Super Genius DNA

揥ait, wait, the minister of health interrupted.

He grabbed Governor Yang Gunyu and pulled him to the corner. After there was some distance between them at Young-Joon, the minister whispered to him, 揂side from everything else, what you just said sounds like you抮e denying our party. Fortunately, the only people here are the three of us and that interpreter girl Doctor Ryu brought, but please be careful of what you say.

揑t doesn抰 matter. And did I say something that was wrong? Yang Gunyu snapped back.

Then, he walked towards Young-Joon again.

揊ormer Chairman Mao Zedong was a great man who created modern China, Doctor Ryu. I respect and admire him as a Chinese person and a politician, he said. 揇uring that period of upheaval, China was divided, and there were civil wars going on all the time. But it was definitely the work of the brilliant Former Chairman Mao Zedong that unified the country together to make China.

?..

揌owever, Chinese media does not talk about things like Former Chairman抯 Mao抯 Great Leap Forward, even though the majority of Chinese people say that he did more harm than good.

揋overnor! screamed the minister, who was standing behind him.

Yang Gunyu waved his hand towards the minister like he was annoyed, then spoke to Young-Joon.

揇o you know why Former Chairman Mao Zedong experienced such a colossal failure even though he was a brilliant man?

揥hy? Young-Joon asked.

揑t was because he trusted experts too much.

揚ardon?

揂t the time, there was a Chinese scholar who had a professorship at Caltech. He was such a skilled scientist that he participated in the United States nuclear weapon development. Scientists like him were rare in the world, and for China in the 1950抯, he was a human resource even more precious than gold, said Yang Gunyu. 揌is name was Chen Shuxian.

?..

揃ack then, he was a more famous scientist than He Jiankui is right now. Former Chairman Mao Zedong believed everything he said because they had to invest in science if China was to become rich and powerful, and Doctor Chen Shuxian was one of the best scientists in the world.

揑抦 sorry, but you said he participated in the development of nuclear weapons. Then, was he a nuclear physicist? Young-Joon asked.

揟hat抯 correct.

?.. If you抮e a nuclear physicist, I think it抯 obvious that you won抰 know anything about ecology.

揟hat抯 right, Yang Gunyu said.

Then, Rosaline intervened

梂hat the hell is he talking about?

慖 don抰 know.

Young-Joon scratched his head in confusion. Yang Gunyu went on.

揘evertheless, Doctor Chen Shuxian developed a method of planting rice more densely based on mathematical calculations and submitted it to Former Chairman Mao. Naturally, it was a failure. Anyone can do the simple calculation that more seeds per unit area will increase yields, but farmers knew from experience that it won抰 work.

揝o the crops failed?

揑t was a huge failure. Then, it turned into a huge famine as the Four Pests campaign began as well.

揌m...

揑t抯 not that Doctor Chen Shuxian was a bad person. In fact, he was humble, restrained, and honest, and he was well respected by the academic community and the Chinese people, Yang Gunyu said. 揌e lived his whole life in a tiny house that looked like a temple dormitory, refusing when people tried to build him a house. When he made hundreds of millions from his research, he donated it all. He was a true scientist, Doctor Ryu, perhaps even more than you.

?..

揟o be honest, I don抰 know much about science. I don抰 even know how different a nuclear physicist is from a biologist. But one thing I can tell you for sure is that even the most scientists can make mistakes, and when you tamper with ecosystems, the result of that mistake is fatal, Yang Gunyu said. 揇octor Ryu, I抣l allow you to conduct the experiment in the two islands in Guangdong, but don抰 be greedy beyond that. I抳e been against this project from the beginning.

Young-Joon could see the health minister swallowing his anger, shaking his fist in the air.

There was a moment of tense silence.

揑 see, Young-Joon replied calmly. 揑f it抯 a project you don抰 want to do, then I don抰 want to do it in Guangdong either. There抯 no need to use the islands here, and I抣l just do it in another country. Thank you.

Young-Joon thanked the governor and stood up. As he walked out the door, the Minister of Health hastily grabbed Yang Gunyu抯 shoulders.

揥hat are you doing! Don抰 you know who he is?

揑s there anyone in the world who doesn抰 know Doctor Young-Joon these days? Even my youngest son, who is ten years old, knows that I抦 meeting with Doctor Ryu today, Yang Gunyu replied shrugged.

揋overnor! It was the Chinese who asked us to carry out the mosquito eradication project in Guangdong Province. Don抰 you know how big a project this is? Don抰 you know what kind of economic impact it will have if we succeed in piloting the experiment here first, the industrial and scientific mecca of China? the minister said in frustration. 揋overnor Yang. When this project succeeds here and then spreads to the rest of the world, do you think the people of Guangdong will stand by? Do you think the scientists who worked on this project and learned under Doctor Ryu will stand by idly? In a few years, Guangdong抯 youths and entrepreneurs will start new businesses in mosquito eradication and play on the world stage.

