Chapter 190: Micro-dust (6)
At West China Hospital, there was a newborn baby lying in the incubator. It was Mimi, the genetically engineered baby; her nickname was the “Cas9 baby.” Using a pseudonym for the baby’s name was in consideration of protecting the subjects’ identities, but it didn’t do much good. It was because He Jiankui, the principal investigator, wasn’t too keen on protecting the identity of his study subjects. Mimi became the most famous baby in the world, thanks to He Jiankui talking about her everywhere he went. She was the first genetically engineered human being; the image that title gave was like something from a sci-fi dystopian movie, like Gattaca.
But to her mother, Zhi Xuan, Mimi was just a normal baby. She was just worried about Mimi, who was weak. She stayed by the incubator all day, not even being able to care for her postpartum symptoms.
“...”
Mimi, who was curled up and sleeping all day, scrunched her nose and smiled as if she was dreaming. Her angelic smile was the only relief in Zhi Xuan’s life.
Click.
Zhang Haoyu, Mimi’s doctor, basically showered in the disinfectant, entered the sterile room and checked her vitals.
“Doctor,” Zhi Xuan said to Zhang Haoyu. “Doesn’t she look better? Do you think she’s getting better now?”
“... We don’t know yet. She’s gotten a little better, but we still have to see. Also, you have a guest from Korea.”
“A guest?”
“I mentioned it before, right? A doctor named Ryu Young-Joon is coming from Korea. He’s the developer of Cas9, the base technology for genetic engineering. He is the most knowledgeable about this in the world.”
Zhang Haoyu glanced at the door. Young-Joon was here with Alice, the interpreter who had accompanied him to the United States before. Alice was fluent in Chinese, but of course she didn’t know anything about putting on sterile suits in the clean room and disinfecting herself.
While Zhang Haoyu was checking the baby’s vitals and condition, Young-Joon helped Alice and came into the room together.
“Hello. My name is Ryu Young-Joon.”
“Ni hao, we jiao Ryu Young-Joon,” Alice translated fluently.
After greeting them, Young-Joon turned to Mimi. Rosaline was already standing beside the incubator.
—Let’s go into Simulation Mode for this. I’ll replay the events from when this baby was a zygote.
‘Thanks.’
[Simulation Mode Activated]
With a message window, Young-Joon’s sight became one with Rosaline’s. The keen insight that was diving into the microworld looked through nearly twenty trillion cells that made up Mimi’s body. All of these cells, which had differentiated from a single zygote, were missing CCR5: a mutation called Delta 32 had been artificially introduced. The mother had HIV, and she unfortunately did not benefit from the WHO’s collaboration with A-Bio in the fight against HIV.
The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that caused AIDS could move from the mother’s blood vessels to the fetus. The implanted zygote would be attacked by the virus and divide in an infected state.
This baby, however, was an embryo that He Jiankui cut the CCR5 gene out of. The Delta 32 mutation that resulted from it broke down the structure of CCR5, which was the pathway that HIV had to go through to infiltrate the zygote. As such, the virus was unable to enter the fetus’ body, and the baby was born uninfected.
However, CCR5 didn’t just act as a pathway for the virus. Young-Joon began to see the actual role that the proteins made from the CCR5 gene played. It was part of a coenzyme involved in telomerase activity. If telomerase didn’t function properly, telomeres, which were repetitive DNA sequences that protect DNA degradation, wouldn’t form correctly. This would result in a shorter life span and faster aging than the average person. However, this naturally differed between individuals, so it could be tolerated if it was taken care of.
There was a bigger issue, and that was the reason why this baby was sick. That’s what Young-Joon was observing.
‘It’s not just Delta 32...’
His fingers trembled. This was a different mutant. He Jiankui made a mistake when he used the Cas9 scissors. There was another structural change containing Delta 32, and it was causing mutations in the immune system. This baby had a very poor immune system; it was like she had AIDS.
“Could I get a sample of the baby’s oral epithelial cells or something? Blood is fine as well,” Young-Joon said.
“We have some blood samples, so we’ll give you that,” Zhang Haoyu said.
* * *
As Young-Joon left Mimi’s room, Zhi Xuan quickly followed him out.
“Doctor!”
She stopped Young-Joon.
“Doctor... Will our baby be okay?”
She looked desperate. It seemed like Zhi Xuan thought that a genius scientist like Young-Joon would be able to take a quick look at Mimi and figure out the problem.
“We don’t know yet,” Young-Joon said. “We won’t know until we do a blood test.”
“...”
Zhi Xuan looked disappointed.
“Doctor, the media is making our baby look like a monster,” she said. “They’re saying that a horrible future where genetic engineering is practiced will come through my child...”
“...”
“The news also mentioned that my baby was sick, and some people said that they want my baby to die so that they wouldn’t do more genetic engineering...”
