Sanqing headquarters, stem cell laboratory.
A whole wall of cages were filled with experimental animals of all sizes, most of which were rats and mice, and some were white rabbits with red eyes. The bottom floor contained several small pigs and macaque.
Ding Mian and Xue Shen stood in front of the cage, with their hands in their pockets and their eyes unblinking. They looked like two pillars, always maintaining this posture without moving.
There were three cages in front of them, with two rabbits in each. They were carelessly munching on the carrots they were feeding.
A few more minutes passed, and Xue Shen finally couldn't bear it any longer: "You wouldn't pull me over just to watch a rabbit eat carrots, would you?"
Ding Mian said without looking back: "It's very beautiful, don't you think? And rabbits that have undergone transplantation are completely different from rabbits that have not."
He pointed to the four cages: "The rabbit in cage No. 1 had its bladder removed, the animal's own cells were used to inoculate the scaffold, and then an artificial bladder was implanted again. The rabbit in cage No. 2 had its large intestine cut off and transformed into a bladder, and then the ureter was sutured. "
"No. 3 was the healthy group. They had a sham laparotomy, which meant making an incision, doing nothing, and then suturing again."
Xue Shen looked at it carefully a few more times, shook his head blankly and said, "I can't see any difference."
Then he became impatient: "What on earth are we waiting for?"
"Wait for the rabbit to pee." Ding Mian replied simply.
"Huh?" Xue Shen was dumbfounded for a moment and blurted out: "You're not kidding me, are you?"
Ding Mian glanced at him and laughed loudly: "I'm kidding you, I've observed this rabbit eight hundred times."
"The technology for artificial bladders in rabbits is relatively mature. As for using patients' bladder tissue to grow artificial bladders, the related technology is not news in clinical practice."
"I brought you here this time to see the artificial bladder."
Xue Shen was immediately overjoyed: "Great, let me tell you, you took the biological scaffold and said you wanted to plant cells on it, but there is no response. You are waiting for me here. Take me there quickly."
The two people put on isolation suits, disinfected and sterilized, and then came to another laboratory.
As soon as he entered, Xue Shen was shocked by the scene in front of him.
I saw a transparent glass cabinet placed on the workbench in the middle, which was full of cell culture fluid.
A meat sac the size of a table tennis ball is suspended in a transparent culture medium, with a 1 cm thick tube connected to each end.
The tube on the left is connected to a closed box, and the tube on the right flows into a plastic bucket, which already contains some light red liquid.
Xue Shen stepped forward quickly, put his face in front of the glass cabinet, and asked with a shocked look on his face: "Is this the artificial bladder you cultivated?"
"That's right."
"What about other things? What are these tubes used for? Is there urine in them? Why is the liquid in the bucket red?"
Xue Shen's questions were like a barrage of questions, one after another without any pause.
Ding Mian said proudly: "Don't worry, come one by one and listen to me explain in detail."
"In fact, this is not just an artificial bladder, but an entire urinary system."
"What, you did the entire urinary system? What about the kidneys? Where are the kidneys?"
Xue Shen interrupted Ding Mian's story with an exclamation. He asked eagerly while looking around, looking for the artificial kidney in his imagination.
"This..." Ding Mian paused for three seconds, pointed to the closed box next to him, and said, "Actually, this isn't an artificial kidney, it's just a blood filter and bioreactor."
"Anyway, please listen to me first." He clapped his hands to comfort the excited Xue Shen before continuing.
"This artificial urinary system is actually quite simple. It mainly consists of three parts: the so-called 'artificial kidney' and artificial bladder, as well as the ureter and urethra."
“You should be familiar with artificial bladder technology after we have been working together for so long, so I won’t say more.”
"Both the ureters and urethra use technology similar to artificial blood vessels. This technology is not high, so I won't bother to go into details."
"As for the artificial kidney, it is divided into two parts. The blood filter is similar to the current hemodialysis technology. It uses a nanoscale biological filtration membrane, which is similar to the glomerulus and can prevent large molecules from passing through. while allowing small molecules to pass through."
"The other part of the bioreactor is mainly responsible for the reabsorption of urine in order to reduce the amount of urine to close to the daily urine amount of a normal person, which is about 1.7 liters."
"The filtration mechanism of the entire setup mimics the native kidney. Since the glomerular cells are a network of capillaries surrounded by the glomerular capsule, when blood flows through these capillary networks, the blood will be significantly higher than normal, making The substances in the blood filter into the original urine.”
