Difference between revisions of "APTX 4869"

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== Name origin ==
 
== Name origin ==
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APTX 4869 is a pun on "Sherlock Holmes". 4869 can also be pronounced <!--The 8 is read with yattsu's "ya", not hachi's 'ha". That makes the katakana シャロク Sharoku -->"Shi-Ya-Ro-Ku" (シャロク ''Sharoku'')<ref>Manga [[Volume 24]], File 10 (241), Page 11: "The Bullet from the Past"</ref>, which translates into Sherlock. Adding to the pun, the password for the APTX data is "Shellingford"<ref>Manga [[Volume 24]], File 10 (241), page 11: " The Bullet from the Past". This has been confirmed to be spelled as "Shellingford" in the original Japanese.</ref>, an unintentional misspelling of "Sherrinford", which was the name Arthur Conan Doyle called his detective character before deciding on "Sherlock".<ref>"The name comes from Arthur Conan Doyle's earliest notes for A Study in Scarlet, which gave the great detective's name as "Sherrinford Holmes" and that of his medical companion as "Ormond Sacker"." {{cite web|url=http://www.sherlockian.net/societies/baringgould.html|date=2010|accessdate=2012-01-28|publisher=Chris Redmond|title=Sherlockian.Net: William S. Baring-Gould}}</ref> The password and the pun name seem to be related to why several members of the Black Organization call APTX 4869 the "incomplete detective",<ref name="239p4">Manga [[Volume 24]], File 8 (239), pg 4: "The Black Burial Ranks ". Gin is conversing with Pisco and tells him, "Of course, it's up to you if you use the 'Incomplete Detective' or not...". Earlier on the phone, Gin had mentioned it was fine if Pisco used the drug which both Haibara and Conan took to mean APTX 4869.</ref><ref name="241p11">Manga [[Volume 24]], File 10 (241), page 11: "A Bullet from the Past". Haibara tells Conan that "the members of the Organization sometimes gave this uncompleted drug a nickname... 'the Incomplete Detective'."</ref> implying APTX 4869 is not finished yet. Maybe this means that APTX 4869 was developed to keep young, not killing people.
+
APTX 4869 is a pun on "Sherlock Holmes". 4869 can also be pronounced <!--The 8 is read with yattsu's "ya", not hachi's 'ha". That makes the katakana シャロク Sharoku -->"Shi-Ya-Ro-Ku" (シャロク ''Sharoku'')<ref>Manga [[Volume 24]], File 10 (241), Page 11: "The Bullet from the Past"</ref>, which translates into Sherlock. Adding to the pun, the password for the APTX data is "Shellingford"<ref>Manga [[Volume 24]], File 10 (241), page 11: " The Bullet from the Past". This has been confirmed to be spelled as "Shellingford" in the original Japanese.</ref>, an unintentional misspelling of "Sherrinford", which was the name Arthur Conan Doyle called his detective character before deciding on "Sherlock".<ref>"The name comes from Arthur Conan Doyle's earliest notes for A Study in Scarlet, which gave the great detective's name as "Sherrinford Holmes" and that of his medical companion as "Ormond Sacker"." {{cite web|url=http://www.sherlockian.net/societies/baringgould.html|date=2010|accessdate=2012-01-28|publisher=Chris Redmond|title=Sherlockian.Net: William S. Baring-Gould}}</ref> The password and the pun name seem to be related to why several members of the Black Organization call APTX 4869 the "incomplete detective"<ref name="239p4">Manga [[Volume 24]], File 8 (239), pg 4: "The Black Burial Ranks". Gin is conversing with Pisco and tells him, "Of course, it's up to you if you use the 'Incomplete Detective' or not...". Earlier on the phone, Gin had mentioned it was fine if Pisco used the drug which both Haibara and Conan took to mean APTX 4869.</ref><ref name="241p11">Manga [[Volume 24]], File 10 (241), page 11: "A Bullet from the Past". Haibara tells Conan that "the members of the Organization sometimes gave this uncompleted drug a nickname... 'the Incomplete Detective'."</ref>, implying APTX 4869 is not finished yet. Maybe this means that APTX 4869 was developed to keep young, not killing people.
  
