They’re all reborn, what’s wrong with being a little more almighty?

Chapter 220 My name is Zhang Wei, the Zhang Wei you know!
Zhang Wei felt that today's trip was in vain.

Just to watch others do an IPS cell induction experiment, I came here half an hour early and waited. It was like a loss to my grandma’s house. If you have the time, it would be good to find a cool place and watch the cherry blossom girls in short skirts!
But then I thought again, there really aren't many girls to see at the University of Tokyo. When I walked around the campus, most of them were old men.

There have been more men than women in Japanese universities for a long time. Among them, the situation in private universities is better, with the proportion of female students reaching 30%, while the proportion of female students in public universities is less than a quarter. At top universities like the University of Tokyo, the proportion of female students is less than 20%.

20% of girls, even excluding the ugly ones, really have nothing to show for their beauty.

"The experimental display has just begun. It would be a waste of time for me to continue to stay. Otherwise, I would have left early and went to the comics club for a walk. Then I would ask about the comics newcomer award in the fall. I will also participate. Maybe I will be selected by some magazine. I took a fancy to it and made my debut!”

Zhang Wei was thinking about leaving early, and Special Researcher Takahashi began to introduce it incessantly.

First, he introduced the importance of IPS cells, then introduced the principles of inducing IPS cells, and then talked about the experimental procedures, which are basically what Zhang Wei wrote in his paper.

Everyone in the observation area listened carefully, but Zhang Wei looked absent-minded. He looked at his watch and the location of the exit from time to time, obviously trying to escape while others were not paying attention.

But Zhang Wei's look around caught the attention of Special Researcher Takahashi.

There was no way around it. Zhang Wei and Lu Yunxiang, two tall men over 1.8 meters tall, found it difficult to remain inconspicuous among the crowd of young people.

He then asked: "I remember that the paper on IPS cells was published after you returned to China in June. It has only been three months, and the Japanese have already produced it. Is this considered fast or slow?"

Lu Yunxiang didn't know much about Zhang Wei's situation at Princeton, and he didn't explain it to Zhou Zilong.

The conversation between the two fell into Zhou Zilong's ears, and the more he listened, the more mysterious it became.

Lu Yunxiang is from the northwest, and his family conditions are good. He has not lacked nutrition since he was a child, so he has naturally grown taller. Zhang Wei is from Jiaodong, which is the place with the highest per capita height in the country, and is definitely worthy of the title of Shandong Man.

But out of professional ethics, Takahashi continued speaking patiently.

Zhou Zilong next to him heard the words "Princeton" and immediately asked curiously: "Zhang Wei, are you talking about the Princeton University in the United States? Have you ever been to Princeton?"

"The one you did at Princeton?"

After an introduction, Takahashi entered the experiment.

Under normal circumstances, mice that can be used in experiments are only two weeks old and can mature in about a month and have certain reproductive capabilities. The mice can gain one-tenth of their body weight in a day.

However, at this moment, Lu Yunxiang poked Zhang Wei with his elbow.

Calculating it this way, Japanese researchers should have completed the verification of repeated experiments at least last month. Now they dare to demonstrate it, which shows that their technology is relatively proficient. "Zhang Wei slowly explained.

After entering the experiment, the discussion in the observation area never stopped.

"What do you mean, Zhang Wei has also done IPS cell induction experiments?" Zhou Zilong asked curiously.

"I see." Lu Yunxiang nodded, and then asked: "That Takahashi said that the vector they use is different from yours. You use a retrovirus, and they use an adenovirus. Is it more efficient than yours?" advanced?"

After I returned to Tsinghua University, my new project was to directly use transcription factor proteins to achieve induction effects. This is equivalent to directly realizing the reprogramming process of cells. This is the safest IPS cell. "

"Under normal circumstances, after the paper is published, if the experiment goes well, repeated experimental verification can be completed within one month. Mice grow very fast, especially the mice used in experiments, which are specially cultured, and the growth cycle is shorter than The average mouse is shorter.

Takahashi suddenly felt a little angry. I am patiently explaining here, but you look distracted. Do you disrespect me?

In fact, even in China, those born in the 2005s are considered tall if they are over 3 meters tall. In , only % of Chinese men were taller than meters. There are even fewer people in Japan who are over meters tall.

“In the original paper on inducing IPS cells, the author used retrovirus as a vector to randomly insert foreign genes into the host genome, but this would make the induced IPS cells potentially carcinogenic.

"Viagra is for scientific research. He started a scientific research project at Princeton." Lu Yunxiang said.

Putting these two people in a crowd, they would definitely stand out from the crowd.

"That's it." Zhang Wei nodded.

Immediately afterwards, Takahashi said in English: "Those three students in the second row, if you have any unique insights into my experimental demonstration, you might as well come to the stage and tell me!"

