Chapter 198:
Chapter 198
Heh Are you telling me that the development is still not done?
I-Im sorry, Comrade Secretary!
Following yesterdays visit, the Politburo members came to inspect the chemical-biological complex research institute near Moscow.
This place was planned as part of the so-called Innovation-Research Complex that would be built along with the university campus in the southwest of Moscow. I
t looked rather barren because of the large site that was allocated.
The director of the secret research institute was a bald and skinny man in his fifties. He seemed nervous about everything I saw and every word I said.
What is the biggest problem in the development?
Y-Yes! Yes! Its just that we dont have enough time and manpower, Comrade Secretary. There are so many things that you ordered us to do
Ahem. I coughed as if I was displeased, and the director trembled and bowed his head.
Comrade Secretary! All the staff of our institute will devote all their efforts to research and development with the Stakhanovite spirit! P-Please have mercy!!
This institute is nothing less than a strategic weapon of our Soviet Union! You should realize the importance of what you are researching here.
I-Im sorry!!!
It was not just a rhetoric.
It was really important.
There were countless secrets in this era that were just waiting to be discovered.
If we set the direction and invested the resources, we could seize those secrets at any time.
And this would be the power that would be responsible for the tomorrow of the Soviet Union.
Alright. Lets take a look at each individual laboratory for now.
The director bowed and led me and the Politburo members into the institute. He glanced nervously at the huge bodyguards behind us.
Hmm Is this the biological research institute?
Thats right, Comrade Secretary. The researches that you instructed are being conducted here.
The researchers who looked exhausted from overwork groaned as they passed by, but when they saw the high-ranking people, they were startled and covered the stains on their gowns or fixed their messy hair.
Dont mind me and do your work. Director, you explain.
Yes! Everyone, go in! Go in!
Wouldnt they have to care even if they didnt want to?
Anyway, the researchers quickly ran into the laboratory from the hallway.
Here, the that research that you instructed is being conducted. A scientist who was invited from the United States is the team leader
Ah!
A pleased smile came to my face.
The nameplate on the laboratory door was written in English.
I rolled his name in my mouth for a moment, and a pleased smile appeared on my face.
I knocked on the laboratory door, and a young scientist with a sullen face opened it. His forehead was bald, so he looked older at first glance, but his eyes sparkled with youthful vigor and intelligence.
Uh? Who are you?
Ah, haha. Its nothing. I just came to see how things are going.
Huhhh!
The young scientist looked around the crowd outside and blurted out, and the director gasped.
How dare he be rude to Comrade Secretary?
He seemed to want to scold him, but was he more shocked by me bowing my head humbly?
Hmm Your face looks familiar somehow
I just have a small position and you might have seen my face a few times as I passed by. But can I go in for a moment?
Uh? Were in the middle of an experiment right now If its not urgent, why dont you come to the laboratory later and Ill treat you to a cup of coffee.
The directors face was completely pale now.
The Politburo members behind me were wondering who that rude guy was. Kruglov seemed to be fiddling with his gun in his pocket.
But this person had the value to deserve this much respect.
Alright. How about I stop by around 7 oclock?
Y-Yes, yes, please do.
The young scientist nodded without noticing the situation and slammed the door shut.
C-C-Comrade Secretary
Shh! It might interfere, so lets go and see the other places quickly.
***
The chemical engineering department of the institute was working hard on developing new chemical substances.
Every day, new research results came out of the institute, where I personally gave the development guidelines and poured out massive support even during the war.
At least, thats what the director tried to say.
The results of the development that I received in documents were satisfactory.
There were still many shortcomings, though.
Hmm Maybe its because our Soviet Unions capacity is still not up to par with the Western countries?
I-Im sorry!
What are you sorry for? After all, our Soviet Union was so poor 20 years ago, but we came this far, didnt we?
Elementary and secondary education were relatively easy to expand, but higher education was not.
Many elites were purged because they were from the nobility or the bourgeoisie.
The empty space was filled by the peasants and workers who had less education but had outstanding talents and proved their abilities themselves.
But even the higher education sector could not do that.
There had to be a minimum of academic soil, historical background, to develop something new and create something original. But the Bolshevik Revolution swept away the academic elites of the old regime in the process of revolution.
Of course, the one who excluded them the most was the owner of this body, Stalin.
But there was always a way.
The Soviet Union always found a solution.
If not, send them to study in the United States quickly. Or squeeze the German scientists. What cant be done?
I said this, but their achievements were not completely poor.
I understand, Comrade Secretary! But we have to name the new substance that we developed, what name would be good?
That thing?
Yes! How about naming it after your glorious name, Comrade Secretary
Sigh. As I exhaled, I saw Khurushovs bald head and sparkling eyes in front of me, and my head hurt.
I pressed my forehead and bowed my head, and the director of the laboratory was scared again.
Just name it streptomycin.
Our Soviet biological weapons were not things like poison gas or germs.
There was no point in making such things when a nuclear bomb could wipe them out in one shot.
Rather, we would have to deal with the moral condemnation and diplomatic backlash afterwards. How could something that was hard to deploy and control be a weapon?
