episode_0079

Episode 79. Goldfish (2)

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The goldfish’s body went into the flower pot next to my desk. Perhaps in the next life it will be reincarnated as an orchid.

We have just succeeded in purifying penicillin. I hope Istina realizes the magnitude of the experiment we have just succeeded in.

“It’s not black magic, Istina.”

“You offered a goldfish as a sacrifice, right?”

It seems like you have no idea.

“No, I used goldfish to evaluate the acidity of the vinegar buffer solution.”

“What is buffer solution and what is acidity?”

I thought about the answer some more.

A mixture of acetic acid powder and acetic acid solution contains acetic acid anions from the powder, which receive hydrogen ions from acetic acid.

So the fluctuation range of hydrogen ion concentration is reduced. This is called an acetic acid buffer solution. Since there is no way to measure the pH here right now, goldfish were used to verify the weakly acidic state.

There was another reason for using goldfish. The line at which a goldfish dies is the limit of what is okay for humans to eat.

maybe?

At least that’s what I thought.

Because we don’t know what impurities are in the chemical sample, and a mixture that is at a concentration that would kill a goldfish could be dangerous to humans, we need to stop at the point where the goldfish dies.

There was also the problem that penicillin would denature if the acidity became too high. In conclusion, there were three reasons to kill the goldfish.

Istina still looks like she doesn’t know.

“Okay, let’s just say it’s black magic.”

“Hmm.”

Judging from Istina’s reaction, it would be best not to expect much from the Department of Alchemy.

Other researchers who received the blue mold strains probably weren’t much different. It took 20 years for the US to mass-produce it commercially in the 20th century.

People who don’t know much about penicillin won’t be able to achieve results in a short period of time. Even if they know about the existence of penicillin, they don’t have any useful background knowledge.

It seems that the basis for purifying penicillin simply does not exist. It is not a matter of alchemy or crystallization magic.

I thought about it for a moment more.

“We shouldn’t just write a paper and leave it at that. We might have to make penicillin ourselves.”

Even if you publish a paper, if no one understands it or follows it, it won’t be of much help.

“Istina, what do you think?”

“Can that be possible?”

“You can get money, but.”

The problem is scale. If we make a lot of penicillin, it will help a lot of people. But how much money and manpower will it take?

It was something to think about.

Still, isn’t this roughly the process of purifying penicillin?

Filter well to remove solid matter and mycelia, then add ammonium sulfate to the acetic acid solution to make a precipitate.

Because I just succeeded.

There are many ways to do it. If you ask for facility investment funds instead of research funds, things get a bit more complicated. You can probably ask the prince, Mint, or Violet.

Even with the current achievements, it is not enough to write a thesis. The problem is this.

Judging from Istina’s reaction, can we expect the healers of this world, who don’t even have a proper understanding of acid-base reactions, to achieve results?

It doesn’t look easy. So, that’s not what’s important now. If you want penicillin to be made quickly, you have to do the work yourself.

“Istina. Listen carefully.”

“Yes.”

“Penicillin is a protein polymer, so it denatures in high temperatures and strong acids. That’s why it couldn’t be boiled, and the acidity had to be controlled within the appropriate range. That’s why goldfish were used.”

“Yes.”

“It has to be safe because it’s medicine for people.”

“I don’t know.”

Istina extended her finger.

“I know penicillin is the substance we extract, but I don’t know what protein is, what a strong acid is, and what acidity is.”

It’s not that there is no terminology. It’s just that the content related to Istina is not clearly defined.

“Even if others don’t know, you should know.”

“Yes.”

“Think about it some more. There’s nothing I can do.”

From the periodic table to the physics of electronics, there is so much beyond Istina’s understanding. More than meets the eye.

****

After returning to my lab desk, I picked up a pen to send a letter. First, to him.

– To Your noble prince of the empire.

– I recently developed a new drug that can cure most infectious diseases.

– However, it is not easy to make and the principle is very complicated, so even though it was presented at a large academic conference, there was not much progress.

