Gene Modification

Research Base, Zone A6.

This is the area on the first level underground.

Of the ten large iron cages prepared for holding experimental animals, seven have already been put into use.

However, instead of chimpanzees or the like, the cages hold seven people.

Baffert regained consciousness in a daze. As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw a gray-white wall. Then he found his hands and feet bound by handcuffs and shackles, and his mouth gagged.

He could only let out muffled sounds: "Mmmph... mmmph..."

The other scumbags in the cages also gradually woke up, similarly bound tightly, only able to make muffled sounds.

Of course, even if they could make noise, it wouldn't do any good. There was no one else in the A and B Zones of the research base, and this basement had been soundproofed.

On Calagua Island, some Chinese employees had started their Lunar New Year holidays, while most of the local employees were Christians. Their holiday had been Christmas, so they were working now.

Meanwhile, within the research base.

Li Qingye had already tested the effects of CRISPR-JM on pigs and mice, and had identified a portion of the gene sequence related to the prefrontal cortex.

However, human genes still differed somewhat from those of other animals. Success in animals did not guarantee success in humans.

After preparing all the experimental equipment, he began the first human trial.

Baffert was terrified. He realized he wasn't in a prison, but in a place full of high-tech elements. Having watched so many movies, he quickly thought of plots involving evil scientists.

The moment he saw someone in a white lab coat appear before his cage, Baffert's fear reached its peak.

Li Qingye had no intention of discussing life with such scum. He directly administered an anesthetic, and the subject slumped like a puddle of mud. He moved the test subject onto the examination table, secured his handcuffs and shackles, and pushed him towards the elevator.

The other scumbags in the cages watched this scene and trembled in fear.

The examination table was pushed into the laboratory. Li Qingye skillfully stripped the test subject's clothes, connected various monitoring instruments, inserted a urinary catheter, a nutrient solution IV drip, and an oxygen mask, and finally, a cardiopulmonary resuscitation device.

Compared to his own modification, this guy was quite lucky.

Soon, the specially made CRISPR-JM factor injection solution flowed continuously into the test subject's body.

Unlike his own previous removal of gene limiters, the modifications on the test subject at this time had only a few specific objectives.

First, to turn the prefrontal cortex gene sequence into a pseudogene.

Second, to turn the reproductive gene sequence into a pseudogene.

Third, to remove the gene sequence limiter for physical fitness.

These three objectives were very simple: one was to strip the test subject of his humanity; another was to render him infertile, to avoid polluting the human gene pool; and the last was to make him physically strong.

Under the influence of the anesthetic, Baffert only twitched occasionally, or experienced heart rhythm irregularities, with blood pressure fluctuating, but there was no danger to his life.

The modification lasted for ten days.

When Li Qingye found the test subject's vital signs stable, he also tested the telomeres of his chromosomes. The telomeres showed significant shortening, and it was estimated that the test subject had at most thirty years left to live.

This was actually an improvement compared to his own remaining less than twenty years.

Baffert, upon waking, was silent, his eyes vacant and dull.

Li Qingye brought a tablet, casually opened a romance movie, and placed it in front of Baffert to watch.

He, meanwhile, continued to review the data from the monitoring equipment.

Even when extremely seductive scenes appeared on the screen, Baffert showed no physiological reaction, like a wooden mannequin.

He then tested him with comedy, melodrama, and horror films. Through these tests, he could basically confirm that the test subject had lost the ability to feel joy, anger, sorrow, or happiness.

Next, by injecting a quantitative amount of dopamine, he created a dependency, successfully getting Baffert to recount his memories. This confirmed to Li Qingye that hormonal and pheromonal stimulation could indeed make the test subject very obedient.

However, these people were like robots; they had to be constantly trained and given orders to complete simple tasks.

Li Qingye was not too disappointed by this.

The test subject was like a computer with a partially damaged processor; it was a miracle it hadn't crashed completely.

What he needed to do now was to use the artificial photon biological chip to replace the damaged prefrontal cortex of the test subject.

To replace "natural" emotions and desires with "artificial" ones.

Although the test subject appeared very dull, Li Qingye continued to modify the remaining test subjects. After all, the modified test subjects were completely obedient to him, the controller of their hormones.

Even if they couldn't perform delicate tasks, they could at least feed and bathe themselves, without his help.

For the convenience of future gene modifications, Li Qingye had even specially remodeled this laboratory. In the future, people could be pushed in, and after ten days, the gene modification would be complete.

He spent more than three months on modifying the test subjects, modifying the laboratory and equipment, and researching the biological chip.

In the blink of an eye.

Time had moved to May of '18.

During this period, Homo sapiens Company had generated another 570 million US dollars in revenue. However, to avoid attracting attention, he had asked Li Jinglan to suspend the sale of eel fry.

The eel fry sold previously were sold under shell companies. Although Li Jinglan was very confused, he obediently followed orders in the face of Li Qingye's strong stance.

Although this was just an eel breeding technology, it actually involved an industry worth tens of billions of US dollars.

He didn't know if others would be envious, but the Japanese would definitely be.

After all, the people of Japan have been researching eel breeding technology for over a decade and are the largest consumer region for eels globally, so they definitely wouldn't want to give up this piece of the pie easily.

Li Qingye didn't want to attract attention before he had adequate security.

With over a billion US dollars in hand now, he wouldn't be short on funds in the short term, so there was no need to expand sales.

Besides, rarity drives up value. Selling too many eel fry would cause market prices to drop, reducing the net profit per eel fry. Controlling the shipment volume and employing a scarcity marketing strategy was the way to go.

Meanwhile, Homo sapiens Company's recent operations had also shifted to increasing investment in the areas around Darte Port, with plans to expand 30 large-scale breeding farms along the coast in that region.

Li Jinglan, Kang Nan, Zaxi, and others were all busy with this.

This was also one of Li Qingye's strategies: to make everyone feel that the work they had was extremely busy, as if there was always an endless amount of things to do, so they wouldn't stop.

When people are idle, they tend to overthink.

Only when he had developed himself sufficiently and acquired enough Soldiers would it be time for Homo sapiens Company to expand its territory.

He couldn't guarantee the loyalty of his subordinates right now. Unless he wanted to follow his father's old path or collude with capital, he could only endure for the time being.

As for the Photon biological chip that Li Qingye had been longing for, after more than three months of research and experimentation, it had also become relatively mature.

Although it was still a distance from his vision, the second-generation technology was barely usable.

The manpower shortage that had been troubling Li Qingye left him no time to wait for the technology to be further perfected. Rather than achieving perfection in one go, it was better to use it while improving it.

Thank you all for your support (ω｀), and thanks to the book friend "Evergreen1040" for the tip!