揂-GenBio will be at the forefront anyway.

揙f course they will be the best, but damn it, there抯 a lot of merit to being second! Is mosquito eradication! It抯 wiping out a whole bunch of mosquito-borne diseases that kill a million people each year!

揑 know, and I抦 only saying this because it抯 such a big deal, alright? I am a governor who has a duty to protect the citizens of Guangdong, Yang Gunyu replied firmly.

?..

?..

揟he two glared at each other for a moment.

* * *

Meanwhile, Young-Joon was getting ready to return home. The goal of today抯 meeting was to just check in to see where the project was headed, but there was no reason for him to stay here anymore now that he knew the governor didn抰 want the project at all.

While he was packing his bags, he got a call from the Minister of Health.

桪octor Ryu, are you still at the hotel?

揧es. I抦 getting ready to return home. I have three days until my flight, so I guess I抣l travel for a bit.

?..I抦 really sorry, Doctor Ryu. This isn抰 supposed to happen...

揑t抯 alright, and I haven抰 ruled out Guangdong yet. If I hear from you before I find a new country for the project, I might do it there.

桼eally?

揧es.

桿m... Is there a reason why you抮e so sympathetic to our situation?

揋uangdong is a very vulnerable area for mosquito-borne diseases. It has a very large population, and if an epidemic breaks out, it will be very difficult to control.

?.. It抯 for humanitarian reasons.

揟hat抯 right, but there抯 no reason to change A-GenBio抯 schedule in order to do it here. Once we decide on a new country, it抣l be hard to change it. You don抰 have much time to convince the minister.

?.. Phew. Alright, thank you.

Young-Joon, who was done packing, sat down on the bed. His trip to China was over. He had sent He Jiankui to jail, fought a lawsuit against Atmox, cured a genetically modified baby, and gathered the world抯 top biologists and declared a moratorium. It was hard to fathom how he抎 accomplished so much in just a few short weeks.

Rosaline bounced out of Young-Joon and flopped down on the bed.

桝re we going home now?

揧eah.

桾hat抯 a relief. China isn抰 really for me.

揜eally?

桪o you know that every country has a distinct smell? China has a very strong smell of some spices, and it抯 a bit... It抯 not for me.

Young-Joon smiled.

揋ood work. But I have something to ask you.

梂hat is it?

揥e have to do it before we leave Guangdong. But it抯 a bit difficult.

梂hen do you not give me something that is difficult?

Rosaline rolled her feet while lying on the bed.

Knock knock! As Young-Joon was about to answer Rosaline, there was a knock at the door. When he opened, he saw Anthony, the editor for Nature, standing there.

揌ello, Doctor Ryu, Anthony greeted Young-Joon, then looked around his room. 揑f you don抰 have any guests, may I come in?

揝ure, come in.

Rosaline was lying on the bed, but she was invisible to Anthony. He walked inside, and they sat down at the table.

揥hat抯 the matter?

揑 am a scientist before I am an editor for Nature or a reporter. Well, most of our editors probably feel the same way, Anthony said. 揥e were astonished at how you handled the research ethics scandal of genetic modification in China.

揑t was a relief that we were able to correct it after the fact, Young-Joon replied humbly.

揑 am telling you this because of your sense of justice and the research ability and power of A-GenBio, Anthony said. 揜ecently, a paper was submitted to Nature.

A submission referred to a paper being sent to the journal: a scientist would write a manuscript in the journal抯 format and send it with a letter.

揥hat paper is it?

揑t抯 a medical paper, and it抯 tracking data on rejection and more in patients who have received organ transplants in China.

揟here are a lot of papers like that coming out of China. It抯 a big country, so there are a lot of people donating organs and getting transplants. It抯 relatively easy to get data...

揟here抯 talk about that being illegal harvesting of organs from executed prisoners, Anthony said.

Young-Joon flinched.

揥hat are you talking about?

揥hen we were editing the paper that was submitted to Nature, we received a letter from a Doctor Ref.

揇octor Ref?

揧ou know them?

?..

揥e actually don抰 know this person, but they told us that there was a serious research ethics violation in this Nature paper and that we should take a closer look at the data, Anthony said. 揟he Chinese government says there are about ten thousand organ transplants per year that are legally performed, but the Chinese medical community says that they do anywhere from about sixty thousand to as many as one hundred thousand organ transplants per year.

?..

揂nd we believe that the huge gap in those numbers may have been filled by the executions and organ harvesting of prisoners of conscience in China...

揗y god...

Prisoners of conscience referred to those who were imprisoned for their political or religious beliefs rather than because of crimes. In China, members of religious minorities, especially those part of the Falun Gong and Tibetan Buddhism, are imprisoned due to pressure from the government.

揟his is confidential information at Nature. It抯 not supposed to be told, and only a few people know about it, Anthony said.

?..

揃ut you抮e the hope of the scientific community, and I抦 also a fan of yours.

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