Zhang Wei replied: "Actually, for me, using adenovirus as a vector is relatively backward. This method can reduce the risk of cancer, which is similar to using plasmids.

"Not only have we done experiments, in the field of IPS cells, no one can compare with me Viagra!" Lu Yunxiang said with great enthusiasm.

Zhang Wei saw that everyone was focusing on the experiment and felt that no one was paying attention to him, so he planned to escape by urinating.

You also know that my experimental funds at that time came from Professor Shi, so I had to pursue the progress of the experiment and produce results as quickly as possible, otherwise it would be difficult for Professor Shi to explain. "Zhang Wei then explained.

"I didn't do anything else at Princeton!"

"Being able to participate in scientific research projects at Princeton University, Zhang Wei, you really hide your secrets!" Zhou Zilong said with envy as before.

"Theoretically, it is true. Adenovirus can reduce the potential carcinogenicity of IPS cells, but it is more difficult to induce. I didn't consider using adenovirus at the time, but in order to speed up the experiment, I used retrovirus. .

Just as Zhou Zilong was about to continue asking, Special Researcher Takahashi, who was conducting experiments, suddenly stopped what he was doing, then raised his head and stared at the three of them fiercely.

"Brother, the IPS cells he made are the same ones you made!" Lu Yunxiang asked.

"Then you can also make the adenovirus he used, right?" Lu Yunxiang then asked.

"In the first half of this year, I viagra stayed at Princeton for half a year." Lu Yunxiang answered for Zhang Wei.

In our research, we improved this step. We used adenovirus instead of retrovirus, and successfully induced IPS cells. This is also the biggest highlight of my demonstration experiment this year! "

It is common for exchange students to participate in scientific research projects or academic seminars. At the University of Tokyo, there are also many excellent exchange students who can temporarily participate in scientific research projects. Therefore, Zhou Zilong regarded Zhang Wei as this situation. How could he have imagined that this was the case? , Zhang Wei went to Princeton University to be the project leader, and also developed Nobel Prize-level IPS cells.

Therefore, one month is enough to induce IPS cells, then inject them into mice, and then develop into various tissue cells of mice.

Although the mask covered half of Zhang Wei's face, through Zhang Wei's look at his watch from time to time and his look around, no matter how stupid Takahashi was, he could understand that this guy's thoughts were not here at all.

"Are you going to be an exchange student?" Zhou Zilong looked envious. In his opinion, being an exchange student at one of the world's top universities like Princeton is more prestigious than coming to the University of Tokyo.

But this crane is still making small movements. As long as Takahashi is not blind, he can see it.

……

Since this kind of demonstration experiment is open to observation, it is natural for on-site visitors to discuss it.

Academic matters cannot be done behind closed doors, and it is impossible for everyone to have the same idea. At this time, discussions are needed to understand knowledge and expand thinking.

Takahashi was also used to this situation. He turned a deaf ear to all the trivial sounds in the observation area and was completely immersed in the experiment.

For a qualified experimenter, it is a basic quality to be free from external interference during experiments. As he is only one step away from becoming an assistant professor, he has naturally already developed this skill.

Until several tonal sounds entered his ears. Takahashi instantly recognized that this was Chinese!
Although Takahashi has never studied Chinese, he can still distinguish Chinese. After all, Chinese has tones and is easier to distinguish from other languages.

"Some people speak Chinese, and there are Chinese people in the viewing area!" Takahashi suddenly felt a little depressed in his heart, and a very painful memory began to circle in his mind.

It was 2004. The Institute of Regenerative Medicine at the University of Tokyo, where Takahashi worked, launched a big project, which was induced stem cells, also known as IPS cells.

The project leader at the time promised Takahashi that once the IPS cell development was successful, not only would he be directly promoted to assistant professor, but the person in charge would also give priority to recommending him for promotion to associate professor.

Knowing that he could get a quick promotion and salary increase, Takahashi devoted himself wholeheartedly to the research of IPS cells, spending time in the laboratory day and night, conducting research.

From the initial identification of specifically expressed genes, to the subsequent analysis of genes, and then to the application of biochemistry, cell biology and genetics methods to determine their biological functions in stem cell maintenance. Takahashi participated in every step of development and was always the most active one.

The project team also tried several viruses as vectors, and finally selected adenovirus, conducted preliminary experiments, and achieved some results.

By 2005, the project had made great progress, and the identification of specifically expressed genes had been narrowed down to less than fifty, ready for screening experiments.

According to the speed of the screening test, the gene screening work can be completed in less than a year. If induced cells are produced, biological experiments can be entered.

According to the growth cycle of mice, after entering the biological experiment, the results will be available in less than a month. Including the time to write the paper, the results will be published to the public in about mid-2006, and Takahashi can be successfully promoted. Become an assistant professor, wait two or three years, and then be promoted to associate professor. Your career can be said to be bright for one year.

