Chapter 9: Visit
Therefore, the principle I adhere to most is that under great rewards, there will surely be brave individuals. I believe that under the temptation of such wealth, even though one may lose a period of freedom, it is worth it. Moreover, the so-called loss of freedom is limited; it does not infringe upon personal privacy. On this island, one is unrestrained, and our infrastructure is quite well-developed, to some extent resembling a vacation, albeit a longer one. As for security concerns, there is no need to worry, as you can see, because we have a comprehensive security system, making the entire island a completely safe and free world.
Hmm—" John replied without saying much, as he truly did not know what to say. The background of the Yamei Group is complex, and he had heard about it long ago. Xu Feng's father's relationship with the U.S. military and government is not merely a business interaction; this is evident from the various conveniences the U.S. military can provide Xu Feng, which not just anyone can achieve. As a major conglomerate in the pharmaceutical industry, it would never have developed to its current state without the support of the U.S. government. Xu Feng's father's relationship with the U.S. military and government is not merely a business interaction; this is evident from the various conveniences the U.S. military can provide Xu Feng, which not just anyone can achieve. As a major conglomerate in the pharmaceutical industry, it would never have developed to its current state without the support of the U.S. government.
In addition, we have begun to address the issue of rejection reactions in existing allogeneic organ transplants through biotechnological methods, achieving significant breakthroughs. Of course, this is merely a subtopic, as such medications are only temporary and will lose their value once organ cloning technology is successfully developed. However, in the short term, there will still be substantial market potential.
Xu Feng introduced to John: "This is the gene drug laboratory, where we organically combine the functions of different drugs through artificial gene recombination. We are capable of producing all existing high-demand, high-difficulty multifunctional composite substances in the world, such as cytokines, tumor necrosis factors, and so on; tumor necrosis factor is an immune regulatory factor secreted locally by T lymphocytes under tumor and infection conditions. In the past, when this factor was used as an anti-tumor drug, it often had excessive toxicity, making it difficult to achieve the drug levels necessary to maintain anti-tumor effects. However, altering a single amino acid in its gene sequence can significantly reduce toxicity, minimizing the harm of anti-tumor drugs used for treating diseases to the body."
This is the compensation provided to employees at different levels, such as experts who can receive 1 million USD and 1% of the company's shares upon the expiration of their contract
The second floor consists of the living area and the equipment storage area
Xu Feng smiled without answering, but instead walked down the corridor towards the interior: "This room is the organ cloning laboratory. Early embryonic cells are pluripotent, meaning they can differentiate into various tissues and organs. The human body is a marvelous composite of 200 trillion cells. Each of us inherits 'half' of the life 'code map' from our parents, forming our unique DNA profile. This blueprint contains 46 chromosomes, which carry 100,000 structural genes, composed of 3 billion base pairs. "We each inherit 'half' of the life 'code map' from our parents, forming our unique DNA profile. This blueprint contains 46 chromosomes, which carry 100,000 structural genes, composed of 3 billion base pairs.
Looking at John's astonished expression, Xu Feng smiled slightly and continued, "By the same token, we can develop a rapid and effective anti-aging drug using the same methods. We have already made significant breakthroughs, and in the near future, within a year or even six months, this drug will emerge from the laboratory and enter the market. At that time, the dream of women maintaining their youth will no longer be so difficult to achieve"
After descending to the third level, Xu Feng led John to a glass wall on the right side. Through the glass, John saw several researchers busy at work in a sterile laboratory
A massive display screen on one wall is divided into dozens of small images, and a comprehensive surveillance system monitors every corner inside and outside. Looking at the surveillance screen, John remarked, "Mr. Xu, it seems that what I have witnessed firsthand is less than one-third of your entire Free Kingdom."
Xu Feng stood up and said, "Mr. John, this way please"
John stared at the large screen of the monitor for a while and said, "Your surveillance system is very professional"
Xu Feng smiled slightly: "It's nothing much, this is just one of my several laboratories, and what you see is merely the peripheral monitoring room and the offices on the first floor. Follow me."
Stepping out of the elevator, a wide corridor appeared before John, where several staff members moved about without any sign of noise, with only the soft sound of footsteps and the tapping of keyboards reaching his ears
"Heavens, that is an enormous fortune." John couldn't help but exclaim, for he knew how large and powerful the Yamei Company was. Holding one percent of the shares meant that he could spend the rest of his life lying in bed and just counting money.
This is the monitoring room. We have three monitoring systems with the same functionality, one on each of the first, second, and third floors, allowing us to fully control everything happening inside and outside the island. Xu Feng walked to the large screen to introduce it to John. Our monitoring is all-weather and all-encompassing; this place is like a fortress, and not even a fly can escape my watchful eyes, Xu Feng said with a sense of pride.
John looked at the staff in the laboratory wearing sterile suits and asked, "Mr. Xu, is this what you mean by immortality? These anti-aging drugs?"
John blinked and said, "Then I don't understand, why are you not in the mainland, but instead spending a vast amount of financial resources to come all the way to this remote island to build a secret laboratory?"
Of course, our monitoring system is designed and modified in accordance with the standards of the United States military
The elevator slowly descends into the depths of the island
During the early stages of embryonic division, when it reaches 4 to 8 cells, the cells possess totipotency, meaning they can develop into any organ of the human body. Utilizing this characteristic of early embryonic cells, experiments have demonstrated that by employing embryonic splitting techniques to separate the cells, the separated cells can still re-form into 4 or 8 cells. Subsequently, the embryonic cells gradually differentiate to form somatic cells of the human brain, heart, liver, kidneys, limbs, and reproductive system, but the differentiated cells no longer retain totipotency. Another experiment has shown that somatic cells can revert to an early primitive cell state under the 'induction' of oocyte cytoplasm, preserving all genetic information like embryonic cells. We utilize this characteristic of embryonic cells to collect somatic cells, and then induce them using oocyte cytoplasm to restore them to an early primitive cell state. In an artificial uterine environment, through 'directed development' techniques, we cultivate human organs such as the heart, kidneys, and liver within embryonic sacs, which can save lives through transplantation. Since the organs are cloned from the patient's own somatic cells, there is no risk of rejection. Instead, a portion of the embryo is cultivated into the required organs. If there is no brain or central system, from a technical perspective, the cultivated tissue may not be classified as embryonic and would not violate the prohibition against human cloning. By the way, we have already cloned skin using such technology, which is now available for clinical use.
All of my employees are world-class talents in their respective fields. Naturally, entry to Changsheng Island requires strict assessments and careful selection. Those who pass the assessments will voluntarily sign a contract that outlines several details, such as eligibility to participate in the company's advanced research projects after the contract is validated. However, they must adhere to the terms of the contract, which include: 1. No right to know the location of the laboratory, 2. To maintain confidentiality, no contact with the outside world is permitted during the contract period, meaning the company has the right to supervise the employees' actions throughout the entire contract period, 3. No right to unilaterally terminate the contract, 4. If the above terms of this contract can be anticipated to be fulfilled, corresponding compensation will be provided.
After the visit, John was greatly impressed by the entire experimental base. Such a large institution could not possibly be established without substantial financial and human resources. "Mr. Xu, I admire your capabilities. To have such a comprehensive laboratory and a large number of researchers is remarkable. However, according to the manner in which we arrived here—how did you 'bring' them here?"
"What does corresponding remuneration mean?" John asked curiously, as in his mind, contracts should be precise and should not contain ambiguous terms.
After a brief pause, Xu Feng continued speaking