godfather of surgery

Chapter 1329 Really? Shall we go?

At 4 p.m. Stockholm time, the sun began to set. Staff at the Nobel Committee were compiling materials for the day, preparing for the December awards ceremony.

On the first morning after winning the award, Yang Ping got up at seven o'clock sharp, just like always.

The first award went largely unnoticed, and the second one was even less likely to cause a stir.

While Xiaoshu was still asleep, Xiaosu had already prepared breakfast. The news was replaying last night's Nobel Prize coverage, and Yang Ping's photo flashed across the screen. Xiaosu glanced at her husband and silently turned off the TV.

After Yang Ping finished breakfast, his driver deliberately took him through the back gate of the residential complex to avoid the media waiting at the main gate when picking him up for work.

When the car entered the research institute, a large crowd had already gathered at the entrance. In addition to the media, there were citizens taking photos with their phones, many people live streaming, a few who looked like investors or company representatives trying to negotiate with the security guards, and a few people dressed strangely or provocatively swaying their hips and buttocks in front of the phones that were set up. The security guards were politely "driving them away".

Because Manager Qiu specially arranged a different car for Yang Ping, the reporters didn't recognize him, and the driver successfully avoided them, taking Yang Ping to the research institute.

Some people like fame, but others feel that fame is a burden; Yang Ping is the latter.

The atmosphere at the research institute was also somewhat different. Usually at this time, people would still be eating breakfast or just entering the lab, but today many people were standing by the windows or in the corridors, looking at the situation outside.

In the lobby on the first floor, Tang Shun and Song Ziming were already waiting for Yang Ping.

"Professor," Tang Shun and Song Ziming greeted him at the same time.

Tang Shun said, "This morning we received 87 emails, 36 of which were cooperation invitations from top international institutions, 21 were media interview requests, and the rest..."

“Everything will be handled according to procedure,” Yang Ping interrupted him. “The cooperation invitation will be forwarded to the Academic Committee, and the media request will be forwarded to the Publicity Department…”

Song Ziming reported, "A special case has been transferred from another place, and I would like to ask you to take a look at it this morning."

"Send the case details to my email, I'll go to the lab to take a look first," Yang Ping said as he walked.

Song Ziming nodded.

Yang Ping walked straight to the laboratory area, and went to the laboratory led by Jiang Jitong's team. Four young people were gathered around a computer, their expressions serious.

“Professor,” Chu Xiaoxiao looked up, her eyes a little red, as if she had stayed up all night, “the new data is a bit strange. Of the 15% of mice, most responded well after we used the new vaccine with enhancers, but two showed a strong immune response, the intensity and duration of which far exceeded expectations.”

"Let me see the data." Yang Ping walked to the computer.

The screen displayed complex immune response data, with the data from the two abnormal mice standing out like two abrupt mountain peaks, completely out of step with the overall trend.

"Has the experiment been repeated?"

“We’re working on it, but we need more animals, and…” Jiang Jitong continued, then hesitated for a moment, “we may need to adjust the experimental protocol. This strong reaction may mean that our enhancer may be at high risk in certain specific cases.”

Yang Ping pondered for a moment: "Let's pause the new experiment for now and do the most comprehensive analysis of all the data from those two abnormal mice, from genotype to microbiome. Sometimes, abnormality is not a mistake, but a deeper pattern knocking on the door."

"Good!" Jiang Jitong and everyone else cheered up again.

After leaving the lab, Yang Ping returned to his office, where he found information on a special case on his computer.

The patient is a nine-year-old boy named Lele, who suffers from an extremely rare autoinflammatory disease—STING-associated infantile vasculitis (SAVI). This disease is caused by a gain-of-function mutation in the STING gene, which causes the patient's immune system to be in a state of continuous overactivation, leading to systemic vasculitis, skin lesions, joint pain, and in severe cases, endangering life.

Existing treatments have limited effectiveness for Lele. High-dose hormones controlled the acute attacks, but caused serious side effects: osteoporosis, growth inhibition, and weakened immunity. Newer biological agents were tried, but with unsatisfactory results. Through a referral, the child's parents finally found the Sanbo Research Institute.

The case file included a photo: a thin boy with a butterfly rash typical of vasculitis on his face, but bright eyes, trying to smile at the camera.

Yang Ping glanced at the appointment time: 10:00 AM, one hour to go.