 
== Antidote ==
 
== Antidote ==

Revision as of 15:33, 14 February 2023

APTX 4869

APTX 4869 (四八六九 Yon-Hachi-Roku-Kyū?), nicknamed "Prototype Detective" by members of the Black Organization, is a fictional toxin and derivative of an experimental formula of unknown purpose developed by Shiho Miyano, which is used by the Black Organization as an untraceable, lethal poison. Right now, there is a prototype antidote for it made by Shiho.

Description

Haibara recalls a list of all of the victims APTX was used to kill. Only Shinichi's death was unconfirmed.

APTX is an abbreviation of "Apoptoxin," and, as the name implies, it involves the activation of apoptosis: the mechanism by which cells kill themselves. APTX contains ingredients which have other functions as well. It contains a component which activates telomerase: an enzyme which lengthens the caps at the end of DNA whose length limits the number of times a cell can divide.[1]

In practice, most of the time APTX 4869 works as a lethal poison. Gin says it can't be detected when used, possibly indicating it leaves few traces that forensic examination could uncover. However, as said by Ai Haibara, a rare side effect can in fact de-age victims. When talking about her own and Conan's shrinking, she said that the side effect causes everything apart from the nervous system to revert back to a childlike state,[2][3] but the adult personality and memories remain intact.

Shinichi, the series' protagonist, was forced by Gin and Vodka to take the poison with the intention of killing him silently due to the police being around in Episode 1. Later, Shiho Miyano was set to be executed for being a possible loose end after Gin and Vodka killed her sister Akemi. Instead of letting herself be murdered, Shiho took her own poison intending to commit suicide; however, her body was reverted back to a childhood state like Shinichi's.

History

Atsushi Miyano and Elena Miyano joined the Black Organization as researchers around some months before Shiho Miyano was born[4] and started developing APTX 4869. Vermouth may have hinted that there was an earlier project that the Miyanos assumed control over when they joined,[5] perhaps the one Shiho implied was at least 50 years old.[6] Regardless, the pair worked on APTX 4869 until they met their untimely deaths in a laboratory fire[7] which destroyed much of their research, leaving their daughter Shiho Miyano behind and the project in an unfinished state. The Miyano parents' version of the APTX 4869 was used to kill at least one person, Kohji Haneda who was murdered 17 years ago and included on Shiho's list of APTX victims.

Shiho was then groomed to take over their APTX 4869 research project.[8][9] She was educated overseas in America[8] before returning to Japan at or before she was 13[10]. Shiho advanced the drug to the point where she observed at least one of her lab mice reverting in age.[11] She was also ordered to test the most recent, yet still incomplete, version of APTX 4869 on Ki'ichiro Numabuchi, a failed assassin. Shiho received the data about him, but he managed to escape the Black Organization before she could test it on him. The drug was still considered incomplete by the time it was used on Shinichi Kudo[12], but Pisco implied that Shiho had advanced it significantly since her parents' tenure[13]. Shiho boycotted her work, when she couldn't get any answer to why her sister had died. To die by her own hand, she used the poison and ended up getting shrunk, which made her able to escape. It is unknown if the Black Organization has found replacement researchers to continue work on the APTX 4869 project after Shiho's defection.

Sometime during APTX's development, the Black Organization decided to use the incomplete form as a poison for stealthy murder, since it could kill without leaving a trace in the victim.

Name origin

APTX 4869 is a pun on "Sherlock Holmes". 4869 can also be pronounced "Shi-Ya-Ro-Ku" (シャロク Sharoku)[14], which translates into Sherlock. Adding to the pun, the password for the APTX data is "Shellingford"[15], an unintentional misspelling of "Sherrinford", which was the name Arthur Conan Doyle called his detective character before deciding on "Sherlock".[16] The password and the pun name seem to be related to why several members of the Black Organization call APTX 4869 the "incomplete detective"[17][18], implying APTX 4869 is not finished yet. Maybe this means that APTX 4869 was developed to keep young, not killing people.

Antidote

Main article: Prototype antidote
Gin poisons Shinichi.