Just when Takahashi was looking forward to a bright future, a paper in Science shattered Takahashi's dream. IPS cells were actually developed by other scholars! In the field of scientific research, this situation is not uncommon, especially for some popular scientific research projects. There must be many laboratories developing them. It is normal for others to develop faster than others.

It's like a long-distance race. The competition is not about who starts first or who puts in more effort during the race, but who reaches the finish line first. The gold medal always goes to the one who reaches the finish line first.

But this was the first time Takahashi encountered this situation, and he could not bear the consequences.

For the same scientific research project, if someone else produces the results first, it means that all the efforts of more than a year ago have been in vain! There is no hope of promotion or salary increase.

Thinking about the past year, I worked overtime until early morning every day, but in the end it was all in vain. I was really depressed, and the pain was really painful.

Takahashi also remembers the signature on the paper, the person who made him work in vain for a year-Zhang Wei!
Takahashi is no stranger to this Chinese name. This name seems to have appeared out of nowhere in the biological world. In just half a year, three heavyweight papers, namely nucleoside modification, genetic scissors and IPS cells, were published. paper.

When Zhang Wei published his first two papers, Takahashi thought that this scholar was very talented, and he became a small fan of Zhang Wei. However, after the publication of the third paper, he gave Takahashi a desperate blow.

Since then, whenever Takahashi sees papers published by Chinese scholars or reads news about Chinese scholars, he can’t help but think of this painful memory.

At this time, when Takahashi heard someone speaking Chinese, he immediately realized that there were Chinese students in the observation area, and the past failure experience also appeared in Takahashi's mind.

Subconsciously, Takahashi glanced at the viewing area and saw that the person speaking Chinese was the big man who was absent-minded just now!

It was also at this moment that a feeling of resentment lingered in Takahashi's heart.

As a result, Special Researcher Takahashi, who was doing experiments, suddenly stopped what he was doing, then raised his head and stared at the three of them fiercely.

"When I spoke just now, you were absent-minded and disrespected me. The key point is that you are still Chinese! It is that Chinese named Zhang Wei who made more than a year of my hard work go to waste!"

The more Takahashi thought about it, the angrier he became, and his resentment towards Zhang Wei was transferred to Zhang Wei. Of course, Takahashi didn't know that the Zhang Wei in front of him was Zhang Wei!

Takahashi said in English, "Those three students in the second row, if you have any unique insights into my experimental demonstration, you might as well come to the stage and tell me!"

Seeing Gao Qiao's sudden words, the viewing area fell silent, and then everyone's eyes focused on Zhang Wei and the other three.

However, Zhang Wei, who was named by Takahashi, was a little surprised. He knew that there were quite a few people discussing the experiment in the observation area. Why did Takahashi specifically name him? Could it be that he was specifically targeting himself?
"Is it possible that this Takahashi has a grudge against me? But I don't know this person at all! I don't know any Japanese scholars, so there shouldn't be any enemies in Japan, right? You can't say that. National hatred will never be forgotten in this life. !”

Zhang Wei was wondering if he had offended anyone recently, while Takahashi, who was opposite him, saw that the three of them were silent and became even more arrogant.

"If you don't have any unique insights, just watch and study hard. Don't chat all the time and miss this precious opportunity! This is the latest and most cutting-edge scientific research result in the world. An experiment of this level would be impossible in your country twenty years ago." You won’t see it this year!”

Takahashi raised his face as he spoke, with a sense of arrogance in his bones.

"This Takahashi also knows that we are Chinese! But that's normal. Few Japanese are as tall as me. By the way, he deliberately clicked on me, is it because I am Chinese? There are not a few right-wingers in Japan. Is it possible? But this Takahashi is one of them!”

Zhang Wei frowned slightly, then looked at the two people on the left and right.

Zhou Zilong on the left lowered his head slightly. He was probably used to the condescending tone of Japanese scholars when facing Chinese students.

Lu Yunxiang looked unhappy, and he directly replied: "Then do you know that the latest and most cutting-edge scientific research results in the world were made by us Chinese! If we Chinese had not made IPS cells, how could we Have you here to show off the experiment today!”

Lu Yunxiang has been a proud man since he was a child. Apart from being frustrated by Zhang Wei, Ye Haotian and autistic people, he has never suffered such grievances in his daily life.

What's more, this guy is a second-generation rich man. When rich people speak, they are naturally tough. If they don't accept it, they will directly attack him.

When Takahashi saw Lu Yunxiang contradicting him, he immediately sneered and said, "It seems that this classmate knows a lot about IPS cells. Then you might as well tell me, what inducing genes are used in IPS cell induction experiments?" "

In the introduction just now, Takahashi only said that four induced genes would be introduced into the target host, but he did not say which four genes. At this time, he planned to use this information gap to attack Lu Yunxiang.

