On a Saturday afternoon, perhaps due to the location, there were not many people in the cafe. There were only a few customers sitting here and there, making it look quite deserted.
The formation of the biohacking group was very low-key and did not attract the slightest attention.
Even the applause of a few people did not attract any attention from others.
After Zhang Han finished speaking, he opened a small paper box on the table. This paper box was about the size of a shoe box. Inside, there were 12 small glass bottles placed in groups of two, for a total of 6 groups.
While distributing the glass bottles to everyone, he said with a smile: "This is a gift from me to everyone. I hope you like it. So what do you say? Life must have a sense of ritual, so the establishment of a group also requires A ceremony that is uniquely ours.”
"Everyone may have heard of this experiment, and it's perfect for use as an initiation ceremony."
"Wait a minute, let us try for ourselves the wonderful feeling of holding the code of life."
Everyone smiled knowingly and looked at the two glass bottles placed in front of them.
The two bottles have slightly wider mouths and are tightly capped. They are half filled with liquid, about 20 ml. The liquid on the left is light red, and the liquid on the right is colorless and transparent liquid.
Gao Jun opened the lid curiously, put each one in front of his nose and sniffed it. The light red liquid had a peculiar smell, with the aroma of fresh strawberries mixed with the smell of detergent.
The smell of the colorless liquid on the right was very simple. He smelled it right away. The pungent smell was the smell of disinfectant alcohol.
The others also followed his example, opened the lid, smelled it, and then fell into deep thought.
After a while, everyone showed signs of sudden realization, and their faces were filled with anticipation.
Li Chengmin had already guessed what the experiment was, and he rubbed his hands excitedly.
"Team leader, when will it start? This experiment is very interesting and I can't wait."
"What's the hurry?" Zhang Han looked at the watch on his wrist and said slowly: "There are still a few minutes, so let's set the time at three o'clock. Once the time is up, everyone will act together."
"Okay. No problem." Everyone nodded in agreement.
There were still a few minutes until three o'clock. Anyway, I had nothing to do, so Zhang Han started explaining by the way.
"Everyone should have noticed that the light red one is the DNA extract of strawberry, and the one in the other bottle is the last raw material required to complete the extraction. Wait a moment and we will pour the contents of one cup into the other cup. You can witness a miracle.”
"Remember to be gentle and inject the colorless liquid slowly along the wall of the bottle, and control the ratio to the light red extraction liquid at about 1:1."
"At this time, although the liquid in the bottle smells of alcohol, it is not a strawberry cocktail. You must not drink it, haha, because it is already toxic."
"Next, everyone just waits quietly."
Everyone nodded, indicating that they understood.
"Okay, time's up. One, two, three, a!" Zhang Han shouted softly and was the first to take action.
Everyone else poured disinfectant alcohol into another bottle one after another.
Colorless disinfecting alcohol was slowly poured into it along the wall of the bottle, and soon the alcohol began to float on the top layer.
Six pairs of eyes stared motionlessly at the layered liquid in front of them, waiting with bated breath.
Now, everything is left to time.
In less than a minute, a magical scene happened.
A thick white floc separated from the solution and floated quietly in the bottle.
"Wow, strawberry's DNA has really been isolated!" Li Chengmin exclaimed.
"What a magical experiment, this is DNA!" Gao Jun picked up the bottle, looked at it carefully, and sighed.
Zhang Han looked at everyone's reactions with satisfaction and smiled: "It's indeed amazing, but this experiment is very simple and uses some ordinary raw materials. This experiment is very popular among biohackers. It's just like It was like magic and everyone screamed when they saw it.”
"All it takes is some salt, dish soap, a few strawberries, and a bottle of disinfectant alcohol."
"But it can separate DNA and present it to everyone in a real way."
"I will send you the detailed recipe later. You can also do this experiment at home and try other plants."
Gao Jun picked up a wooden stick for stirring coffee and reached into the glass bottle, ready to pick out the precipitated DNA and observe it carefully.
He first picked up the flocculent DNA and tapped it on the wall of the bottle a few times. The size of the clump instantly became smaller.
Then carefully lift it out of the solution, and you will immediately get a long and thin filament.
He couldn't help but think of some detailed introductions about DNA, and compared with the actual objects in front of him, his feelings suddenly became deeper.
Because DNA is sticky and can be coiled loosely or tightly, he saw that the reduction in the size of the clump was actually the DNA in its loose state being coiled more tightly together.
The filament-like DNA extracted from the solution was a long string of independent DNA strands, but they were stuck together when taken out of the glass bottle.
Then, he pinched the white filament with his left hand and suddenly felt a strange feeling.
He actually grabbed a long DNA chain with his own hands, and a violent impact hit him, causing his brain to suddenly shut down.
There is nothing more wonderful than the feeling of holding the code of life in your hands.
Although it feels a bit like snot to the touch, it also looks like snot.
But this did not prevent him from developing a trembling sense of mastery over the power of science.
Just like the magic apprentice released the fireball spell for the first time, it may not even light the smoke, but it is indeed a real spark.
At this moment, he suddenly felt like a creator.
It turns out that science can really give people the power of gods!
He could extract and isolate DNA now, and he couldn't even imagine what he could do when he completely mastered the genetic tools.
He only felt that he was getting closer and closer to his goal.
Others had the same experience as him, and the expressions on their faces were unpredictable, including surprise, shock, expectation, and excitement.
Gao Jun suddenly said: "Team leader, I think this ceremony must be preserved. Every time a new person joins, do it once. I really look forward to seeing the expressions on their faces."
"Hahaha. Yes, this kind of impact of facing the essence of life is definitely the best gift for a newcomer, and it will surely be something he will never forget."
