1900: A physics genius wandering around Europe

Chapter 682 The Birth of Penicillin! A Shock to the Entire Audience! 3 Major Problems! I'll Sol

Chapter 682 The Birth of Penicillin! A Shock to the Entire Audience! Three Major Problems! I'll Solve Them! A Million Dollar Spending!
Inside the Institute of Biology.

Li Qiwei returned here after less than half a year.

However, during this period, he had already heard Bingzhi's reports several times.

There was nothing we could do; the other party was just too agitated.

"Ma Yucheng has discovered a new antibiotic!"

This news was like a bomb, shocking everyone in the research institute.

"My God!"

"Dr. Ma actually succeeded!"

"He searched for antibiotics all by himself, never giving up, and now he has finally succeeded!"

Everyone was happy for Ma Yucheng.

Soon after, Ma Yucheng explained that he was able to discover the antibiotics because Professor Li had inadvertently contaminated his petri dish.

It immediately caused a burst of exclamation.

Everyone stared wide-eyed, exclaiming incredulously:
"Wow!"

"What a coincidence!"

"It feels like it was destined."

The main conference room on the first floor.

At this moment, all the researchers in the biological research institute were in place.

Today's meeting is for Ma Yucheng and the antibiotic he discovered.

Everyone sat in their seats, discussing animatedly.

"Dr. Ma's story is so legendary!"

"He is in no way inferior to Dr. Zhao Zhongyao!"

In pursuit of his academic dreams, a biological genius resolutely left his homeland and came to Borneo to follow Professor Li.

Professor Li's words solidified my dream of researching antibiotics.

However, after two short years, he gained nothing and faced only failure every day, but he never gave up.

At the biotechnology conference, the world's leading biotechnologists were not optimistic about the antibiotic research project, but he persisted.

Professor Li happened to be visiting the research institute and was impressed by his persistence and rigor.

And so, a beautiful accident occurred.

In this unexpected incident, the Penicillium mold cultivated by Li Youyou made an unparalleled contribution!

Without her penicillin, there would be no antibiotics for Ma Yucheng.

Therefore, Ma Yucheng always says, "Youyou and I discovered antibiotics together."

But Li Youyou didn't care.

"I haven't done anything special."

"If it weren't for your persistence in researching antibiotics, Senior Brother Ma, we wouldn't have paid any attention to this phenomenon even if we had discovered it."

For a time, their story became a popular tale.

Just as everyone was discussing it enthusiastically.

Li Qiwei, accompanied by Bingzhi, Ma Yucheng, and Li Youyou, entered the conference room.

As soon as they entered, everyone present stood up and applauded for a long time.

The discovery of antibiotics can be attributed to their joint efforts.

Even many people's inner thoughts are:
"Professor Li, hurry up and pollute me."

"I also want a beautiful accident."

Li Qiwei greeted everyone with a smile, and soon everyone took their places.

At this moment, Ma Yucheng walked to the front of the stage with great confidence.

Back in January of this year, he had already completed the culture of Staphylococcus aureus, thus discovering the bactericidal effect of Penicillium.

However, being a meticulous person, he did not immediately make a fuss and let everyone know. Instead, he quietly reported to Director Bingzhi first.

Upon hearing this, the latter was astonished and immediately shared the good news with Professor Li.

When Li Qiwei learned of this, he was very happy and immediately instructed the other party to continue to conduct in-depth research on the properties of this antibiotic.

"At that time, I want to hear Ma Yucheng's report in person."

Thus, today's meeting came about.

For the past six months, Ma Yucheng has spent every day in a state of extreme excitement.

He even lived in the research institute, and every day the first thing he did upon waking up was to check on the bacteria he had cultivated.

The other party's obsessive passion impressed everyone in the institute.

And today, the time for Ma Yucheng to reap the rewards has finally arrived!

At that moment, he spoke calmly and forcefully:

"Professor Li, colleagues, hello everyone."

"Through my detailed and systematic research, I have proven that what kills Staphylococcus aureus is a certain secretion product of Penicillium."

"Please look at the picture."

"I multiplied a lot of Penicillium mold in the culture medium and then filtered out its secretions."

"Next, these secretions were dripped into the culture medium of Staphylococcus aureus."

"A few hours later, all the Staphylococcus aureus bacteria died."

The image shows many large and small white areas in the golden culture medium; these are the remnants of Staphylococcus aureus after it was killed.

