Dark Star Rising Second Edition (Pebbles in The Sky) by Jeffery Bagley
Authors: Jeffery Bagley
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history left the room feeling like she was becoming the most unlucky president in history.
Chapter 9
March 15 th , 2016
Whitehouse Station, New Jersey
Dr. Alec Souse came in and sat down in the meeting room at Merck Incorporated Headquarters located in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey. With him were Dr. John Knowles, Director of Advanced Research at Merck, Larry Niles, Chairman of the Board of Merck, and another gentleman dressed in an expensive Armani suit that he did not know. It aroused his curiosity that the third person attending this briefing did not introduce himself and neither of the other attendees made any attempt to introduce him either.
Dr. Knowles spoke up as soon as Alec was seated. “All right, now that we are all here, I would like Alec to give his briefing on the breakthrough that has occurred at one of the research teams that Merck sponsors.”
Alec stood and nodded to the others . Using the remote he picked up from the table, he dimmed the lights and turned on the wall projector. “As you are all aware, our company, in addition to having numerous research projects running in house, makes grants for research teams that have shown promise of making significant advances in medical technology, pharmaceutical compounds, and even basic biological research. This briefing is in regards to a husband and wife research team that we have been sponsoring while they have been doing some biogenetic research. This was a joint grant that was also awarded by the National Institute of Health. Doctors Brett and Jessica Driskall are the two researchers that have performed this work. Their original grant was to take work that had previously been done on mapping RNA and DNA and developing a method of rapidly identifying, mapping, and storing the RNA code of existing and newly mutated or emerging viruses. The purpose of this project was to allow pharmaceutical companies like ours to rapidly study and effectively develop new vaccines and medications for treatment of these diseases. Remarkably, their work has been very successful, or even amazing I would say.”
“They have developed a very rapid process using gel electrophoresis and restriction enzymes to break down a source of RNA or DNA from a viral or plasmid source, analyze the makeup and bonding patterns, and then store the entire molecular map into a computer database. What used to take months or years to do, they can now accomplish in weeks. The real limiting factor is the amount of processing power that is available in their lab computer. Right now, they are using a small lab server to do the processing and sorting that is required to completely analyze and make a digital copy of the RNA or DNA molecule in question.”
Alec was interrupted at this point by the fourth member of the meeting whom he was not familiar with. “Excuse me,” the gentleman said . “I do not have a background in either biology or genetics so your explanation, although easily understood by your colleagues here, is still a little above my head. Could you please explain about the mapping and digital copy procedure?”
“I am sorry sir. I really do not know you, so I had assumed that you were a researcher here at Merck. May I inquire as to your name and what your role is here?”
The unnamed man in the Armani suit shook his head. “It is not really important who I am, nor what my role is. The fact that I am here with permission of the company CEO should suffice as to my need to have this information. Please expound on your explanation a little more.”
Alec was a little taken aback by the refusal of the man to introduce himself, but Larry Niles motioned it was ok, and to continue.
“Well,” said Alec, “I will be a little more basic. DNA is a nucleic acid, which is the part of the cell that contains molecules that store information. DNA is made of a pattern of four different
Chapter 9
March 15 th , 2016
Whitehouse Station, New Jersey
Dr. Alec Souse came in and sat down in the meeting room at Merck Incorporated Headquarters located in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey. With him were Dr. John Knowles, Director of Advanced Research at Merck, Larry Niles, Chairman of the Board of Merck, and another gentleman dressed in an expensive Armani suit that he did not know. It aroused his curiosity that the third person attending this briefing did not introduce himself and neither of the other attendees made any attempt to introduce him either.
Dr. Knowles spoke up as soon as Alec was seated. “All right, now that we are all here, I would like Alec to give his briefing on the breakthrough that has occurred at one of the research teams that Merck sponsors.”
Alec stood and nodded to the others . Using the remote he picked up from the table, he dimmed the lights and turned on the wall projector. “As you are all aware, our company, in addition to having numerous research projects running in house, makes grants for research teams that have shown promise of making significant advances in medical technology, pharmaceutical compounds, and even basic biological research. This briefing is in regards to a husband and wife research team that we have been sponsoring while they have been doing some biogenetic research. This was a joint grant that was also awarded by the National Institute of Health. Doctors Brett and Jessica Driskall are the two researchers that have performed this work. Their original grant was to take work that had previously been done on mapping RNA and DNA and developing a method of rapidly identifying, mapping, and storing the RNA code of existing and newly mutated or emerging viruses. The purpose of this project was to allow pharmaceutical companies like ours to rapidly study and effectively develop new vaccines and medications for treatment of these diseases. Remarkably, their work has been very successful, or even amazing I would say.”
“They have developed a very rapid process using gel electrophoresis and restriction enzymes to break down a source of RNA or DNA from a viral or plasmid source, analyze the makeup and bonding patterns, and then store the entire molecular map into a computer database. What used to take months or years to do, they can now accomplish in weeks. The real limiting factor is the amount of processing power that is available in their lab computer. Right now, they are using a small lab server to do the processing and sorting that is required to completely analyze and make a digital copy of the RNA or DNA molecule in question.”
Alec was interrupted at this point by the fourth member of the meeting whom he was not familiar with. “Excuse me,” the gentleman said . “I do not have a background in either biology or genetics so your explanation, although easily understood by your colleagues here, is still a little above my head. Could you please explain about the mapping and digital copy procedure?”
“I am sorry sir. I really do not know you, so I had assumed that you were a researcher here at Merck. May I inquire as to your name and what your role is here?”
The unnamed man in the Armani suit shook his head. “It is not really important who I am, nor what my role is. The fact that I am here with permission of the company CEO should suffice as to my need to have this information. Please expound on your explanation a little more.”
Alec was a little taken aback by the refusal of the man to introduce himself, but Larry Niles motioned it was ok, and to continue.
“Well,” said Alec, “I will be a little more basic. DNA is a nucleic acid, which is the part of the cell that contains molecules that store information. DNA is made of a pattern of four different
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