"Even though I had seen cells under a microscope, this experience was unique and amazing."
"Thank you, team leader, for the gift. Please send me the checklist and steps so that I can let others experience it in the future."
Everyone praised and nodded in agreement.
Zhang Han smiled and nodded, seeming to be lost in memories.
"When I joined the biohacking group abroad, someone brought me two cups like this. I thought they were strawberry juice and cocktails, and I almost drank them. It was so embarrassing. Oh, it was really Forget the past."
"I didn't expect that the team leader would have a day as a rookie. Haha!"
"Think about that scene. It's so awesome. Fortunately, I didn't let you mix in and drink it."
"Hahaha, wouldn't that mean that DNA is going to come out of your mouth?"
"Damn it, does DNA taste like snot?"
"I don't know, do you want to try it?"
"Forget it, it looks like snot, it feels like snot, and it definitely tastes like snot."
"It's not about the runny nose or not. As you know, this solution is poisonous and cannot be drunk."
The members laughed, the atmosphere instantly became cheerful, and the whole group became happy.
The party didn't break up until very late, during which the six of them had dinner together. After a box of beer, everyone was already as close as brothers wearing a pair of pants.
It was almost 11 o'clock when Gao Jun returned home. Although his clothes still exuded the strong smell of alcohol, he was not drunk at all.
After taking a quick shower and changing into pajamas, he suddenly felt energetic.
Turn on the computer and continue to check the information.
Gao Jun is a question writer who came from his hometown in the countryside, but his family is slightly better off and he runs a small pig farm at home.
After graduating from college, he didn't want to go back to his hometown for the time being. He wanted to try his luck in a big city, so he found a job in Haishi.
Originally, the family's conditions were not bad, and my parents had some savings, so providing for retirement was not a problem.
Unexpectedly, the African swine fever that swept across the country last year caused disaster to the family's pig farm.
All 500 of his pigs were sick and more than half died, which was a heavy loss.
The local government activated the emergency response mechanism in accordance with the requirements and conducted harmless treatment of all dead and culled pigs. At the same time, the entire area was blocked and all pigs and product transportation were prohibited.
After this battle, the family's pig farm is almost closed down, and the remaining 100 pigs are also very sick and can only be described as lingering.
When his father called him, his voice was hoarse and he almost couldn't control his emotions and cried.
He came home urgently, and after some consolation, his parents calmed down.
It’s just that my father seems to have become completely disillusioned with the pig-raising business and plans to close the business and retire after getting rid of the remaining pigs.
Gao Jun watched as his father visibly aged ten years. His hair turned gray overnight, the wrinkles on his face deepened, and his expression became haggard, as if he had lost all his energy.
During those few days at home, every time my father finished eating, he would sit there silently, lowering his head and saying nothing, and not responding much to his words.
He looked as if there was nothing more regrettable than death, which made his heart ache.
At that time, he had just come into contact with biohacking and developed a strong interest in it, so he searched for information about African swine fever on the Internet.
African swine fever is caused by a highly contagious pig virus. Symptoms include high fever, loss of appetite, and bleeding in the skin and internal organs. Sick pigs will die within 2-10 days on average.
The disease was once only found in the Philippines, but starting in the 1950s, it began to spread to Europe, followed by sporadic outbreaks.
Europa eradicated it through large-scale slaughter, but it has never been completely eliminated. It has since spread many times around the world, posing a serious threat to domestic pig farms everywhere.
The disease caused a disaster for pig farmers in China last year, even triggering a national pork shortage and a sharp price increase.
As a second-generation farmer, Gao Jun was very aware of the horrors of this pig virus. After he came back, he began to study relevant information without sleep and food, hoping to find a way to suppress it and save his father's pig farm.
Not long after, he discovered some research done by some scholars on this aspect, and downloaded the published papers to read.
If you don’t understand the professional vocabulary, use translation software to translate it one by one, and then read sentence by sentence.
Fortunately, he can learn English fairly well, and he has worked in a foreign company, so the language barrier is not a problem for him.
He showed all his energy for the college entrance examination. After work every day, he was either checking information or reading papers, completely losing his spare time.
After some hard work, he discovered that genome editing technology has great potential in this regard and can be used to develop animals that are resistant to diseases.
Scientific research has found that domestic pigs react very violently to swine viruses, while wild warthogs, on the contrary, are much less affected.
This is because of a difference in a gene "nuclear factor xb3" involved in the immune response. Its activity is much lower in warthogs than in domestic pigs. The low activity of this gene turns out to be an advantage in African swine fever infections.
Domestic pigs' immune systems react violently and excessively to a relatively harmless thing, causing them to become sick and die.
Although warthogs can also be infected by swine viruses, due to the low activity of this immune gene, they will not die suddenly.
This information suddenly made his eyes light up, and he immediately came up with the idea of developing gene-edited disease-resistant pigs.
Fortunately, CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technology has swept the world. It is not difficult to learn the relevant technology. Moreover, this technology is very simple, effective, cheap and convenient, and the reagents used are affordable even for ordinary people.
So, he studied relevant information from the beginning and got acquainted with Zhang Han and others.
Everyone had the same goal, and soon they came together and became a biohacker.
When Zhang Han was studying abroad, he joined a biohacking organization in the foggy city, but he had no choice but to quit after returning to China.
So he simply started a new business in China and established his own business. Fortunately, he had rich experience and soon became popular online, attracting many like-minded people.
However, many people only pay lip service to it, and few actually get started.
Gao Jun, Li Chengmin and other five people are the last few left. They not only regard studying biology as a hobby, but also have a strong desire and firm goals, so they can persevere.