Everyone gasped in astonishment!

This is definitely an antibiotic.

Ma Yucheng continued:
“接着，我又把青霉菌分泌物培养液稀释了1/2、1/4直到1/800，以此滴入金葡菌的培养基中。”

"The results showed that even secretions diluted 800 times could still kill all Staphylococcus aureus!"

Wow!
The whole place erupted in cheers!
This bactericidal power surpasses that of any currently known antibiotic.

Absolutely stunning!

"My God!"

"That's awesome!"

"Dr. Ma's antibiotic discovery is unbeatable!"

Bingzhi, Li Youyou, and others were also amazed.

This truly gives people hope for natural antibiotics.

However, Li Qiwei simply smiled and said, "The road ahead is still long."

Suddenly someone asked:
"Dr. Ma, is it possible that this Penicillium secretion is only effective against Staphylococcus aureus and has no effect on other bacteria?"

Everyone nodded in agreement.

This is a good question.

If it is only effective for specific purposes, then its value is greatly reduced.

After all, there are so many kinds of bacteria in nature, killing only Staphylococcus aureus is not very meaningful.

Ma Yucheng smiled calmly.

"That's what I'm going to talk about next."

"In addition to Staphylococcus aureus, I also conducted experiments on 18 other of the most common bacteria, including diphtheria, anthrax, streptococci, and pneumococci."

"Please look at the results."

"Data shows that Penicillium secretions have a highly effective bactericidal effect on all of the above bacteria."

"That's why I'm so certain that this is a completely different antibiotic from any other!"

boom!
This caused a complete uproar in the venue!

The results from Ma Yucheng were truly astonishing.

This new antibiotic not only has a super strong bactericidal effect, but also a wide range of bactericidal effects. It is simply the perfect antibiotic that countless people have been dreaming of.

At this moment, everyone's expression towards Ma Yucheng changed.

"Dr. Ma is about to take off!"

"He could even win the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for this achievement!"

That was an astonishing achievement.

Just as everyone was breathing heavily, Li Qiwei asked with a smile:

"Yu Cheng, what are the drawbacks of this antibiotic?"

Wow!
Everyone was shocked!
What did Professor Li mean by that?
How could such a perfect antibiotic have any drawbacks?

However, Ma Yucheng was shocked and full of admiration.

While everyone else was blindly enthusiastic and excited, only Professor Li noticed the problem.

However, as a rigorous scholar, Ma Yucheng never thought of escaping or covering it up.

He said sincerely:

"Yes, Professor."

"This antibiotic currently has three problems." "First, when I conducted oral administration experiments on mice, I encountered an extremely high mortality rate."

"Analysis revealed that the antibiotics killed the normal flora in the mice's intestines, leading to impaired digestive system function."

Wow!
The crowd gasped in surprise and sighed in disbelief!

This new antibiotic is so effective at killing bacteria that it kills normal bacteria in the body.

It can be described as killing a thousand enemies while losing twelve thousand of your own.

This is a bit awkward.
"Secondly, this antibiotic is very difficult to extract, and its aqueous solution is very unstable."

"I have not yet isolated any antibiotics from Penicillium secretions."

"Third, if industrial-scale mass production were to be carried out, the current concentration of antibiotics in Penicillium secretions would be far from sufficient."

"Therefore, it is also necessary to consider increasing the production of antibiotics."

Wow!
Everyone was instantly doused with cold water.

They initially thought this new antibiotic would be incredibly effective, but it has three major drawbacks.

These problems have severely hampered the use of antibiotics.

Everyone deeply and vividly felt the gap between scientific research and practical application.

After raising his three questions, Ma Yucheng was quite troubled.

Without a doubt, his discovery was absolutely groundbreaking, more than enough to warrant any academic paper.

However, if we want to compete for the Nobel Prize and even truly benefit humanity, we must solve these three problems.

Unfortunately, he had no clue what to do at the moment.

The room gradually quieted down again.

Everyone felt sorry for Ma Yucheng.

The other party was just a little short of reaching that supreme realm.

At this moment, Li Youyou took Li Qiwei's hand and said:

"Dad, please find a way to help Senior Brother Ma."

"He finally discovered a new antibiotic, it would be a real shame if he got stuck here."

Li Qiwei was deeply moved.

Advances in science and technology are never achieved overnight, but are fraught with difficulties and setbacks.