Rather, the more powerful weapon was medicine.
Streptomycin, cephalosporin, metronidazole, nalidixic acid, isoniazid
Is that how you want to name them?
Yes. Lets do that.
After all, names like Stalinomycin or Cephalostalin were too shitty, right?
This laboratorys chemical department was researching antibiotics of the post-penicillin generation.
The method of writing down the molecular formulas I remembered and asking them to synthesize them was crude, but it worked well in the Soviet society where anything could be done if ordered.
Penicillin was a miracle drug, but it had many limitations.
First of all, it could only be used for gram-positive bacteria, and it was unstable and many bacteria quickly acquired resistance.
And there were many bacteria that didnt listen to it in the first place. We had to develop substances that could be used for anaerobic bacteria, plague, etc., such as metronidazole, or isoniazid to deal with tuberculosis, or nalidixic acid, which would be needed for the development of quinolone antibiotics later.
This would be the Soviet strategic weapon.
It would be better to spend money now and develop them ourselves and sell them, rather than paying a huge amount of money later and using what others patented.
Also, we had to think about the impact on the world.
Think about it! How much these miracle drugs will be a means of widely propagating our victory!
People who were dying of incurable diseases were cured with the drugs sent by the Soviet Union.
It would not only promote the superiority of Soviet science and technology, but also show the clear difference between the Soviet Union and other imperialist countries.
Imperialist countries could manage and develop their colonies for plunder. But the Soviet Union was the opposite.
It only wanted the colonies to voluntarily grow their capabilities and join.
Capitalism made you sick and die, but socialism will save you. Isnt this a more powerful weapon than any gun or weapon?
This was nothing less than a blow that the socialist system could inflict on the capitalism that boasted of wealth and abundance.
The Soviet Union trusts you. You are the vanguard and the pride of our Soviet Union. Do your best!
It was time.
I will be loyal!
Yes. Now lets go for a cup of coffee.
***
When I knocked on the laboratory door politely again, the American scientist from before opened the door.
Oh Im Im really sorry!
Hey, who told you? The bastard who disturbs the doctor
The people in the room turned pale as if they thought it was a purge at the end of his words. But it was not good to mess with the experts.
Rather than a purge, it was just 500 times more overtime.
The crime committed in the Soviet state of the working class was washed away by labor.
Ahem, anyway, please make me a cup of coffee. Mine is
Oh! Yes! Of course. What would you like?
Please give me an iced americano.
Khurushov joked in the back that there was no iced Soviet, and I was thirsty for a severe purge, but I decided to endure it.
The problem was the bastards who laughed at that. They were all political bureau members.
What is that?
They dont have a sense of humor!
Is there any progress in the research?
Yes! There were people who constantly checked me in the United States, but in the Soviet Union, everyone tries to help me, so the research is very comfortable. A groundbreaking technique has been developed and it is already showing considerable progress!
Haha, I did all that behind the scenes.
Anyway, the young scientist seemed to not know how to hide his emotions.
It was a privilege of the young to show their emotions on their faces.
Well, if you give a young man who just got his doctorate the authority to command almost a company-level staff and pour millions of rubles of grants, he wouldnt hate it.
In fact, everyone looked at me as if I was crazy.
Very good. Dr. Jonas Salk! Please request everything you need from the Soviet Union. We are ready to support your research as much as possible.
The developer of the polio vaccine, Jonas Salk, gave me a shy smile like a scientist.
He studied under Thomas Francis, the authority of virology in this era, and just got his doctorate and brought him to the Soviet Union.
Just then, using the extracellular virus culture technology developed in the Soviet Union, Salks polio research was able to make progress in an instant.
Yes! Thank you. You may not know, Comrade Secretary, but this polio is very difficult to prevent because it spreads through healthy carriers who do not show symptoms. But if we have this vaccine! If we have this, polio will be a disease that can be eradicated at any time! And
The people were trembling with fear as Salk explained without being asked.
But I was just pleased.
It was so widely known in the future that he looked new again, boasting of his new discovery in this era.
Ah, and Can I ask you a question?
Dr. Salk, if you have something to ask the superiors, you should go through the official reporting line
Anything is fine! Not one, but a dozen or so. Do you have something to say?
The director was startled by his rudeness, but I was just happy. Salk scratched his head with an apologetic expression for the first time.
I appreciate that the Soviet Union has sponsored a lot of money and given great consideration for this research. But then who will own the patent for this technology?
Hmm?
Dr. Salk! Werent you given enough economic compensation?
Director, you are out.
The directors face turned blue and he yelled, but Salk didnt blink an eye. Maybe he thought he would ask for some royalties from the patent?
Well, I didnt graduate from college. And I havent really been abroad. Ive never been to America. So I might not know
Gulp. The people swallowed their saliva at the sudden rant. In the quiet laboratory, only the bubbling sound of the test tube was heard.
So do Americans patent the sun? Isnt the people the owner of the technology?
Hahahahahaha!
In the silence, Salk burst into laughter. I got up and spread my arms, and he hugged me tightly.
How do you tell me the exact answer I wanted! Thank you!
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