Inside the Shennong’s tropical rainforest greenhouse, Li Yun walked around to inspect the cuttings he had collected in the rainforest regions. After four months, many of the cuttings had rooted and grown at least a foot. Within a few more months, he wouldn’t be surprised to see them bearing fruit.
There were many people walking Inside the tropical greenhouse, there were many people walking around as it was the most popular greenhouse. Li Yun had promised the funding agency to keep the greenhouse public in exchange for the harvesting license. The tourists walked around the greenhouse and outside in the fields like it was a botanical garden. Many of the initial visitors were scientists and plant enthusiasts.
“They were all grown from cuttings from the beginning of the year?” The scientists asked in amazement.
“Isn’t it amazing!? Some of the trees are starting to flower!” The farmers responded.
Shennong had somehow turned into a tourist destination, and a big part was due to the farming app. The app was very popular amongst the young and hip crowd who liked organic and fresh food. Through the app, they were able to see the crops and the mountain landscape behind the farm.
Outside the greenhouse, there were people walking around the farm field taking pictures of the landscape. There was also even a line from the parking lot and into the main field. Many visited the farm to confirm that it really existed. The live streams by outdoor hosts provided an unfiltered view of the scenery. The sight was breathtaking. There were goats, chickens, dogs, cats, and cows surrounding the fields.
“I thought you only sell fruits and vegetables, but why are they collecting milk and eggs?” The streamer asked one of the farmers.
“Oh, that’s because we send the milk over to another company to make cheese,” said the farmer. “Unfortunately, we don’t sell the product directly to the consumers. The eggs are for the workers' lunch, every day, the cafeteria would make different egg-based cuisine.”
“That sounds healthy, you have fresh food every day!”
“The company treats us well, and we never have to worry about food. They recently expanded for breakfast and dinner, and even family members get to eat for free.”
“Wait, you’re telling me you get to eat everything for free, including your family?” The steamer was a bit jealous.
“Family members are only allowed in the afternoon for dinner.”
“Still, that’s an awesome perk, is the factory still hiring people?”
“They keep resumes, but I hear there’s a very long waitlist. Most people here were hired from the first six months, and a couple of lucky ones got in after the first expansion. After that, the number of applicants was so high, the company doesn’t post recruitment flyers anymore.”
Shennong had a reputation for caring about the welfare of employees, so people were always sending in resumes. Some were given a three-month probation period, which was intensely coveted. The later hires had tough competition with each other, but it made getting the job rewarding and more meaningful.
Li Yun walked into his laboratory but was attacked by a giant furball. Before the furball reached his face, he grabbed a hold of its neck from behind.
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“You’re growing fat,” Li Yun settled the round kitten, Diyu, down on the floor and approached his workbench.
Diyu roamed around the laboratory freely after failing to get a hug from his master. As a kitten, it was easy to train, so Li Yun allowed the little feline out of its cage. It made fewer noises outside. Li Yun took a picture and sent it to Rouxi.
LiYun: Good luck on your studies. *Diyu gif reading a book*
Upon Li Yun’s return to China, he spent much of his time researching chemical processes of the body and human genetics. He rarely had time with Rouxi, which was fine as she was studying for her finals.
After sitting down on the workbench, Li Yun closed his eyes and examined the internal workings of his body as the enzymes copied information from the DNA to form mRNA. From there, amino acids and proteins were produced. The process was different from how his meridians had assisted his B-cells to produce the antivenom, but he wondered if other materials could be created using the same method.
When he had tried to create other antibodies, it was much more difficult to replicate. There was no urgency, and there was no need for them. When he injected a rhinovirus into himself, he found it easier to recreate the situation. Without the urgency, it was difficult to replicate the method he had used in Yunan. It was possible, but he needed an entire day of concentration to recreate an antibody for a virus he had never encountered.
Aside from antibodies, the body could synthesize many amino acids and sugar through chemical processes. There were times when his meridians were able to produce certain muscle enzymes without the presence of damaged muscle cells. Li Yun could not deduce the exact trigger and how his meridians were able to send such a command.
After weeks of examining his own body, he understood that manipulating the meridian to create other materials was more difficult than he thought. However, just because it was difficult, did not mean it was impossible. Creating an antivenom and forcing it into his lymph node was already beyond human’s ability, so was it simply a human ability that hadn’t been understood?
Aside from the meridian, Li Yun was also busy studying his own genetic information. Although he could view another person's profile, it was too much information to handle and could drain all his energy. He was able to study simpler DNA genetic profiles of bacterias and viruses. There were many things to research, but he was able to formulate a potential cure for Mo Ke.
“Dr. Li! You have something?” asked Mo Ke through his phone.
“I have a formula that may cure Usher’s Syndrome,” said Li Yun. “It seemed to be reacting to your blood sample. It’s relatively safe in the short term, but I do not know the long-term effect. Would you like to give it a try?”
He had been mixing various plants together in order to manipulate the genes. Li Yun had used a combination of twenty-one different medicines to balance out the toxins and benefits. Five medicinals were highly effective at correcting the USH1G gene mutation that caused Type 1 Usher Syndrome. The other fifteen medicinals were mainly used to cancel out the changes caused by the medicinals and their own negative effects. Based on Li Yun's understanding of gene therapy, the process was to modify a virus or vector that could penetrate into the cell and deliver a strand of genetic materials into the DNA double helix. However, there were many limitations, like creating harmful byproducts or breaking the double helix during the editing process.
Li Yun’s formula worked to influence the already mutated cells to divide and mutate again, but instead of mutating into something harmful, the new mutated cell resembled the original cell. Unfortunately, the formula only works specifically for patients with Usher’s syndrome and the process was slow.
“There’s a high concentration of wild ginger that contains aristolochic acid,” Li Yun explained. “This will affect your liver, urinary tract, and kidney, but I’ve taken precautions to minimize those effects.”
Three ingredients were technically DNA adducts that caused negative mutations. Li Yun had found the exact dosage that would cause the mutation to emulate closely to a healthy cell.
Mo Ke nodded as Li Yun explained to him the ingredients, the possible side effects, and directions on when to take the medicine. However, being in an ancient family of tomb raiders, he had more confidence in TCM than most people. Mo Ke also recognized most of the medicine used in the formula as his elders had used them in a less than a clinical setting.
“You will need to take this for six months,” said Li Yun. “You can schedule an appointment with Nurse Yuen for a check-up and to pick up the medicine.”
“I will definitely try,” said Mo Ke.