– So. I want to raise funds, build a facility to produce the drug, and mass produce it to benefit the people of the empire.

– Professor Asterix, come on.

This should be enough for a letter to be sent to the prince.

To Violet… … .

– Violet. If you have money, invest it.

– Professor Asterix, come on.

I think it would be okay to just circulate the letter like this.

****

Now I have to give word to Professor Wolfram of the Alchemy Department. Come to think of it, I have never met him in person.

Last time I went there, I only saw Luciana, a graduate student. She looked a little miserable.

“Hello, Professor Wolfram.”

“Hello.”

Professor Wolfram was an old professor, just as I had heard from rumors. As expected, his hair wasn’t white.

On second thought, maybe I’m not really that old. Maybe I just look old because I eat a lot of arsenic.

“A few days ago, I had a chat with Dr. Luciana. I had made a new medicine, and I came to talk about refining it and making it into pills.”

“I heard the story.”

“On our side, we have succeeded in refining a very small amount, so we are sharing information and preparing for mass production.”

Professor Wolfram nodded.

“Miss Luciana will take charge of it.”

“What about the professor?”

“I’m sure Miss Luciana will do well, and the professor succeeded in refining it, so I don’t know if I need to participate. I’m a bit busy these days.”

I stopped talking.

If you knew what we were making, you wouldn’t be talking like that. It’s funny to ask people to join because you can make a lot of money.

“Are you really not participating?”

“Yes.”

“Uh… … . Okay.”

If you don’t like Peace and Gratitude, then that’s fine.

I slowly got up from my seat.

“Oh, that’s too bad. Then I’ll consider this as Ms. Luciana’s personal assignment.”

“Professor Asterix, you’re working hard too.”

Professor Wolfram… … That old man must have had something unpleasant happen to him, it was strange.

You’ll regret it later. Either because you won’t be able to leave your name in history, or, to put it more mundanely, because you’ll miss out on a chance to make a lot of money.

I left Professor Wolfram’s lab.

I should talk to Master Luciana or some other alchemist later. I’m sure I can find someone who can help me more.

****

The day after I sent the letter, I received a reply from the Imperial Palace. Well, the Imperial Palace is not that far from here.

– This is a personal letter from the Imperial Family. Handle it with care.

It was an imperial document with a seal bearing a warning message. A letter from the prince of the empire.

– I was curious why I received such a polite letter from you, so I read it. Now you’re treating me like a wallet. You do all sorts of things.

The prince’s letter, as always, began harshly.

– Separately, when you said you were leaving the imperial court, I thought we had lost a talented person. There were officials outside who highly regarded the fact that you were thinking of ways to benefit the empire.

– I’m positively reviewing this with someone I know, so let’s come and talk about it next month. I’m not sure if this is a request for research funds or investment funds. It doesn’t seem like it means it will be resolved with research funds now.

This time, the intention was not simply to ask for research funds. Since efficiently making and distributing drugs was not something that could be done through research, the idea was to create a kind of company.

I don’t know if they’ll cooperate that far.

– So you’re saying the government wants to establish a company that it owns? But if it’s going to do that, why bother making medicine instead of just opening a hospital?

– Anyway, good luck. By the way, when you come to the palace, come up with a way to properly explain to the officials what you discovered.

I covered the prince’s letter. For some reason, there were some curses in the beginning, but he said he would review it positively.

Since Violet is currently in the palace, her letter should have arrived with her. I opened Violet’s letter a second time and read it.

– This is Violet.

– Are you talking about investment? Not about getting the royal family to send you research funds?

– I have a lot of money these days. That’s great!

I closed the letter Violet had sent me with a strangely uneasy feeling. She was originally a difficult person to predict.

This guy. Why does he have so much money?

Violet This guy does so many strange things that I get worried no matter what he says. Did he just come back from a big gamble?

what…….

I should talk to him face to face. It’s also a problem that he doesn’t trust people this much. His salary isn’t that small, so he might have saved it up diligently.