Throughout the series there are several instances in which the APTX was temporarily neutralized and Shinichi and Shiho were returned to their actual age forms. The main ingredient for this reversal is a component found in baijiu, which Haibara has already incorporated in a prototype antidote for the APTX.[19]

Conan and Haibara briefly reverted to their true age while having rum cake (thought to contain among other things baijiu) in the live action drama Shinichi Kudo Returns! Confrontation with the Black Organization.

Speculation

Original intent

At first, it was revealed by Gin that the APTX 4869 was a poison to kill people who know too much about the Black Organization. Shiho Miyano said that she didn't intend to create a poison,[20] which suggests that APTX 4869 was originally developed with a different goal in mind. It probably was just a useful side effect that the current prototype kills while leaving no trace in the victim’s body, and was thus employed as a poison—a usage which Haibara detests.[20] Additionally, APTX 4869 is nicknamed the "incomplete detective" by the Black Organization,[17][18] which means its true purpose has not yet been achieved.

Immortality/anti-aging

One possibility is that the goal of the APTX 4869 is to develop a therapy which will cause immortality, stall or reverse the effects of aging, or extend a human's lifespan. The de-aging effect that occurred when Shinichi and Haibara took APTX 4869 probably indicates the main intent of the drug's development. After Pisco saw Haibara shrink back to her child form, he commented that he was impressed she had developed the drug to that point, implying that deaging is in the right direction.[21] Supporting this is Haibara’s line, "Kudo-kun? You would probably never even dream that you are already part of a project the Black Organization has been working on already for half a century."[22] APTX 4869 is the only known intersection between Shinichi and the Black Organization; meaning that Shinichi's de-aging made him relevant to the Black Organization's project.

According to Haibara’s description about APTX 4869[23], APTX 4869 activates telomerase, an enzyme which can increase the number of times a cell can divide, and therefore affect a cell's lifespan and “reproductive potential”. The goal of this might be to revert all non-neural cells to a "youthful", high reproductive potential state. Vermouth's unnatural youth is another indicator that the Black Organization may be involved in research towards extending lifespan, halting aging, or rejuvenating the body.

The goal of the antagonists in Magic Kaito is pursuing immortality, via the Pandora Gem, but the goal of the Black Organization, as confirmed in one interview with Gosho Aoyama, is NOT immortality.

"Raising the dead"

The original purpose of APTX 4869 might be to raise the dead. Once when Conan asked Haibara directly what APTX 4869 was meant to do she replied, "It's a nostrum to raise the dead. I wonder if that answer is satisfactory?"[24] This formulation is later revealed to be a subtle hint towards Renya Karasuma, who is publicly believed dead and evidently strives to use the APTX to rejuvinate his body.

"Silver Bullet" and "APTX 4869" are two names for the same project

See also: Silver Bullet (drug)

In a flashback, Shiho recalls the end of the recorded message left by her mother which revealed Elena had been working on "a truly terrifying drug" the Miyano parents called the Silver Bullet.[25] It is unclear whether Silver Bullet is the Miyano parents' personal nickname for what is currently called APTX 4869, or if it was a closely related project they developed in parallel. Whatever the case, the Miyanos' Silver Bullet drug and Shiho's APTX 4869 are probably closely linked if not the same in-development drug.

Haibara took over her parents' research after they died by reconstructing their work from surviving fragments after a lab fire which supposedly killed her parents.[26] One of these projects was the APTX 4869 project. Proof that some version of APTX 4869 existed in the Miyano parents' time lies in a death list which includes the name of a man killed with the drug 17 years prior to the current timeline. Because Shiho had to reconstruct her parents' research from the fragments that survived, intentionally or unintentionally, it's possible that some of what the Miyanos called the Silver Bullet became incorporated into Shiho's modern version of APTX 4869.

Regardless of what the parents' version of APTX 4869 was intended for, those characters who know about the shrinking side effect of Shiho's modern version of APTX 4869 have a tendency to compare it to the Miyanos' research. After watching Haibara shrink, Pisco, who knew about the project the Miyanos worked on, commented that Shiho's parents would be proud of the progress Shiho had made on the drug.[27] During her recollection of the tapes, Haibara was holding and considering the antidote to APTX 4869. She then regrets that she didn't understand the drug was something that should have never been made, strongly implying she had worked on the same drug as well.[25] Lastly, Vermouth, who opposed the Miyanos' research seems to have transposed her distaste onto Shiho's research and Shiho herself.[28]

It is also notable that Vermouth has been a part of the Black Organization long enough to have heard the Miyanos use the name "Silver Bullet",[29] and may have given Conan the same nickname in reference to his deaged state caused by the drug. On the other hand, Shuichi Akai also has the nickname Silver Bullet, but no apparent connection to the drug other than dating Akemi Miyano, the sister/daughter of the drug's creators.