He opened his email and began processing necessary work emails. After finishing, Yang Ping stood by the window for some fresh air. Outside, the crowd at the institute's entrance had gradually dispersed, but several patient media outlets remained waiting.

At nine o'clock sharp, Tang Shun knocked on the door and came in: "Professor, Minister Liu from the Publicity Department would like to meet with you to discuss the follow-up media arrangements and public image..."

“I’ll leave all these things to them. I don’t need any publicity. I’ll tell them that I just need to work quietly, out of the media spotlight. I need to be invisible. All publicity work will revolve around this goal,” Yang Ping said clearly.

Tang Shun understood the professor's idea, responded, and left the office.

……

At 10:00 AM sharp, Yang Ping appeared at the outpatient clinic of Sanbo Institute.

Lele and his parents were already waiting there. The child was thinner and smaller than in the photos, sitting in a wheelchair with a sketchbook on his lap. The mother looked haggard, while the father tried to appear cheerful.

"Professor Yang, thank you for taking the time to see our Lele." The father stood up, his voice trembling slightly.

"Sit down, tell me slowly." Yang Ping sat down opposite him, first looking at the child, "Hello Lele, I'm Dr. Yang. I heard you like to draw?"

Lele nodded and handed over the sketchbook. It depicted a complex spaceship, with each component labeled with its imagined function: "Energy Core," "Warp Drive," "Ecological Cycling Module," and so on. The drawing was very detailed.

"A fantastic spaceship." Yang Ping looked at it intently. "Where do you want to take it?"

"Let's drive to Mars," Lele whispered. "I want to land on Mars before Musk does."

Yang Ping's heart trembled slightly. The child still had courage. He closed the sketchbook and looked at his parents: "Let me see all the medical records and test results."

For the next half hour, Yang Ping carefully reviewed all of Lele's medical records from the past three years: genetic testing confirmed a specific mutation in the STING gene; records of repeated acute attacks; various treatment options tried and their effects; assessments of the side effects of hormones...

“We’ve tried everything, including some experimental ones,” the mother said, her voice choked with emotion. “Some worked at first, but then stopped. Others had too many side effects, and the child couldn’t handle them…”

Yang Ping pondered. The essence of SAVI is the immune system's "misjudgment" and "overreaction," where the immune system mistakenly and continuously activates, attacking its own tissues. This is fundamentally similar to his research on systems regulation theory: both involve a system losing its balance.

The traditional approach is to suppress, inhibit, or shut down. But perhaps, what if we try a different approach?
“Lele’s immune system isn’t ‘broken’,” Yang Ping said slowly, “but rather the ‘regulator’ is malfunctioning, stuck in the ‘on’ position. We’ve been trying to forcibly ‘turn it off,’ but perhaps we can try to ‘fix the regulator’ so that it can ‘turn on’ and ‘off’ normally.” His parents looked at him, puzzled.

"Simply put, it's not about using stronger drugs to suppress it, but about using more precise methods to restore the immune system's own regulatory ability." Yang Ping drew a simple diagram on a piece of paper. "Just like Lele's spaceship, if a certain part overheats, it's not about directly removing it, but adjusting its cooling system."

"Is this... possible?" the father asked.

“Theoretically possible, but the success of actual clinical operation depends on many factors, such as existing research on the disease mechanism, the establishment of regulatory mechanisms, and whether the key to regulation can be found,” Yang Ping frankly said. “Therefore, designing a plan is difficult and risky. We need to first conduct a detailed immune profile analysis to understand the precise state of Lele’s immune system, and then design a personalized regulatory plan, which may include very low doses of specific regulators, combined with metabolic adjustment and microenvironment optimization.”

He paused for a moment: "This process could take several months, or even longer, and there is no guarantee of success."

The parents exchanged a glance. The mother took Lele's hand.

“Professor Yang, we’re willing to try.” The father’s voice was firm. “We have nothing left to lose. As long as there’s a glimmer of hope…”

“At this point, we can only say there is a glimmer of hope,” Yang Ping continued. “It’s a new direction, but we need to work together. Starting tomorrow, Lele will need to undergo a series of detailed examinations. At the same time, I need your cooperation to record his daily symptoms, diet, mood changes, and all the details.”

"Okay! We'll definitely cooperate!"

As Lele was leaving the consultation room, she suddenly spoke up: "Dr. Yang."

"Ok?"

"If I recover from my illness, can I go see a real rocket launch?"

Yang Ping squatted down and looked the child in the eye: "Of course!"

