Chapter 1049 Castration Virus
Nandu Medical University Virus Laboratory, this is a level 3 biosafety laboratory, also known as a P3 laboratory.
According to the infectiousness and harmfulness of pathogenic microorganisms, internationally, biosafety laboratories are divided into four biosafety levels: P1, P2, P3 and P4. The so-called P4 laboratory is currently the laboratory with the highest biosafety level owned by humans, and is known as the "aircraft carrier" in the field of virology research.
The P4 laboratory of Nandu Medical University is under construction. Once completed, it will be the second P4 laboratory in China.
A week later, visible turbidity appeared in the sterile transparent culture fluid in the laboratory. When the researchers in protective clothing saw this turbidity, they were very excited.
These turbidities are nothing else, but the cultured K virus complex. Yang Ping temporarily called the combination of his virus and K factor the K virus complex.
The researchers carefully took out a part of the liquid containing the virus with special tools. Although these viruses are not infectious and have been castrated and have no replication, they still strictly follow the standard experimental operation procedures and dare not be negligent.
These samples will be subjected to the most stringent tests to check whether they are pure, whether they have mutated, or whether they are mixed with other harmful microorganisms.
Viruses are microorganisms with the ability to replicate themselves, so they must be treated with caution. Of course, as long as these viruses do not have rare mutations, they are still safe and will not cause any danger to the human body. At most, they will cause some transient mild flu symptoms, and this symptom is self-healing and will not leave any sequelae after self-healing. This is why some viruses can be used to treat tumors.
Some samples are sent to electron microscopes for observation after special treatment to analyze their structure.
The basic unit of the structure and function of life is the cell, but the virus is an exception. It is a non-cellular life and does not have a cell structure. It is just a simple protein structure. Of course, the simplicity here is only relative to the complexity of cellular organisms.
Because the virus has no cell structure, it must parasitize in living cells to survive and reproduce. It cannot live independently and must rely on the host cell to provide the necessary conditions for life activities. It reproduces in the host cell through adsorption, injection, replication, combination and release.
Since birth, humans have had to deal with countless viruses, bacteria and other microorganisms. After a long period of evolution, some microorganisms have become part of our bodies.
For example, the organelles in human cells - mitochondria.
Mitochondria are organelles in almost all eukaryotic cells. In ancient times, they were originally free-living viruses that could generate energy in the presence of oxygen; then they were engulfed by ancestral eukaryotic cells. When these viruses parasitized on ancestral eukaryotic cells for too long, they slowly forgot their original identity and became an indispensable energy generator in the cells - mitochondria, which is the place for cell respiration and many important metabolic processes.
Professor Zhang Zhiwei is an outstanding virologist invited back from the United States by President Rao. At that time, Professor Zhang returned to China as a member of the Thousand Talents Plan and came to Nandu Medical University to lead the research on virology, pushing Chinese virology research to the top position in the world.
He is a simple virologist and doesn't know much about using viruses to treat tumors. But when he heard that Yang Ping was going to use the new virus he cultivated directly for human experiments, he couldn't help but feel a little scared, because this violated the principles of scientific research ethics. Once something really happened, the consequences would be unimaginable and everyone would be involved.
When Professor Zhang heard that Yang Ping from Sanbo Hospital wanted to cooperate with him, he was eager to do so at first. Later, after understanding the situation, he felt uneasy. It is best to avoid such things if possible. It is better not to challenge some ethical rules casually, otherwise it is easy to put oneself in an irretrievable situation. There is no need to take such risks.
However, after talking with Yang Ping face to face, Professor Zhang changed his mind and developed admiration and respect for Yang Ping. Yang Ping's selfless courage for science made him ashamed, so he finally agreed to cooperate.
However, for safety, Professor Zhang has extremely strict requirements on the scientific researchers in the team in the details of the experiment. All researchers without three years of experience in virus research are prohibited from participating in this experiment.