References

  1. ^ Manga Volume 24, File 10
  2. ^ “[Shrinking] is an unexpected side effect. The nervous system is unaffected, but everything else—bones, muscle tissue, internal organs, hair – reverts to a childlike state” (VIZ english version of the quote in volume 18 file 8.)
  3. ^ Episode 129
  4. ^ Volume 95, File 1011: "Memories of That Woman"
  5. ^ “If you [Shiho] want to blame someone, blame your parents who took over this foolish research.” Episode 345
  6. ^ Manga Volume 19, File 9 (189): "The Endangered Ball "; Episodes 130-131 "Kudo-kun? You would probably never even dream that you are already part of a project the Black Organization has been working on already for half a century."
  7. ^ Manga Volume 89, File 11 (948), Pages 3-4: "The Clenched Scissors"
  8. ^ a b Manga Volume 38, File 2 (384), pg 7: "An unexpected Treasure"
  9. ^ Manga Volume 89, File 11 (948), Pages 3-4: "The Clenched Scissors
  10. ^ 13 is the latest age she was codenamed by according to Akai Shuuichi's version of events.
  11. ^ Shiho's intro when she first explains APTX to Shinichi
  12. ^ APTX's nickname is incomplete detective
  13. ^ Volume 24
  14. ^ Manga Volume 24, File 10 (241), Page 11: "The Bullet from the Past"
  15. ^ Manga Volume 24, File 10 (241), page 11: " The Bullet from the Past". This has been confirmed to be spelled as "Shellingford" in the original Japanese.
  16. ^ "The name comes from Arthur Conan Doyle's earliest notes for A Study in Scarlet, which gave the great detective's name as "Sherrinford Holmes" and that of his medical companion as "Ormond Sacker"." "Sherlockian.Net: William S. Baring-Gould". Chris Redmond. 2010. http://www.sherlockian.net/societies/baringgould.html. Retrieved on 2012-01-28. 
  17. ^ a b Manga Volume 24, File 8 (239), pg 4: "The Black Burial Ranks". Gin is conversing with Pisco and tells him, "Of course, it's up to you if you use the 'Incomplete Detective' or not...". Earlier on the phone, Gin had mentioned it was fine if Pisco used the drug which both Haibara and Conan took to mean APTX 4869.
  18. ^ a b Manga Volume 24, File 10 (241), page 11: "A Bullet from the Past". Haibara tells Conan that "the members of the Organization sometimes gave this uncompleted drug a nickname... 'the Incomplete Detective'."
  19. ^ Manga Volume 10, Files 4-5 (092-095): "The Great Detective of the West"
  20. ^ a b Manga Volume 18, File 9 (179), page 9: "The Girl Made Of Lies"
  21. ^ Manga Volume 24, File 11, page 9: "The White World"
  22. ^ Manga Volume 19, File 9 (189): "The Endangered Ball "; Episodes 130-131
  23. ^ Manga Volume 24, File 10 (241), page 6
  24. ^ Manga Volume 38, File 2, page 8: "The Old Picture"
  25. ^ a b Manga Volume 78, File 4 (821), pg 7: "Mystery Train 「Junction」"
  26. ^ Manga Volume 89, File 11 (948), Pages 3-4: "The Clenched Scissors"
  27. ^ Manga Volume 24, File 11, page 9: "The White World"
  28. ^ "If you [Shiho] want to blame someone, blame your parents who took over this foolish research." Episode 345
  29. ^ Vermouth has been in the Organization at least 20 years dated by when she assassinated Jodie's father which is more time than the theoretical maximum 18 years the tapes could be recorded -- dated to Shiho's conception.
v • d • e
APTX 4869
Developers Atsushi Miyano • Elena Miyano • Shiho Miyano
Victims Shinichi Kudo • Kohji Haneda • Amanda Hughes • Mary Sera • Shiho Miyano
Antidotes Prototype antidote • Baijiu
Related Articles Silver Bullet • Victim list • Case from 17 years ago • Black Organization
v • d • e
Black Organization