“Don’t pay attention to that. Your baby will become healthy soon,” Zhi Xuan said. “It’s because I got HIV.”
She sighed.
“I’m from Jieyang, Guangdong Province. I was born in a small village in the mountains of that region, and we made blood money.”
“Blood money?”[1]
Young-Joon frowned when he heard that, as it was an unfamiliar concept. Then, he looked at Alice, who also looked puzzled.
“Y—Yes... She said blood money,” Alice said, stammering, when Young-Joon looked at her.
“You mean selling blood?” Young-Joon asked.
“Yes. There aren’t any jobs there, and everyone is poor and unemployed, including me and my mom. I also sold blood there,” Zhi Xuan said.
“What... What are you talking about? There has to be some sort of blood donation regulation in China, right? Like you can’t take more than four hundred units from one person, and it has to be six months apart...”
“The blood banks only check as a formality. A professional blood money organization makes you a fake ID and lobbies the blood banks so that they can distribute the blood. One time, I sold my blood sixteen times in a month.”
“Oh my...”
Alice and Young-Joon froze in shock. Zhi Xuan’s eyes filled with tears.
“That’s when I got HIV. It was because the organization didn’t sterilize the needles properly,” she said.
Sterilization wasn’t the problem; needles that went into blood vessels were disposable and had to be thrown away after one use.
Zhi Xuan said, “I found out about it after I left the village and got married. My husband said it didn’t matter because he was stronger than HIV, but my in-laws said they would kick me out if I didn’t have a son.”
In this situation, the problem shouldn’t be that she couldn’t have children, it should be that she could give her husband HIV. Kicking her out if she couldn’t give birth to a son... All of this was just ridiculous to Young-Joon.
“This was the only option I had...” said Zhi Xuan to Young-Joon and Alice, who were both speechless. “And then I found out that Professor He Jiankui at the University of Science and Technology of China was recruiting women with HIV who wanted to have children.”
“And then you volunteered for genetic engineering?”
“What? No.”
Zhi Xuan shook her head.
“I didn’t even know it was genetic engineering. I just heard that the child won’t have HIV if I do in vitro fertilization and then they treat it with some chemical.”
“...”
As Young-Joon stared at her, speechless, Zhi Xuan bit her lower lip and swallowed her tears.
“It’s because I’m an uneducated woman... Because I’m a dirty bitch who never went to school and lived off of selling blood.”
There was a moment of silence. In that silence, Alice looked at Young-Joon with a worried gaze. It was because he had a strange aura.
“You didn’t know that it was genetic manipulation?” Young-Joon asked Zhi Xuan in a low voice.
“Yes.”
“You didn’t write some sort of consent form?”
“I did sign because they told me to sign it. I have a copy here.”
Zhi Xuan quickly pulled out a piece of paper that was dirty around the edges. Alice, who took the paper from her, read through it and frowned.
She whispered to Young-Joon, “The information is about genetic engineering, but... The signature that the patient wrote isn’t Chinese.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s neither traditional nor simplified Chinese. Characters like this don’t exist. Maybe she wrote whatever she wanted...”
‘No...’
Young-Joon’s hand trembled. Then, Alice confirmed it with Zhi Xuan.
“Actually... I don’t even know how to write my name... I couldn’t read it because I don’t know how to read...” Zhi Xuan said, blushing out of embarrassment. “I said I would do it after asking my husband, but he said I wouldn’t have a chance unless I sign it on the spot. I got scared, so I...”
“Then, you...”
Alice, who was going to say something, flinched as she sensed the flames of anger beside her. The air was so tense that it could cut her.
“U—Um... Sir?”
Alice glanced at Young-Joon.
“The use of Cas9 without the consent of the patent holder, and the deliberate misuse of it that caused a negative impact on the image of A-Bio,” Young-Joon said. “Our company will file a lawsuit against He Jiankui for these charges. I will help you from now on, so please testify for us.”
* * *
—Atmox and He Jiankui do have a relationship.
Park Joo-Hyuk said over an international phone call.
—Hey, what time is it there? Are you able to call?”
“It’s fine.”
—Why do you sound like that? Are you sick?
“No.”
—Dude, you sound like you’re going to kill someone.
“... What’s the relationship between He Jiankui and Atmox?”
—The founder and now CEO of Atmox is an alumnus of He Jiankui. They seem very close.
Park Joo-Hyuk said.
—And it seems like Atmox asked He Jiankui to test the new administration method of the CCR5 blocker.
“Why?”
—I don’t know, man. But you know what’s funny?
“What?”
—He Jiankui said that he got funding from Yoon Bo-Hyun when he did the genetic engineering, right?
“That’s probably how he paid for the research.”
—Atmox funded that, too.
1. Blood money has a different meaning, but it’s being used this way to fit the context of the novel. ☜
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