Chapter 82: A-Bio Cancer Laboratory (6)
Every sentence was clear in Young-Joon’s explanation, but David could not understand it easily. David looked like he just heard that Young-Joon made a time machine or a transportation machine.
“What did you make?” David asked.
“I think it will be too difficult to explain, so I’ll show you a video.”
Young-Joon pulled out his laptop and played the video that he showed Director James.
[A-Bio Diagnostic Kit Prototype No. AB_01520]
The person in the video was Park Dong-Hyun. First, he put one hundred microliters of his blood in each of the five test tubes. Then, he put one microliter of water in the first test tube and mixed it with the blood; this was the negative control group. For three of the test tubes, he put in one microliter each of dengue virus DNA, HIV DNA, and variant DNA from pancreatic cancer cells in separate tubes and mixed it with the blood. Lastly, he put all three types of DNA into the tube.
The kit was flat, and it was made of a silicon and semiconductor that was the size of one’s palm. Park Dong-Hyun injected the five different blood samples in five separate kits. Blood moved along the tube as the built-in battery worked. The agarose net filtered out blood cells, only letting plasma and DNA pass through. The plasma sequentially passed through one hundred of the holes on the sides.
The first kit had no response, but from the first kit to the fourth, one hole at different locations in each kit shone with a green light. And in the last kit, all three holes were green.
—Each hole contains a target DNA amplification system and a Cas9 that discriminates the sequence of the DNA structure.
Park Dong-Hyun explained in the video.
—With this mechanism, you can detect the dengue virus, HIV, and pancreatic cancer cell variant DNA in order at the location of each hole. The corresponding disease DNA is marked with a green light-emitting signal, and all three were marked as all three disease DNA were detected.
Park Dong-Hyun explained as he showed the kits to the screen one by one.
—In order, the blood samples are from a dengue virus patient, HIV patient, and a pancreatic cancer patient, and for the last sample, it is a hypothetical case where the patient is suffering from the dengue virus, HIV and pancreatic cancer.
Park Dong-Hyun pulled out an additional test tube.
—This is a blood sample from an Alzheimer’s patient that was provided by the Next-Generation Hospital. Alzhemier’s is diagnosed by the seventh hole in the kit.
Park Dong-Hyun took out a new kit and injected the patient’s DNA. After about two minutes, the seventh hole shone with a green light.
David was getting paler as the video progressed. Young-Joon kind of felt sorry for him as he watched his face.
‘There’s still one more big thing…’
Park Dong-Hyun pulled on the button that was located at the bottom of the kit he used to test the Alzheimer’s patient’s blood. A small connecting jack came out. It was a 5-pin terminal. He plugged that into his phone.
Ring!
With a brief sound of an alarm, an external memory recognition message popped up on his phone. He opened [A-Bio Diagnostic Kit Prototype Application v2.17] on his phone. The application recognized the green light from the connected diagnostic kit and sent a message.
[Diagnosis: Stage 2 or 3 of Alzheimer’s dementia. A precise examination and intensive care are recommended from nearby hospitals.]
[Stage 2 Alzheimer’s: A very mild state of cognitive decline, causing minor memory problems, such as forgetting the location of everyday objects like keys or familiar names. It can be difficult for people around you to notice.]
[Stage 3 Alzheimer’s: You may not remember where you put your valuables. Your planning ability declines and you cannot remember sentences well. People around you will be able to notice your cognitive decline.]
[Sign up for remote treatment.]
[Find nearby hospitals]
—There aren’t any linked hospitals as it is still in development, and we cannot use the remote treatment system due to legal regulations. But we can find nearby hospitals using the phone’s GPS.
Park Dong-Hyun said. He pressed the last option. When he did, a map popped up on the screen with nearby hospitals. When he pressed on the hospitals, a profile of the neurology and psychiatry doctors provided on the hospital’s website came up as well.
—This is the end of the test of Diagnostic Kit Prototype AB_01520.
With Park Dong-Hyun’s last comment, the video ended.
With his lips firmly shut, David glared at the black screen of Young-Joon’s laptop.
“When this kit is commercialized, the DNA analysis equipment you are going to install in hospitals will be worthless,” Young-Joon said. “I think it’s best that you stop the project now.”
“No way…”
David grit his teeth and glanced at Young-Joon.
“How is this possible? This actually exists? Are you bluffing, Doctor Ryu?”
Young-Joon was an unrivaled, talented individual in research and development of new technologies, but he was also skilled in business management. What if Young-Joon was trying to destroy Conson & Colson’s business in the U.S.? What if he was bluffing with a technology that didn’t actually exist?
“This is just a video, not even the actual product. How can I believe that this is real and not just some edited video? It does not make sense.”
“You don’t have to believe me. It doesn’t matter. I only told you because I’m worried for you,” Young-Joon replied calmly. “But is there a reason for me to lie to you? Assuming that this diagnostic technology does not exist, it would help our cancer laboratory if this business of yours succeeds.”
“You could make me stumble on this business, then go to America and do it yourself. That kind of bluffing, information wars, and stealing ideas is common between large pharma companies.”
“Not us,” Young-Joon said. “This is science and medicine, not anything else. As long as I am the CEO, I will not fake something to make money or grow the company. I want to make a new rule in the pharmaceutical and scientific community. I want to create an atmosphere in the industry where we do not lose our moral and principled attitude as scientists. If you can’t believe me, you don’t have to. But you will be in trouble later.”
“...”
David wrapped his head in his hands and thought hard.
“Doctor Ryu,” said David after a moment.
