Page 18 - Biotechnology newsletter 2023-24

What once would’ve sounded like hogwash, was now being taken into serious
consideration. What if there was a way to cause ruckus, spread a disease that would take
months to control and cure?
3 weeks after that, the head of the Department of Biotechnology and Sciences of Ardinia
proposed an idea- a genetically modified organism that had the potency to cause severe
illness. “We have come up with ways to cause severe infections on a large scale, and
death only in extreme cases. We could take it a step further and cause fatalities if you
want us to.” Dr. Levan Mensen spoke .After a long discussion with every department of
the country, the plan was approved and the countrymen hadn’t wasted a single hour to
start getting the show on the road.

Levan gathered a group of the best scientists of the country and started analyzing
multiple different ways to get this job done. They had to select a mode of transmission
through which there was no risk of Ardinia getting infected. Under any circumstance,
Ardinia couldn’t be associated with the spread of the disease. And the safest way was- a
genetically modified strain of rice,the most convenient and probably the only source of
spreading the disease in Maldona. “How about we isolate a toxic gene, modify it to act in
a scaled up manner and cause havoc in the human physiology.” said Ezekiel, one of the
genetic engineers.
In the lab, multiple PhD holders had already gotten to work. Different species of rice
plants,from the most commonly consumed variety to even the expensive ones were
being constantly modified and monitored. After over 6 months of trials and errors, the
team had finally hit the bullseye. They had successfully created a rice strain meant to
ruin lives.. All that was left was to grow the strain on a larger scale.
To pass inspections, the rice with toxic genes was mixed with the normal rice and like
most times these types of inspections are overlooked, so this wasn’t a problem.
According to the normal procedures, the Maldonian army loaded the cargo ships with
tons of rice and sent them across the borders.
As the ships disappeared into the foggy night with the rice, doubts turned to unease and
unease to regrets. It was a gamble they made with all sorts of unpredictable dangers
lying ahead. The ships reached the coast of Maldona by morning, and no-one had
suspected the irrevocable damage that would sweep across the whole country. After
shipping, the rice was taken to the markets for selling it to the masses and that's when
the countdown of their destruction began.
Everything was going according to the plan of Ardinia so far. After years of oppression
they were finally seeing the gates to freedom open. It was the faintest ray of hope, but
hope nonetheless. The most crucial and risky part of their plan was successful. Now it
was time for them to sit back and watch as their toxin created mayhem.
The restless minds of the scientists were put at ease within a week when the news of the
first outbreak hit the headlines. It would be the first time ever that the scientists had
their most peaceful slumber after hearing about the spread of a new disease.

Meanwhile the country of Maldona was crumbling at a rapid rate. Several major cities
had reported many cases of severe gastrointestinal infections, and it seemed to have
spread to many of the villages across the nation.