In a competition between scholars, the best way is to defeat your opponent with academics.

Of course Lu Yunxiang didn't know about this problem, so he had no choice but to look at Zhang Wei.

Of course Zhang Wei couldn't let his younger brother be bullied, so he said: "The four induced genes used are Oct3/4, Sox2, Klf4 and c-Myc. Among them, c-Myc is an oncogene, so IPS cells are carcinogenic. sex."

"I really know!" Takahashi was slightly shocked, and then asked: "Then do you know why these four genes are used?"

"Because these four genes all have stem cell-specific expression, let's start with the Oct3/4 gene, which is one of the POU transcription factors. It is located on human chromosome 6. This gene is strongly expressed in embryonic stem cells and germ cells. , is essential for maintaining cell pluripotency and self-renewal capabilities..."

Zhang Wei directly introduced these four genes.

Takahashi was shocked again, and then he asked the next question, but Zhang Wei could still answer it.

At this time, Takahashi had already discovered that Zhang Wei had a theoretical foundation for IPS cells, and he must have understood the relevant content of this technology.

Since theory can’t hold you back, let me talk about practice!
So Takahashi asked about the experiment again.

However, what Takahashi did not expect was something that could not be troubled by the Chinese in front of him. Zhang Wei could even tell the experimental data in detail.

While talking, Zhang Wei actually started to comment on Takahashi's experiment.

"You use adenovirus as a vector to reduce the cancer risk of IPS cells as much as possible, but in fact your research is of little significance.

There was a paper not long ago that introduced the use of plasmids as vectors to induce IPS cells, which can also reduce the risk of cancer.

If I were you, I would not focus my experiments on the induction of IPS cells, but try the application technology of IPS cells, such as trying to use IPS cells to induce various tissue cells.

In this regard, the University of Cambridge in the UK has already started to try to use IPS cells to induce dopamine neurons to treat neurological diseases such as ALS. "

Zhang Wei made Takahashi stay on the spot with all his words. He never expected that Zhang Wei knew so much about IPS cells and could even tell the future development trend of IPS cells and the research and development progress of various foreign universities!
To know this information, even the top professors at the Institute of Regenerative Medicine don’t know it!

Zhang Wei went to attend the commemoration of the Year of Einstein, and even Hawking met him. Naturally, other well-known scholars also made waves by the way. Of course, he also learned about the research directions of IPS cells in universities in various countries.

After all, Zhang Wei is the inventor of IPS cells. Those who study the application of IPS cells will definitely want to hear his opinions.

After a brief gaffe, Takahashi finally came to his senses. He stared at Zhang Wei and asked, "Are you an international student? Are you a graduate student?"

"No, I'm an exchange student!"

"Exchange students, then they are not graduate students." Takahashi said relieved. Undergraduate students have little academic ability, which is not enough evidence.

Then Takahashi showed a high profile again and asked: "Which university are you from?"

"China, Tsinghua University!"

"No wonder! That Zhang Wei is from Tsinghua University!" Takahashi showed an expression of sudden realization, and asked like an elder mentor: "You must have read Professor Zhang Wei's thesis, right?"

Zhou Zilong was obviously taken aback when he heard the title "Professor Zhang Wei". Lu Yunxiang was holding back a bad smile.

"The Zhang Wei you are talking about is the one who developed IPS cells, right?" Zhang Wei chuckled and said, "I have read all his papers word for word and almost memorized them! "

"You're so verbose!" A Japanese sentence came out of Takahashi's mouth, and then he said in English: "But you also know a lot of experimental data, which is not reflected in the paper! Did you participate in Professor Zhang Wei's Scientific research project!”

"I mainly watch people do experiments and then look at the experimental results. I hardly do anything." Zhang Wei replied with a smile.

"Let me just say that exchange students are usually undergraduates and cannot become experimenters on such an important project. However, it is a valuable opportunity to observe experiments and witness the birth of major scientific research results with your own eyes!"

At this time, Takahashi no longer had the arrogance he had just now.

As for scholars, they can't handle each other academically, and they can't gain any momentum.

If you are academically overwhelmed by the other party again, you will have to give in immediately!
Takahashi looked Zhang Wei up and down. Under the mask, he couldn't see his face clearly, and then he asked: "This classmate, what is your name?"

"My name is Zhang Wei!" Zhang Wei replied cheerfully.

"Zhang Wei?" Takahashi was stunned again. Isn't this exactly the nightmare name?
"It's the same name, right? It must be the same name. The name Zhang Wei should be very common in China! Isn't this a coincidence!" Takahashi thought to himself.

Zhang Wei continued: "Don't get me wrong, I, Zhang Wei, am not another Zhang Wei, but the Zhang Wei you know!"

(End of this chapter)