The Big Headache

Two university researchers develop a virus engineered to relax cerebral blood vessels by consuming excess pituitrin and propose testing it as a permanent cure for migraines. They seek to recruit a prominent mathematician who endures debilitating headaches, and the story centers on their efforts to secure his cooperation amid limited funding, professional rivalries, and strong ethical reservations about human experimentation. Scientific detail about cerebral pressure and the experimental treatment is interwoven with character observation of the mathematician's public stature and the biologists' frustrations, creating a speculative exploration of medical innovation, responsibility, and the potential costs of an experimental cure.