Lele's eyes lit up, and she nodded vigorously.

……

It was already noon when we got back to the research institute. In the cafeteria, everyone was still discussing what had happened that morning.

"Professor, did you go to the clinical ward this morning?" Tang Shun came over with a tray. "The publicity department has arranged a small press conference tomorrow afternoon. Also, the Swedish Embassy sent a formal invitation regarding details of the awards ceremony in December..."

“Okay, you handle it,” Yang Ping said simply.

"You're not going to the awards ceremony either?" Tang Shun asked, somewhat disappointed but also excited.

"You and Song Ziming go together. You two can decide who goes on stage to receive the award. I'm not going. I've been quite busy lately. I've taken on a special case that I need to study carefully to extend the system regulation theory to diseases beyond tumors. This case is very suitable as a research subject." Yang Ping said as if he were talking about something very ordinary.

Tang Shun was stunned for a moment: "Really? We're going?"

"Really! You guys go!" Yang Ping confirmed.

Tang Shun nodded. Going to Sweden to receive the award was such a good thing, he was of course willing to do it for him.

At 3 p.m., Jiang Jitong came to find Yang Ping.

"Professor, the preliminary analysis of those two abnormal mice is in." His expression was complicated. "Their gut microbiota composition is very unusual, with an abnormally high proportion of a rare strain. We suspect that a certain molecule produced by this strain's metabolism has an unexpected interaction with the vaccine we gave them, leading to an excessive immune response."

“Yes, you’ve done a good job.” Yang Ping’s eyes lit up. “This shows that our vaccine enhancer technology still needs further improvement, and the research needs to cover some very special situations.”

"So this isn't a failure?"

"Of course not, this is because we discovered new variables and new interactions," Yang Ping said. "We redesigned the experiment to take microbial factors into account."

Jiang Jitong left, seemingly lost in thought.

At four o'clock in the afternoon, Yang Ping finished his necessary tasks and began to review Lele's preliminary immune test results. The data was complex, but certain patterns were beginning to emerge: some of Lele's regulatory immune cells were malfunctioning, and certain inflammatory pathways were in a state of persistent low-level activation...

He sketched and drew on paper, attempting to outline a preliminary regulatory framework. It wasn't simply about inhibition, but a multi-target, low-dose, synergistic regulatory strategy. This required meticulous calculations and design.

……

That evening, after Xiaoshu fell asleep, Yang Ping returned to his study. On the computer screen were the requirements for the first draft of his speech for the December Stockholm awards ceremony. He needed to prepare a speech of about 20 minutes, to be delivered at 4 PM Stockholm time (11 PM Beijing time) on December 10th.

He drafted the speech, but he wouldn't be the one giving the speech at the award ceremony; that task would be completed by Song Ziming and Tang Shun.

He opened a new document, leaving the title blank for now.

What should I talk about? Complex molecular mechanisms? Ingenious data models? How these theories are changing the medical paradigm?

He thought of Lele in the clinic today, the spaceship the child had drawn, and his question, "Can I go see a real rocket launch?" He thought of the origins of the theory of system regulation, which wasn't about publishing papers or winning awards, but about answering a simple question: Is there a better way to help the body restore balance?

Outside the window, the night was dimly lit. In the distance, towards the research institute, a few windows were still lit; perhaps someone was analyzing data, or perhaps preparing for tomorrow's experiment.

Yang Ping wrote the first line at the beginning of the document:

Medicine is a dialogue with life…

He paused for a moment, then continued writing:
"What I want to talk about tonight is not about conquering disease, but about listening to the body; not about heroic intervention, but about humble cooperation; not about winning the war, but about the art of balance."

As the words flowed slowly, he spoke of patients struggling with illness, how systems thinking offered new perspectives, and how the young people in his team translated ideas into practice. He spoke of failures and unexpected discoveries, and the essence of science.

Finally, he wrote:
"The halo of the Nobel Prize may fade with time, but the lights that shine late into the night in the laboratory, the light that is rekindled in the eyes of patients, and the unceasing curiosity about the complexity of life—these are the true brilliance of science. This brilliance does not come from external bestowal, but from an inner pursuit."

After finishing the first draft, Yang Ping checked the time: 11:30 p.m.

It's 4:30 pm in Stockholm, a time when the days are short and dusk is approaching. In December, when the awards are presented, it gets dark there by 3 pm, but the cold won't dampen the scientists' enthusiasm for exploring the unknown.