two strains appear to be completely different species. Attached is the raw data in FASTq format and the results of the analysis with SAMtools.]

Reading the email from the Genome Decoding Department, Young-Joon felt a little confused. The genomes were so different that it was hardly disputable.

Young-Joon sent the results to the representatives of both companies. Hong Myung-Woon, the CEO of LifeToxin, was so shocked that he visited A-GenBio to see the data for himself. He let out a few deep sighs as he saw the genome analysis results.

“I have no choice but to believe it,” Hong Myung-Woon said.

Young-Joon nodded.

“The phenotype was probably different, too. Woongdam Pharmaceuticals’

botulinum

strain probably has the ability to form spores, while the LifeToxin strain does not.”

“... Yes.”

Hong Myung-Woon’s head dropped.

“We were sure that Woongdam Pharmaceuticals stole it from us,” he said. “It was exactly four years ago that Woongdam Pharmaceuticals entered the botulinum toxin business. And we lost one of the vials that contained the

botulinum

strain about five years ago.”

“You lost it?” Young-Joon asked.

“Yes... The CCTV footage for that day was all destroyed, and the scientists didn’t know much about what happened. There was a lot of turnover at that time—some people left the company, and some people went to Woongdam Pharmaceuticals.”

“... So that’s why you thought Woongdamn Pharmaceuticals stole your strain.”

“You can find

botulinum

in things like spoiled canned foods or sausages, but it’s basically impossible to find a strain that produces a confirmed serotype A or B that can be used medicinally. I never believed that Woongdam Pharmaceuticals found it in Korea by digging around in the dirt in some stable in the countryside,” Hong Myung-Woon said.

“You can avoid Allergon’s patent if you find your own strain, but you don’t actually do that. It’s too difficult, and it’s like digging in dirt blindly to find a gene. What kind of company would waste resources on something like that, especially when starting a new business?”

“... I understand.”

“But I can’t believe they actually did that. I was completely wrong.”

“You still haven’t found the missing vial, right?” Young-Joon asked.

“Yes.”

Ding!

Young-Joon’s phone rang. It was an email from Kim Young-Hoon. He was forwarding an email from Felus, the Israeli prime minister.

[I looked into Philistines. I didn’t find a lot of information, but according to our intelligence, there is a young white woman who is not registered as an employee at Philistines, but is a frequent visitor.]

“...”

—Doctor Ref?

Rosaline sent him a message.

‘Could be.’

Young-Joon kept reading the email.

[And I heard that Mr. Ryu is planning to develop a cold chain and take over the botulinum toxin distribution part of Philistines’ business, so I’ll share with you the information I got. Philistines is delivering its pharmaceutical products around the world through Asham, a pharmaceutical and food delivery company based in Saudi Arabia.]

Young-Joon flinched.

“Wait...” he said. “Wait. Mr. Hong...”

“Yes?”

“Does Asham come to LifeToxin to deliver or transport anything?”

“Almost every day. The lab, production plants, and the GMP facilities use a lot of reagents every day, and we have to transport the botulinum toxin that we produce to the hospital as well.”

“... Do you know Philistines by any chance?” Young-Joon asked.

“Who doesn’t? They are the Northern snakehead of our industry. They appeared out of nowhere, developed a strain in a few months, and grew rapidly...”

“Do you know how long they’ve been in business for?”

“Probably around four years.”

1. Korea Electric Power Corporation ☜