Although these viruses are relatively safe, they have been modified by Yang Ping after all. Yang Ping combined the virus with the K factor to form a brand new virus. Although this virus still maintains the structure and function of the original virus from the perspective of the main structure, the function of the embedded K factor is very single, which only targets a type of tumor cells.
Professor He Zhiwei is not worried about the virus doing anything bad, he is worried about the K factor, this protein structure thing did not exist in the world before, it was cultivated out of thin air by Yang Ping in the laboratory, it is not a virus, it is just a protein molecule, it has no self-replication ability, how can it not cause much trouble.
But this K factor is different after combining with the virus, although it is not a virus, but it has now become a part of the virus, that is, it can now split with the virus, which is very scary.
K factor can start the apoptosis program of tumor cells and cause the death of tumor cells. If it gets out of control, it can start the apoptosis program of normal cells. After being injected into the human body, it attacks human cells indiscriminately. Large-scale cell death in various human cells, including cells of important organs, such as brain, heart, lung, liver, and kidney, will quickly cause organ failure and the patient will die.
For this reason, Yang Ping also considered this issue when designing the experimental plan. In order to avoid the experiment getting out of control, he castrated these viruses, that is, castrated their replication ability, so that no matter how destructive they are, they are not to be feared, because they cannot divide, so there are as many as there are, and the combat effectiveness is extremely limited. Moreover, even if these viruses are destructive, they will inevitably be completely destroyed.
In the laboratory, a small amount can be injected into the human body first. If there is unexpected damage, stop the injection and immediately treat the symptoms. The virus will slowly die in the human body, which is much safer.
Castration of the replication ability of the virus is a very mature technology. For example, this technology is used when making vaccines, such as viral vector vaccines.
It is a vaccine prepared with a virus (such as adenovirus) as a vector. These viruses used as carriers will have the genes required for replication knocked out in advance, so that they can infect human cells but cannot replicate. The gene fragment corresponding to the specific protein of the target pathogen is inserted into the vector virus genome, and the prepared vaccine is injected into the human body to infect the body cells and express the specific protein in the cells. This causes humoral immunity and cellular immunity at the same time, so that the body has a higher immunogenicity.
This process is actually similar to the principle of Yang Ping's current experiment, so sometimes cross-disciplinary integration can create something new. Some things that were originally used in another field may play a huge new role when applied in a new field.
The first batch of experimental viruses have used genetic recombination technology to knock out the genes required for replication and have undergone "sterilization surgery" on them, so even if they have extremely rare mutations, they cannot pass on the mutations, and the mutated individuals will soon die.
Professor Zhang Zhiwei personally participated in the experiment. He observed the sampled virus samples under an electron microscope and did not find any mutations in the virus for the time being, indicating that the purity meets the requirements of the experiment.
Speaking of virus mutations, not all mutations are bad for us. Very rare mutations may be fatal, but they may also be beneficial. However, most mutations have neither adverse nor beneficial effects. Some mutations do not even cause any changes. This is the so-called "silent mutation".
There are many reasons for virus mutations, including replication errors, interactions with the host, and external conditions, such as ultraviolet rays. At present, the main cause of mutations in the laboratory is replication errors. After being injected into the human body, mutations will also occur based on the interaction with the human body. However, these viruses are castrated versions, so even mutations have little effect.
Professor Zhang Zhiwei successfully obtained a certain number of samples, which temporarily met the experimental standards after inspection. He couldn't wait to tell Yang Ping the good news.
Yang Ping rushed to the laboratory of Nandu Medical University as quickly as possible after receiving the news. He wanted to see these K virus complexes with his own eyes and see what they looked like. For them, Yang Ping made great efforts.
If everything goes well, he will then make the virus into an injection solution, and then use a cold chain transport similar to that of vaccines to transport them to the Institute of Surgery. In the ward, Yang Ping will inject these new viruses into Sisi's body, and then conduct close observation after the injection.
"I have been working on viruses for so many years, and I know that vaccines often use viruses as delivery vehicles, but I never thought that this thing can also treat tumors?" Professor Zhang Zhiwei couldn't help but feel a little regretful.