High ranking The Boss • Rum • Gin • Vermouth
Other agents Vodka • Kir (undercover) • Chianti • Korn • Bourbon (undercover)
Deceased agents Akemi Miyano • Tequila • Kenzo Masuyama/Pisco • Atsushi Miyano • Elena Miyano • Calvados • Rikumichi Kusuda • Ethan Hondou (undercover) • Hiromitsu Morofushi/Scotch (undercover)
Former agents Shiho Miyano/Sherry (Ai Haibara) • Shuichi Akai/Dai Moroboshi/Rye (undercover) • Ki'ichiro Numabuchi
Extended canon Yoshiaki Hara (movie only) • Irish (movie only) • Masaaki Okakura (movie only) • Arrack (special manga only) • Generic (special manga only) • Blackbeard (special manga only) • Kate Lauren (playstation only) • Curaçao (movie only) • Stout (movie only) • Aquavit (movie only) • Leona Bucholz/Riesling (movie only) • Man in bar (tv special only) • Pinga (movie only)
Related articles Black Organization timeline • APTX 4869 • Nanatsu no Ko • Scar Akai • List of Black Organization related characters • Vermouth timeline • Suguru Itakura • Kohji Haneda case • Karasuma Group • "The Criminal" • Night Baron • Crow
Manga Roller Coaster Murder Case • ¥1,000,000,000 Robbery • Bullet-Train Bombing • Game Convention Case • Missing Older Brother Case • Murdered Professor Case • Hotel Party Murder Case • Bus Hijacking Case • Kaitou Kid and the Murder • Escalator Message Case • Golden Apple Case • Footsteps of Darkness • Meeting with Vodka • Four Porsches Case • Bathroom Murder Case • Halloween Party Case • Black Organization vs. FBI • Mysterious Job Case • Kir Transport Case • Foreign Suspect Case • Department Store Bomber Case • Online Client • Mystery Train • Tennis Meetup • A Shrine to Remember • Elementary Teacher Assault • Scarlet Showdown • Girls Band Murder Case • Soul Detective Murder Case • A song named ASACA • Missing Maria Higashio Case • Sisters' Birthday Party Murder Case • Yusaku Kudo's TV Show Case • FBI Serial Murder Case • Akemi Miyano's Time Capsule • Chess Tournament Murder Case
Anime Roller Coaster Murder Case • Game Company Murder Case • The Black Organization: One Billion Yen Robbery Case • The Girl from the Black Organization and the University Professor Murder Case • Reunion with the Black Organization • The Gathering of the Detectives! Shinichi Kudo vs. Kaitou Kid • The Mysterious Passenger • The Secret Rushed Omission • Shinichi Kudo's New York Case • On the Trail of a Silent Witness • Contact with the Black Organization • The Four Porsches • Hidden Bathroom Secret • Head-to-Head Match with the Black Organization: A Dual Mystery on a Full Moon Night • Black Impact! The Moment the Black Organization Reaches Out • The Shadow of the Black Organization • Clash of Red and Black • The Crisis Beckoned by the Red Omen • Detectives' Nocturne • The Jet-Black Mystery Train • Conan in a Locked Room • Jodie's Memories and the Cherry Blossom Viewing Trap • The Scarlet Return • The Shadow Approaching Amuro (TV original) • The Unfriendly Girls Band • The Spirit Detective's Murder • The Betrayal's Stage • Search for Maria-chan! • The Birthday Party of Divine Punishment • Yusaku Kudo's Detective Show • The Black Organization's Scheme • Akemi Miyano's Time Capsule
Movies and Specials Countdown to Heaven • Time Travel of the Silver Sky • Black History • The Raven Chaser • Shinichi Kudo Returns! Confrontation with the Black Organization • The Darkest Nightmare • Black Iron Submarine
Special Manga The Wish Put on the Airship • The Black Organization...Revealed • Protect the Luxury Liner from the Virus
Playstation Remembrance Treasure Case
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