However, China has already traversed too many difficult paths.

It's time to take some shortcuts.

So, when everyone was disappointed, he said domineeringly:
"Just three minor issues."

"Nothing to fear!"

"I'll help you solve it!"

Wow!
The whole place was shocked!

Ma Yucheng's eyes widened instantly, his expression filled with excitement.

Professor Li has taken action!

Even though the other person wasn't a biology major, he still had strong confidence.

"Because that's Professor Li!"

At this moment, amidst everyone's anticipation, Li Qiwei said:

"The first question is a medical one."

“When I was in Europe, the top doctors there preferred injections to oral administration.”

"If it were an injection of antibiotics, you wouldn't have this problem."

Wow!
Everyone was shocked.

Injection technology was definitely a high-end medical technology of that era, roughly equivalent to cardiac surgery and neurosurgery in later generations.

Most people in China have never heard of it.

Taking medicine, taking medicine, isn't it all about taking it?
Can medication be injected?
However, Bingzhi was very clear about it.

He knew that foreign medical institutions possessed this technology, and that the treatment was highly effective.

Because of injection, the drug can quickly and evenly reach all parts of the body to exert its effect.

If taken orally, the medication will not only take longer to act, but stomach acid will also affect its effectiveness.

Therefore, if we switch to injectable antibiotics, the first problem will be solved.

Ma Yucheng was extremely intelligent and figured it out instantly.

"Okay, Professor."

"I immediately conducted an injection drug test on the mice after the meeting."

Li Qiwei nodded, quite satisfied.

"The second question is a chemical one."

"You don't have to worry about that."

"I will invite top chemists and medical scientists to solve this problem."

"Separation and preservation are not a matter of principle, but a technical issue, which can be resolved."

"As for the last question, it's not even a scientific question."

"We just need to find a strain of Penicillium that produces higher yields."

"If it's not in Kuching, then search all over Borneo; if it's not in Borneo, then search all over China."

"I believe that we can definitely find such a Penicillium strain."

In real history, after taking over Fleming's penicillin experiments, Florey was constantly looking for strains with higher yields.

There are many different types of Penicillium, and the species can vary in soil from region to region.

One day, while Flory was buying fruit at the market, he suddenly noticed that a cantaloupe was covered in mold.

He recognized it as Penicillium mold at a glance.

Moreover, the Penicillium mold on this cantaloupe is growing very robustly, clearly indicating a high-yield strain.

Florey immediately took it back to the laboratory, and after isolation, he found that its yield was more than two thousand times that of ordinary Penicillium.

Florey was overjoyed; he finally saw hope for the industrial application of penicillin.

Later, he used this to impress those large pharmaceutical companies, and just then World War II broke out, which led to a surge in demand for Penicillium.

As a result, with the support of capital, countless people searched for high-yield strains of bacteria, and the dosage of penicillin was constantly increased, from two thousand times to tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of times.

In clinical practice, penicillin dosage is generally expressed in units. For example, an adult needs to be injected with a dose of 50 units each time, 2 to 3 times a day.

One gram of penicillin powder can only produce approximately 1.6 million units of penicillin.

In the early stages, Florey's colleague Chain spent a full 18 months purifying a mere 100mg of penicillin.

This demonstrates its rarity and value; it is no exaggeration to say that it is worth more than gold.

At that moment, Li Qiwei's three answers filled everyone with confidence.

Finally, he added fuel to the fire:
"I plan to set up a special research and development team, with Bingzhi as the team leader and Ma Yucheng as the deputy team leader."

“You will report to me separately.”

"In addition, I will invest $100 million initially specifically for the research work on the isolation, purification and strain identification of this antibiotic."

"I am very optimistic about its future!"

boom!
The audience erupted in cheers again!

Everyone was astonished by Professor Li's extravagant gesture.

Nothing's even here yet, and they've already thrown in a million dollars?

That's incredibly extravagant!

However, only Rigdwell knew that compared to the enormous future value of penicillin, $100 million was nothing.

Problems that can be solved with money are not problems.

Bingzhi and Ma Yucheng immediately looked excited.

They sensed Professor Li's strong determination; he was extremely optimistic about this antibiotic.

For a moment, the two were filled with fighting spirit.

Ma Yucheng, in particular, felt as if his heart had been ignited, and his whole body was filled with boundless power.

Finally, Li Youyou asked excitedly: