<h4>Chapter 251: Cold Chain (3)</h4>


    “Thyl... what?”


    Professor Kim Gwang-Myung frowned.


    “Thkoids,” Young-Joon replied.


    “Thkoids...”


    “nt leaves and algae have an organelle called the chlorost. This organelle is green, which is why nt leaves and algae are green. There is a of tiny pie-like internal structures inside the chlorost, which are the thkoids,” Young-Joon said. “The membranes of the thkoids are actively engaged in taking sunlight and converting it into energy. nts and algae have been evolving this for 2.4 billion years, and it’s an incredible level of efficiency.”


    “... Haha.”


    Kim Gwang-Myung scratched his head.


    “Um, what should I say... Doctor Ryu, sr cells that mimic nt leaves are called biosr cells. Not me, but many scientists have already tried that.”


    “And they weren’t very sessful?” Young-Joon asked.


    “That’s right. I don’t know much about thkoids and whatnot, but trying to obtain electrons from the chlorost, which is a type of protein in a cell, and storing them... That’s very difficult. It was almost impossible tobine a sr cell made up of inorganic materials with chlorophyll, which is aplex mass of organic matter,” Kim Gwang-Myung said.


    Then, one of the professors who was hosting the seminar intervened.


    “To add, Doctor RYu, the photosynthetic efficiency of nt leaves isn’t even that high. Myb studied that before, but we failed.”


    “It’s not very high?” Young-Joon asked.


    “The photosynthetic efficiency of a nt leaf depends on the wavelength of light and the concentration of carbon dioxide. It’s usually around five percent when measured experimentally, and the rest of the energy is either reflected or dissipated as heat.”


    “That’s true if you just use the chlorosts itself,” Young-Joon said. “Chlorosts were originally a type of bacteria. They were living things before they got into nt leaves, so chlorosts have tons of genes and biological metabolisms inside, most of them having nothing to do with absorbing sr energy. The cell membrane of chlorosts and the cell wall of nt leaves reflect a lot of sunlight, so of course the absorption efficiency will be low.”


    “Then what do you propose?”


    “We only purify the chlorophyll molecules that cause electron transfer in the thkoid membrane, which is inside the chlorost,” Young-Joon said. “I think it’ll be a little difficult to do this in just any nt... We’ll probably have to take some unusual algae from the deep ocean and get the chlorophyll from there if we want to get close to one hundred percent efficiency.”


    “...”


    The professors were speechless for a moment.


    Breaking the silence, Kim Gwang-Myung asked, “We’ll have to try it to find out, but is what you’re talking about even possible with current technology?”


    “Maybe. There will be quite a lot of conditions to fulfill, starting with choosing the species of algae to purifying the chlorophyll, but... In other words, that’s all we have to do,” Young-Joon said. “Do any of the professors here want to give it a try with A-GenBio?”


    * * *


    Young-Joon, who came back to thepany, met Park Joo-Hyuk.


    “So you went to school to deliver a schrship donation, but you ended up verbally signing a research coboration agreement?” Park Joo-Hyuk asked.


    “Not even an agreement. All we talked about is how we could work together and that I would give them a call,” Young-Joon said.


    “Wow, you really like working, don’t you? You said you would be at Jungyoon University for thirty minutes to give your donation, and then youe out two hourster, saying that you’re going to build sr cells that generate electricity?”


    “Anyway, write me a contract for thatter. Also, did you hear anything from Director Kim about the Philistines?” Young-Joon asked.


    “It’s the first I’m hearing of it.”


    “Things like Philistines receiving funding for their research and development illegally, or acquiring strains illegally...”


    “Nothing like that, but remember how you asked me to look into thew on how botulinum toxin is distributed in Korea?” Park Joo-Hyuk said.


    “Yeah. You got something?”


    “I found something interesting. Korea is one of the best Botox markets in the world; it’s the best Botox country in the world. How many Botox-rtedpanies do you think there are in Korea?” Park Joo-Hyuk asked.


    “Hm, overseas, the United States, China, Germany, and France have one botulinum toxinpany each... Oh, and now one in Egypt. Anyway, there must be three or fourpanies in Korea,” Young-Joon said.


    “I looked, and there’s nine.”


    “Nine?”


    Young-Joon was shocked.


    “Yeah. There are fourpanies in Korea that havemercialized botulinum toxin, and there are fivepanies that have received permission to develop it.”


    “That’s a lot, considering there are more botulinum toxinpanies in Korea than all the foreign onesbined. Are the distribution and development processes being managed well?”


    “About that part... There was a legal dispute between them recently,” Park Joo-Hyuk said.


    “A dispute?” Young-Joon asked.


    “Twopanies, called Woongdam Pharmaceuticals and LifeToxin, that were fighting over botulinum toxin.”


    Although they weren’t like A-Gen or A-Bio, both were fairlyrge medium enterprises. They both had substantial drug pipelines, so it wasn’t like their livelihood depended on botulinum toxin.


    “They’re pretty bigpanies. Did they fight about patented technology or something?”


    “The very firstpany to have used botulinum toxin in Korea is LifeToxin. Woongdam Pharmaceuticals started after them. But botulinum toxin is a toxin purified from a strain called <i>Clostridium botulinum </i>or something, right?”


    “Yeah.”


    “But they’re fighting about where they got that strain. Woongdam Pharmaceuticals ims that it’s their bacteria that they isted on their own, while LifeToxin is iming that they stole their strain...”


    “Are you serious right now?! Young-Joon shouted all of a sudden.


