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Chapter 73: The Conqueror of AIDS (7)

“Don’t places like Zimbabwe and Uganda have more infected people than Russia?”

“But Russia has a high mortality rate,” Young-Joon replied.

Jason nodded.

“Alright. Leave it to me.”

The meeting went on for about two hours, with a technical lecture about vaccine development followed by a debate about adjustments to the clinical trials. Young-Joon was going to form a technological alliance with A-Gen and the International Vaccine Institute and supply the key technology. Pharmacotoxicity experiments and drug efficacy demonstrations were mostly completed in mice and beagles. A-Gen and the Institute would carry out the chimpanzee experiment and clinical trial.

“I will send you the information and data about the experimentation method by email. I have to be on my way,” Young-Joon said as he got up after the meeting ended.

“It’s been a while since we saw each other. Why don’t we grab a bite to eat?” Yoon Dae-Sung and Nicholas said together like they wanted some more time with him.

“I would also like to have a meal with you, Doctor Ryu,” Jason also added.

“Oh, we can have lunch together next time. I have to get to another meeting right away…”

“Where are you going?”

“The Ministry of Health and Welfare. The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention want to meet me regarding some project.”

Young-Joon bowed, then left.

Staring at the door, Jason said, “He is so busy.”

“He’s the proposer of a huge project like HIV eradication. Even if he had multiple bodies, it wouldn’t be enough,” Nicholas said. “Let’s say that it takes a few years to determine the success or failure of that project. Assuming that it succeeds, he’ll not only get the Nobel Prize, but the Nobel Prize’s grandfather as well.”

“No matter how conservative the Nobel Prize Committee is, they would find Doctor Ryu themselves and give it to him for that kind of achievement.”

“It seems like he’s going to be a candidate again this winter. I’m excited. It’s nothing compared to HIV eradication, but curing glaucoma and a successful Alzheimer’s clinical trial are both pretty amazing things as well.”

“If the Alzheimer’s cure becomes commercialized, he’ll get the Nobel Prize even if he doesn’t eradicate HIV. If he does both, a Young-Joon Prize will be created.”

As Nicholas and Jason were raving about Young-Joon, Yoon Dae-Sung had more mixed feelings.

“Oh Mr. Yoon. Isn’t Doctor Ryu a director at A-Gen?” Jason asked.

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Then when you retire, you can merge with A-Bio and put Doctor Ryu as the CEO. They are an affiliate anyways, and won’t A-Gen stand at the top of the global pharmaceutical industry if you combine with a company like that?”

Nicholas snuck a glance at Yoon Dae-Sung. What Jason said could happen in places like the U.S., where entrepreneurship was strong. But in Korean corporate culture, it was common to pass down management rights to their children.

‘Yoon Bo-Hyun.’

He was Yoon Dae-Sung’s son, who was working at A-Gen and learning to manage the company. If it wasn’t for him, Ji Kwang-Man would have stood by Young-Joon already, and not attacked him so hastily.

Would Yoon Dae-Sung hand over the company he had been working for since his father’s generation to Young-Joon, a complete stranger? Or would he cause a conflict with Young-Joon for his one and only son?

Nicholas also had mixed feelings as he watched this confrontation. Yoon Bo-Hyun was the son of his old friend, and Nicholas had known him ever since he was a baby. To be honest, he felt a little sad when he thought of that boy, who only focused on studying and working with the responsibility of inheriting the family business and leading A-Gen, being pushed out by Young-Joon.

But right now, Young-Joon was the best intellectual of mankind. In addition, his ethics and character were great, and he would be able to safely lead the future of this revolutionary science. If Nicholas put aside personal emotions and only looked out for a better world, it would be right for Young-Joon to take that position.

‘Yoon Bo-Hyun is a smart guy, but personally, I would like Doctor Ryu to take that position…’

Nicholas glanced at Yoon Dae-Sung like he felt bad for him. Ultimately, all the decisions would be made in Yoon Dae-Sung and Young-Joon’s hands.