“Yes.”
“I want to trust you, Doctor Ryu. but in order to stop this project, I need to be sure. Please confirm a few things for me, only to the extent that you can answer.”
“Yes, ask me.”
“DNA amplification requires equipment such as thermo-cyclers. Isn’t that the basic principle of PCR? You need to be able to adjust the temperature from sixty degrees to ninety-five degrees Celsius by the second. You can only amplify DNA by doing that for two hours. In this kit, it seems like you just amplified DNA at room temperature without any equipment. How does that work?”
“The DNA double helix structure loosens if you use recombinase and attach a primer to the target location. If you attach a single-strand binding protein to the single-stranded DNA and amplify it with a polymerase, you can amplify DNA at room temperature without a thermo-cycler.”
“... But how do you amplify each target for one hundred different kinds of diseases? The primers would all mix.”
“We put in primer and magnesium, the starter for the amplification, in each hole. Only the target DNA will be amplified in each hole, so the primers will never mix.”
“...”
David bit his lower lip.
“Then… How did you separate the plasma from the blood?”
“There is a vacuum pressure applied inside the kit by the air battery. The blood travels along a thin tube inside under that pressure, and the very low concentration of an agarose mesh in the tube filters out the blood cells.”
“What about the green illuminating mechanism?”
“We made it with a variant of Cas9. If the sequence of the amplified DNA matches the sequence entered in Cas9, it reacts to the DNA. The light-emitting signal is amplified by the principle of FRET (Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer) according to the structural change of Cas9.”
“...”
“I cannot tell you what kind of Cas9 variant it is. That’s the most essential part of this technology.”
“...”
‘I lost.’
This wasn’t a bluff. It was a completely plausible and reasonable explanation.
‘How the hell did he do that? Is he human?’
David suddenly shot up from his seat.
“Shit.”
He no longer looked relaxed. Now, he was really in trouble as the project had already started.
Thump!
He stomped on the floor.
“Phew…”
David caught his breath and organized his thoughts.
Young-Joon said, “Director James knows this as well because I told him. He will give you an answer soon that it will be difficult for him to support your project.”
“I assume so.”
David let out a sigh.
“Your ingenuity is much more outstanding than I planned, Doctor Ryu.”
“I’m flattered.”
“... So, why did you show me this?” David asked.
David was definitely a fast, quick-witted person. He had already read half of Young-Joon’s mind.
“If you just let us be, you could have seen a powerful competitor like Conson & Colson step on a mine and have its legs blown off. Why did you tell us and stop us?”
“As I said before, I want to create a new atmosphere and rule in this industry. We are all advancing towards the future of science, are we not? I want co-prosperity and cooperation rather than competition,” Young-Joon said. “We will have no choice but to destroy those like Schumatix that severely damage research ethics, but I want to have respect for people in the same field who research rightfully and legally.”
“...”
David was a little ashamed.
“And there is some profit I would like to gain through this. It will be of help to you too, Mr. CEO.”
“What is it?”
“You can’t cancel the order for the two hundred pieces of the DNA analysis equipment, right?”
“Yes.”
“Sell that to me.”
“... For how much?”
“I will buy it at fifty percent of the price you bought it for from Illemina.”
“Oh.”
David covered his face with his hands.
“Don’t do this, Mr. Ryu. It hasn’t even been shipped out yet. It’s still being produced. It’s not used. It’s completely new.”
“You don’t have anywhere to sell it to if I don’t buy it.”
“That is true, but…”
“Even if there is demand, how high do you think it will be for a piece of equipment that costs five hundred thousand dollars? And even if we don’t have that equipment, we can commission DNA sequence analysis to a sequencing company that has the equipment. So, the demand for the actual equipment itself is very low,” Young-Joon said. “It will take a few years to sell two hundred of something like that. Then, it will really become used. And venture companies or labs who want to get one will get a new one from Illemina. They wouldn’t get a used one from Conson & Colson, which isn’t even a DNA analysis company.”
“...”
“If you drag your feet and time passes, technology will advance more, and the price will drop even more. Fifty percent is a high offer. This is the only chance you have to get rid of two hundred of these white elephants at once.”
“Ugh.”
David clenched his eyes shut like this was painful. To be honest, the loss wasn’t that burdensome to a company as big as Conson & Colson if they stopped the project right now. But there was clearly a reason why Young-Joon was taking two hundred of those super expensive pieces of equipment. That man was a scientist inside-out, but like a natural businessman, he never did business that would cause losses.
‘Just look at the talent that created that monstrous diagnostic kit.’
If a genius of the century took two hundred of Illemina’s DNA analysis machines and went to his company? David was sure that he would bring something that would knock the scientific community out again in a few months.
‘What is it? What can he do with two hundred of those machines?’
“Are you not going to sell them?” Young-Joon asked.
“Um…”
“This is your only chance.”
Young-Joon smiled.
“Alright… I will sell them to you,” David replied helplessly.
David didn’t have a choice. He couldn’t even predict what was in that genius’s view. Even if David took on some loss, he had to stop this project right now and get out.
Young-Joon said, “Thank you. But I will give you a very special opportunity to secure a share in the A-Bio Cancer Laboratory.”
‘What? An opportunity to get a share in A-Bio’s cancer lab?’
David gulped.
‘I went through hell to get here, but I didn’t expect to be dragged along by a thirty-year-old CEO at this age…’
For some reason, David wanted to decline and say that he didn’t need the share because of his pride, but he knew that he was in no position to do that.
“What is it?” David asked in a slightly exhausted voice.
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