    “Shit, you scared me. What’s the problem now? What part made you mad?” Park Joo-Hyuk asked.


    “I don’t care if LifeToxin is right or Woongdam Pharmaceuticals is right. Are you saying that the government can’t control the storage, cultivation, and transportation of <i>Clostridium botulinum</i>, one of the worst bacterial strains alive?”


    “That’s the part you’re mad about...”


    “Well, the bacteria<i> </i>itself is prettymon, since you can find it in things like spoiled canned goods and sausages that were sealed without sterilization. I don’t know how much of it exists in the country, but the wild-type strain is only in trace amounts and doesn''t pose much of a risk due to environmental conditions. But isting it, getting it as a cell line, feeding it and mass-producing it to produce botulinum toxin ispletely different.”


    “Hm.”


    “If Woongdam Pharmaceuticals had isted it from nature themselves, they would have filed a report with the KCDC when they obtained the cell line, so I don’t see how they can get into a legal battle...”


    “I saw the report, and it was just a piece of paper, very simple. All they wrote was that they obtained it, and that was it.”


    “Oh my...”


    Young-Joon put his hand on his head, as if he had a headache.


    “It’s a new, extremely toxic strain, and they didn’t use NGS (Next Generation Sequencing) to decode its entire genome or write up a management or disposal n?”


    “That’s pretty strict for organisms imported, but the regtions are veryx for domestic organisms,” Park Joo-Hyuk said. “And that’s why LifeToxin is using and criticizing Woongdam Pharmaceuticals of not having the environment to iste <i>botulinum, </i>lying, and taking their strain.”


    “That’s also insane. If that’s true, they were the ones who let out that toxic strain because they couldn’t control it. They should be thinking about a solution.”


    “You want me to set up a meeting with the KCDC?”


    “I’ll talk to the secretary’s office and set it up. You don’t have to worry about that, and thanks for letting me know. This is not the time for me to be worrying about Philistines.”


    <i>Bzzz!</i>


    Young-Joon’s cell phone rang. It was Director Kim Young-Hoon.


    “Yes, Mr. Director.”


    —I’m on my way to Egypt right now. I spoke with Prime Minister Felus as you instructed before.


    “Thank you for your hard work,” Young-Joon said.


    —You don’t sound well. Is something wrong?


    “Um... No, I’m fine.”


    —I made ast-minute appointment with Philistines yesterday, so I don’t know how it’s going to go. They’re making a lot of money, and their production and sales are going well, so there’s a chance that they might turn down our investment.


    “Then tell them this.”


    —What should I tell them?


    “Tell them that we can help them with distribution, not production,” Young-Joon said. “Botulinum toxin needs to be stored below minus twenty degrees Celsius. Tell them we can make a cold chain for them.”


    * * *


    Kim Young-Hoon hung up the phone. He was in a car traveling to Cairo, Egypt. He thought back to his meeting with Felus the day before.


    “Doctor Ryu said he’d like to proceed with the clinical trial, since it makes sense to run a clinical trial with a diverse ethnic background,” Kim Young-Hoon said to Felus.


    “But there’s a problem. First, your son is brain-dead, and it will be difficult to fly long distances on life support. Second, even if we solve this problem, he is still dead under current medicalws. Bringing the body of a poor orphan boy from Palestine into Korea, having it transported to the Next Generation Hospital for the clinical trial would most likely expose your rtionship, Mr. Prime Minister.”


    “... I would prefer that it would not be revealed,” Felus said.


    “That’s why our medical staff will being here.”


    “Really?”


    “The problem is that Professor Miguel cannote here. He’s not an employee of the Next Generation Hospital, just a visiting professor.”


    “What’s the difference if he can’te?”


    “It is impossible to do the procedure of using a microsyringe to inject stem cells into the subventricr zone through the nose. I don’t know how many technicians in the world are skilled enough to do that.”


    “Then...”


    “The brain death recovery technology is still in the development stage. There are also easier drug delivery methods that we are working on as follow-up research at A-GenBio. If you agree, we will use one of them,” Kim Young-Hoon said. “By the way, the CEO is confident.”


    “...”


    Felus thought for a moment, then nodded.


    “This is the best we can do. Okay.”


    Kim Young-Hoon, who was watching Felus sign the consent form, asked, “By any chance, have you heard of apany called Philistines in Egypt?”


    “Philistines?”


    “Yes.”


    “Isn’t it a pharmaceuticalpany? They’re doing so well that the news has made it all the way here. People were saying that they’re riding the wave that A-GenBio created, and the Middle East is now getting high-tech science like the pharmaceutical industry...”


    “Then have you heard of a scientist named Isaiah Franklin?” Kim Young-Hoon asked.


    “I don’t think so. Do they have something to do with Philistines?”


    “I’ve heard rumors that they have a connection with the Popr Front for the Liberation of Palestine. That terrorist organization has attacked the GSC before, and our CEO was there as well.”


    “The Popr Front for the Liberation of Palestine...”


    Felus pondered the name again, which was born out of the tragedy between Israel and Palestine.


    “Do you want Israeli intelligence to look into it?” Felus asked.


    Kim Young-Hoon nodded as if he had been waiting for it.


    “Yes, thank you. I think it would help Israel’s security as well.”


    “Of course. Thank you for the information. I hope the clinical trial goes well.”


    Felus shook Kim Young-Hoon’s hand.


    * * *


    <i>‘Something’s off.’</i>


    Kim Young-Hoon’s instincts were rarely wrong. Something about Philistines was fishy.


    Kim Young-Hoon finally arrived in Cairo.