Yang Ping told him: "I first discovered the K factor, and then chose to use viruses as a delivery vehicle. If there is no K factor, it is meaningless to have a virus as a delivery vehicle."
Professor Zhang Zhiwei thought about it, and what Yang Ping said was right. In fact, the focus of his topic is not on viruses as delivery vehicles. This is an old method that has been used in many fields. Its focus is on the K factor. The most technical part of this K factor is that it can start the apoptosis program of tumor cells and kill tumor cells. This is the biggest discovery, which can be said to be a revolutionary discovery in the field of oncology.
"Make these viruses into injectable biological preparations as soon as possible, and then send them to our department. I want to conduct human experiments as soon as possible." Yang Ping confirmed that these viruses meet the experimental requirements.
"Do you have to be so anxious?" Professor Zhang Zhiwei was always worried. He always felt that things were too rushed and there was something wrong with some link. He felt uneasy, but he couldn't figure out which link was wrong.
"Yes, my patients don't have time to wait too long. I have to race against time." Yang Ping told him truthfully.
Professor Zhang Zhiwei said doubtfully: "I really want to know what kind of patient is worth your risk. In fact, I personally think that you can follow the steps and not be impatient. Even if you miss this patient, there are many similar cases. This one is not bad."
Yang Ping did not explain too much, and Professor Zhang Zhiwei stopped asking.
——
Director Zhu completed his revenge. He did not leave China for Singapore immediately. He stayed to attend Yang Ping's wedding.
The overseas headquarters of Anning Group is located in Singapore. Since he was assigned to Singapore, he has been living in Singapore with his family and his children are also studying in Singapore. His family has settled in Singapore.
His battle with Japanese insurance companies finally came to an end. He defeated the Japanese and firmly occupied the Southeast Asian market. Now he is ready to enter Europe and the United States and truly go global.
Therefore, from the perspective of the company's development, this contest with the Japanese was a life and death contest. He lived up to expectations and successfully defeated the Japanese and won this fierce business war.
He also successfully completed a wonderful revenge for his personal hatred. After all these years, he finally found justice for himself. Thinking of his experiences over the years, he was filled with emotion and felt a little uncomfortable, but he was very satisfied with his current life.
The Provincial People's Hospital's handling of his affairs was very wrong. They failed to withstand the pressure of public opinion and expelled Director Zhu abruptly, knowing full well that he had been wrongly accused and framed.
Those hospital leaders did this out of complete ambiguity in order to keep their reputation. They were doctors. How could they not know that it was a colostomy surgery? How could they not know that the reporter was deliberately trying to slander Director Zhu? But they pretended to do so. In order to put out the fire as soon as possible, they rudely fired Director Zhu to cope with public opinion, which made Director Zhu feel very chilling.
So since he was fired that year, Director Zhu has never set foot in the Provincial People's Hospital.
But now he wants to go back once. On behalf of Anning Insurance Company, he went to the Provincial People's Hospital to donate 200 million yuan to build advantageous disciplines. Anning Group is very generous and has donated money to several first-line hospitals in Nandu Province.
Director Zhu’s current annual salary is not only tens of millions of yuan, but he also has shares in the company. With annual salary and dividends, his annual income is already over 100 million yuan. Therefore, he can now be said to be one of the important figures in China’s insurance industry, truly pushing China’s insurance to the forefront. The first person overseas.
Now that Director Zhu has returned to the Provincial People's Hospital, it can be regarded as a rich return to his hometown. He originally wanted to meet the dean who fired him back then, but unfortunately he did not meet him. The dean has been there for two years because of financial problems. Unexpectedly, a few years later, The changes were so drastic that he suddenly felt like a world had changed.
He returned to his original department. The old director had retired. The current director was his brother who was about the same age as him. He looked at the ward that had not changed much. The doctor's office and duty room were still in their previous positions. Even the beds had not been changed. He I can’t help but be filled with emotion.