Page 19 - Biotechnology newsletter 2023-24

Every hospital in the country was exceeding its capacity, every doctor was working
overtime to help the patients but it was all in vain, the disease could not be diagnosed
and none of the existing medicines seemed to work. The worst part being that the source
was unknown. It was as if the entire nation had come to a halt.

All the patients showed up after a week of initial symptoms like stomach ache and
vomiting. Anybody would mistake these to be signs of indigestion, just like the citizens
had done. This made it impossible to recognize the food source causing the infection. As
the pain prolonged, the harm to the body varied from person to person. Some showed up
with gastric ulcers, intestinal lesions, and internal bleeding while some others had
perforations. There was a minority section of the population that showed only additional
symptoms of nausea and fatigue.
So the doctors chose to focus on treating and helping as many people as possible. This
involved giving them medication with healing and soothing effects which would relieve
them of some pain but didn't lessen the symptoms completely. The government did their
best to spread public awareness about the GIT infections. They distributed medical kits
with basic painkillers and digestive medicines. In places of severe infections, nutritive
fluid packets were being given to every household. Despite all these tactics, the cases of
infections did not go down.
It had been over 4 months since Maldona was hit with the deadly cases of GIT infections.
Trades with the country were put to halt as precautionary measures from countries all
over the world. They were forced to withdraw their army from Ardinian territory.
Thousands of people had lost their lives and still a majority of the population was
suffering from the infection.

Ardinia decided to seize the opportunity and initiate the next stage of their plan- the
antidote. Despite having created the disease themselves, the scientists couldn’t let all lives
be lost. The antidote could effectively neutralize the toxin. Unlike secondary symptoms,
primary symptoms like vomiting and stomach ache could be easily cured by this antidote.
It was a risky move, fraught with uncertainty and the risk of exposure. They sent an
official delegation to Maldona's capital, stating they had found the antidote for the
modified rice toxin. In exchange for the antidote,they would have to pay a hefty sum,equal
to the debts owed by Ardinia. Maldona would also have to sign a treaty of peace.
Breaching of which would cause either country to be globally blacklisted.
Days turned into weeks as the negotiations dragged on. The global community watched
with bated breath, aware of the potential ramifications of this high-stakes game.
Scientists from both nations engaged in intense discussions to explore the possibility of
finding a solution independently. Running out of choice and time, the Maldonian
government succumbed to Ardinia's conditions.
The day was celebrated with tremendous enthusiasm in Ardinia. It was as though, after
years of being held underwater, the people had resurfaced above and could finally
breathe. That’s what freedom felt like- necessity.

~Ananya Apte, Abhidnya Sawant, Jyoti
Jadhav, Pooja Lamani, Jaherul Mallick
FY BSc Biotechnology