Homo sapiens

It's quiet at night.

The wilderness of the small mountain village is particularly peaceful.

The sound of dripping raindrops and the occasional north wind passing through the forest.

In the bedroom on the second floor, Li Qingye was half lying on the bed, closing his eyes and meditating next to the dim and bright yellow desk lamp.

The past events are vivid in my mind.

Father……

Mother……

Brother...

Figures, fragments, and sounds filled his mind.

…

Near Jiangcheng University, Li Qingye opened a cosmetics company here with more than 20 million yuan sponsored by his mother.

In fact, this company is just a brand. In order to avoid the problem of privately applying for a biochemical laboratory, Li Qingye used the company's shell to conveniently open a research institute.

However, the cosmetics company's laboratory spent about 22 million to purchase a lot of scientific instruments for the biochemical laboratory.

He previously studied biochemistry and molecular biology at Jiangcheng University. He completed his master's degree in 2015 and then studied for a doctoral degree with a supervisor.

This laboratory was a graduation gift given to Li Qingye by his mother in 2015.

After that, he studied for a Ph.D. while studying something he was interested in in his laboratory until July 2016.

An old classmate who went to the University of Copenhagen to study for a Ph.D. sent him a genetic sequence test report, saying that the genetic sequence was detected from the samples extracted from an ancient human remains excavated from a glacier in the Alps. .

Li Qingye is very interested in this. According to his analysis, this ancient human is most likely a Neanderthal.

During his sleepless research, Li Qingye suddenly had a sudden impulse and took out the genetic samples he had collected previously (collected through free physical examinations in surrounding towns and villages) and analyzed the 300 genetic samples he had.

During the analysis process, he extracted all the gene fragments related to the Nigerians from the genetic samples.

After comparison and piecing together, the Nigerian gene fragments in these samples showed a large amount of overlap with the Nigerian gene sequences sent by classmates.

Li Qingye was very excited about this. If these pieced together Nigerian gene fragments could be combined, would it be possible to restore the Nigerian people?

As he continued his in-depth research, Li Qingye used gene editing technology (third-generation technology: CRISPR-Cas9) to insert these gene fragments into mouse stem cells, hoping to combine these genes.

It's just that this kind of gene editing experiment is more difficult than I imagined. After all, the gene fragments left by the Neanderthals in the genetic sequence of modern Homo sapiens are too fragmented and rare.

Soon the laboratory's mouse stem cells were depleted.

Seeing that the experiment was making no progress, Li Qingye also felt that he had gone too far.

Without stem cell materials, other materials can only be selected as the matrix. Boring and complicated gene editing is carried out in more than a dozen types of animal stem cells.

Before I knew it, time came to October 2016.

As usual, the first thing I do when I get up every day is to observe the edited animal stem cells. I thought it would be another day of nothing until culture medium No. 57.

Under the microscope.

The lighthouse jellyfish stem cells in culture medium No. 57 actually developed into the form of a hydroid. What is even more surprising is that the polyp has some changes.

After further testing and testing, a new enzyme was discovered in the jellyfish.

Li Qingye studied this enzyme while doing repeated experiments.

One month later.

He looked at the hundreds of gene-edited lighthouse jellyfish swimming slowly in the aquarium, and the light blue liquid in the test tube in his hand.

"This thing can actually turn some genes into pseudogenes, but..." Li Qingye looked at several cages not far away in surprise and joy.

Inside the iron cages, there are several domestic pigs, all suffering from varying degrees of aging, organ lesions and genetic diseases.

If that was all, then Li Qingye might not be too interested in this enzyme. More importantly, this enzyme could also activate some recessive genes.

"If this enzyme can be made more controllable and reduce side effects, then maybe..." He was evaluating the value of this enzyme in his mind.

Thinking of the huge potential in this test tube, Li Qingye was so excited that he could not sleep at night. He continued to study this enzyme without eating or sleeping. At the same time, he began to try to adjust the gene sequence of gene editing to see if he could synthesize new enzymes or compounds.

In fact, Li Qingye is quite a contradictory person regarding his hobby of scientific research.

He has lived under the protection of his parents since he was a child. At the same time, his eldest brother is also very capable. Originally, his parents hoped that he could go to Peking University to study law and pass the public examination in the future, while his eldest brother continued to develop in business. , the two brothers can complement each other.

It's a pity that Li Qingye is very resistant to this arrangement.

For the first time, he went against his father's arrangement and enrolled in Jiangcheng University's major in biochemistry and molecular biology, just to prove himself.

After all, he may never be able to surpass his father and eldest brother in business in his lifetime, and the intrigues in the officialdom make him feel very annoying and uncomfortable.

After much deliberation, the only option left was the field of science.

Although I relied on my mother's help, achievements in the field of science, talent and hard work are also very important.

This unexpected discovery made Li Qingye feel very excited, because he could finally prove himself to everyone.

In order to improve this special enzyme, he did not even go back to Pengcheng to meet his parents during the New Year of 2017. Instead, he continued to stay in the laboratory in Jiangcheng and immersed himself in research day and night.

until……

That day, a phone call came with shocking news.

He was so distraught that he couldn't help but burst into tears.

At that moment, his life turned into darkness. The scientific achievements that shocked the world, the milestones in the history of human evolution, and proving himself to the world all became meaningless.

If possible, he would rather give up this achievement in exchange for his parents' peace.

Maybe that's how people behave.

Only when you lose it will you feel cherished.

Li Qingye, who was like a walking corpse, returned to Pengcheng, only to see the cold corpses of his parents. Regret, despair, and grief were entrenched in his heart, making him feel like he had lost his soul.

The night is getting darker.

The raindrops outside the window have stopped, and the north wind has become much quieter.

Li Qingye, who had nightmares again and again, slept until noon the next day in exhaustion.

For half a month, he saw no one except an aunt in the village who brought food to him, and he was alone in the house.

Until the afternoon of April 13th.

The instructor's phone rang. Li Qingye, a man with stubble and dull eyes, looked at the ringtones that kept ringing and weakly pressed the answer button:

"Hello……"

"Qingye, my condolences. I plan to go to America for an academic visit in the near future. Would you like to come with me to change my mood?"

But Li Qingye, who was heartbroken, had no idea of ​​going abroad: "Boss, I plan to stop taking the doctoral examination..."

"What? Qingye, your talent is very good. Isn't it a pity to give up like this? You have to think about it carefully! Don't regret it when the time comes." The instructor advised with concern.

"No, everything is meaningless."

"..." The instructor on the other side of the phone was silent for a while and continued: "Let's do this! You are still young anyway, so you can rest and adjust your mentality in the past six months, and then make a decision after half a year."

"Thank you, I'll think about it." Li Qingye replied perfunctorily, then hung up the phone and prepared to continue lying on the bed.

Suddenly a headline popped up in the phone's browser.

He subconsciously prepared to clean up...

Just the next second, Li Qingye was stunned, and then clicked on the news.

After watching the news, he felt completely unwell, and his eyes flickered uncertainly: "What's going on? Is it...impossible..."

Li Qingye, who couldn't believe it, continued to search for relevant news online, and soon hundreds of relevant news appeared on the mobile phone page.

After browsing through the items one by one, his face became more and more gloomy, and at the same time, a terrible thought came to his mind.