“I am considering it,” Yoon Dae-Sung said. “But being outstanding as a scientist and the ability to lead a large corporation as management are two different things. Doctor Ryu is leading A-Bio well, but it is a small company if you just consider the size. Even if they have astonishing new technologies and a lot of money, they don’t have a lot of employees compared to A-Gen.”

“That is true.” Jason nodded.

“If it is proven that Doctor Ryu is capable of leading A-Gen, I would consider handing over A-Gen to Doctor Ryu,” Yoon Dae-Sung said.

Nicholas swallowed his worrisome groan. He was friends with Yoon Dae-Sung for a long time, but he couldn’t tell when he was being sincere.

* * *

“No way.”

Ryu Ji-Won, who was walking into the main entrance of her school, stopped. It was because she noticed a huge banner on the main entrance.

[We support Alumni Doctor Ryu Young-Joon’s eradication of HIV.]

“Ugh…”

She was proud, but it was also a little burdensome. She also felt a little weird. As she walked to the lecture room, the topic of conversation of all the students around her was Young-Joon. She could hear two male students wearing jackets from the biology department chatting.

“Did you see Ryu Young-Joon’s Facebook?”

Ryu Ji-Won’s attention naturally headed towards them. Her brother was not on social media. What they were talking about was Young-Joon’s fan club.

“An A-Gen employee wrote this post, but apparently at the lab the person who posted was at before, Ryu Young-Joon cursed and called the lab director a piece of garbage and left. They said it’s a legendary incident.”

“He’s like an incarnation of research ethics.”

“I wish he would come to our school and teach our professor a lesson.”

“Yeah. If Ryu Young-Joon was a professor, I would consider going to grad school.”

“Even if he is a professor here, we can’t study under him because we don’t have enough credits, man. And you were almost put on academic probation last semester… If Ryu Young-Joon was a professor, Harvard graduates would apply to his lab. How would we get in?”

“Hey, we can start studying from now on. Ryu Young-Joon sunbae also studied in the same environment as us. We can’t be that good, but we could probably be good enough to study at his lab if he becomes a professor.”

“Yeah, I don’t think so.”

Ryu Ji-Won lowered her head and quietly walked past them. She quickly walked to the lecture room. In the Green Square, where the Student Hall and the Central Library faced each other, there was a space where students could vote or survey people. Ryu Ji-Won stopped in her tracks again as she was walking past it.

[We stand against the development of the HIV vaccine.]

They had put up a small banner and a few students were surveying people.

‘What is that? They’re against the development of a HIV vaccine?’

Feeling bewildered, Ryu Ji-Won approached them.

“What is this?”

“Hello. It’s a petition that expresses concern about A-Bio’s development of the HIV vaccine. It would be great if you could participate,” said the male student with curly hair as he handed Ryu Ji-Won the petition.

Surprisingly, there were already around a dozen people who had signed.

“Why are you against developing the vaccine?” Ryu Ji-Won asked.

“Well, we’re not against it, but we’re trying to say that it should be done with A-Bio’s money, not on the taxpayer’s dime.”

“Isn’t that the same thing? It’s not like they are making something bad. What’s the problem with making a vaccine with taxes…?” Ryu Ji-Won asked like she could not understand.

“It is bad. Vaccines are a medical practice that hasn’t been proved completely safe. Vaccines aren’t natural, and they have impurities. That’s what is dangerous.”

“What?”

“The human body has the ability to create antibodies against invading pathogens on its own. But vaccines recklessly inject pathogens into the body, right? Doesn’t that alone make you feel uncomfortable? But there are other impurities in the things used to create vaccines. It’s not natural materials, but preservatives like thimerosal. That’s even more dangerous.”

The male student showed Ryu Ji-Won a few documents and a poster.

“Take a look at this. It’s a paper that Andrew Wakefield, a conscientious doctor from England, published. Looking at children with autism, he found that all their symptoms appeared after receiving the MMR combination vaccine. Vaccines can cause autism.”

“...”

“The health authorities did not fully verify the dangers of vaccines, and they are doing compulsory vaccinations on children when they don’t know a lot about it. That is putting people in danger. There isn’t enough scientific evidence, and above all, it is an anti-democratic medical practice that violates the people’s choice and freedom as it is a mandatory vaccination.”

Ryu Ji-Won was barely listening to the student because she was thinking of who Wakefield was. She was familiar with the name as her brother, who was a science nerd and rambler, went on and on about the various issues in the scientific community whenever he bought her a meal. She was sure that it was a name she had heard of back then.

“Oh!” Suddenly, Ryu Ji-Won shouted. “I remember now. Didn’t that paper turn out to be wrong? So Wakefield had his medical license taken away…”

“That never happened!” shouted the student with a tense face.

“Weird. I think that’s what I heard.”

“Who said that?”

“... Someone I know who got his doctorate in biology.”

That was all Ryu Ji-Won said.

“Anyway, vaccines are dangerous. President Clump of the United States is also against vaccines. The president of a country that is very advanced in science, like the United States, is against it. He has even appointed an anti-vaxxer as the Chairman of the Vaccine Safety Committee. Vaccines are dangerous things that haven\'t been proven yet. Just think about it: why would you get a shot when you’re not sick and create a disease? Does that make sense?”

“...”

“And it’s even more dangerous in the case of the HIV vaccine A-Bio is developing right now. Do you know why?” said the student. “What will the people who were vaccinated think? Won’t people who were behaving from fear of AIDS get excited after a dose of the vaccine and start living promiscuously, meeting prostitutes and random people at clubs?”

“Um…”

“Not only is the HIV vaccine simply dangerous, but it has a deadly danger in that it could cause societal immorality. And there will be more homosexual people as well,” said the student. “We cannot understand why they are making such a dangerous product that hasn’t been verified yet, but we are against it being done on the taxpayer’s dime. We have supported Doctor Ryu, and we are all for everything else about treating HIV and AIDS, but not vaccines.”

“Alright. I’ll be on my way now,” Ryu Ji-Won said.

“Okay. Could you join our petition? This will be an important piece of information that delivers the nation’s message to A-Bio.”

“No, I’m good,” Ryu Ji-Won answered briefly, then left.

* * *

Yoo Song-Mi was Young-Joon’s secretary who was hired to help him with managing his schedule and other various tasks. As murderous as his schedule was, she was also extremely busy every day. But the good thing was that she was getting used to the busy schedule. She was a little clueless at first, but she was pretty good at her job now.

RIght now, Yoo Song-Mi was delivering an offer from SBS producer Na Sung-Jin to Young-Joon about going on TV.

“... So, they want you to come on it.”

“It’s a lecture-style live broadcast?”

“Yes.”

“Nah. How can I go on TV? I’m not a celebrity or a professor; I’m just a scientist.”

“But sir, I think it’s a good idea for you to go on this time,” Yoo Song-Mi said.

“Why?”

Yoo Song-Mi wasn’t someone who usually expressed her opinions. Young-Joon raised his head among the documents at the unexpected opinion.

She said, “There are a lot of people who are worried about the development of the HIV vaccine. I think it would be good for you to get on TV and explain it in detail.”

“Worried? About what?”

“I’m managing your email inbox, right? A lot of emails like that come in.”

Young-Joon had his personal email listed on the A-Bio homepage. Out of the hundreds of emails he got in a day, Yoo Song-Mi delivered the important ones to him.

“There are a lot more emails that support and root for the vaccine development. So when I got a few emails that were against it, I left them out. But I’ve been getting more.”

“...”

Young-Joon knew that there was going to be resistance as he did this huge project. To be honest, the most difficult opponents he had were those who rejected bone marrow transplants because of religious reasons.

‘If they are against the development of the vaccine, are they anti-vaxxers?’

They were the easiest opponent among the resistance he predicted.

“Let’s see what kind of emails they are,” Young-Joon said.