"This blood pressure difference is a normal physiological phenomenon and can be used as a power source for hemofiltration, which is very useful."
"The original urine in the human body is originally absorbed by the glomerulus for a second time. Repeatedly, it is finally excreted as urine."
"The bioreactor also imitated this part of the function, but due to my lack of technology, the effect needs to be improved, so the secondary absorption of the original urine was not very complete, and the final urine contained a little blood and was pale red."
Ding Mian scratched his head and said with some embarrassment.
"But don't worry, the artificial bladder is still very useful. I'll show you the effect."
As he spoke, he operated on the control device next to him and heard a buzzing sound. A stream of pale red liquid spurted out from the ureter and flowed into the artificial bladder.
The flesh sac instantly expanded like an inflated ball.
All of a sudden, it went from a table tennis ball to an apple.
Then it gradually expanded to the size of a grapefruit.
"This..." Xue Shen was stunned again: "This, are our human bladders that big? How much water did you put in?"
"About one liter of water, plus the water in it, it's probably a little more than one liter." Ding Mian said nonchalantly: "Look, it's time to urinate."
"What?" Before Xue Shen could react, he saw the flesh sac slowly deflating, and the liquid inside flowed into the plastic bucket at the other end along the urethral tube.
The sound of gurgling water echoed in the laboratory, and it took a while for it to stop.
"This, the sound is really similar." Xue Shen sighed in shock.
"No, how did you make it urinate? Doesn't it know how to urinate?" Soon, he keenly discovered the key.
"Hey, it will automatically pee when it is full." Ding Mian picked up the plastic bucket, returned to the "artificial kidney", and poured the entire bucket of bloody urine into it again.
"Okay, filter it a few more times and it will turn into yellow urine."
After doing all this, he walked up to Xue Shen and said seriously.
"The only problem now is that the artificial bladder grown in the laboratory has no neural connections and cannot control urination, holding in urine and other behaviors. If you want to completely discharge it, you can only fill it up and let it discharge automatically. Otherwise, the urine will remain in the pig. inside."
"However, experiments on rabbits have confirmed that neural connections will be restored after transplantation of artificial bladders, so it should be similar in humans."
Xue Shen said thoughtfully: "Well, that means artificial bladder can only go so far in the laboratory. Next, it must go to clinical practice to get the most realistic results."
He suddenly remembered something and asked again: "What about blood vessels? Can blood vessels be regenerated?"
Ding Mian chuckled: "Well, blood vessels, small case. These cultured cells contain small signaling proteins that promote blood vessel growth, that is, cell growth factors. When implanted into the patient's body, they can grow blood vessels and avoid cell apoptosis. Death."
Xue Kun nodded, his eyes instantly shining: "Then what are you waiting for? Hurry up and apply for clinical practice."
"Hehe, didn't I ask you to take a look first and then report to General Wei?" Ding Mian grinned: "Whoever follows the other brother, you also have a great contribution to this project."
"You kid, get on the road!" Xue Shen patted the other party's shoulder excitedly, feeling deeply moved in his heart.
In fact, he also understood that Ding Mian was working hard on this project from beginning to end. He only provided part of the biological scaffold, but actually did not contribute much.
If it were the laboratory where I worked before, the credit would definitely not fall on me. If someone went too far, my name would not be mentioned, and there would be no way to tell the difference.
Unexpectedly, Ding Mian was so conscientious that he directly took himself to report to his boss to ask for credit.
Sure enough, the working atmosphere of Sanqing is indeed unique. There are no complicated KPIs or huge pressure for final elimination. The relationship between colleagues is naturally extremely harmonious, and there is not so much intrigue and competition for fame and fortune.
Here, everything depends on performance. Superiors always only look at what you have accomplished and what problems you have solved, rather than how beautifully you have made your ppt or how well you have written your report.
In this way, everyone naturally only has projects in mind and is willing to collaborate and work together for a common goal.
Everyone has their own role in the project, and as long as they contribute, they will not be forgotten.
The relationship between people has returned to its origin. Everyone gets along with each other in a simple and friendly way.
It felt to him like he was back in his student days, where everyone was in the same river, competing healthily and moving forward courageously, instead of being at odds with each other, trying to wrap up and hold each other back.
Thinking of this, a warm current surged into his heart. Xue Shen's sense of belonging to Sanqing had never been so strong.
****
"Can artificial bladder apply for clinical trials?"
Wei Kang couldn't help but feel a sense of surprise when he saw the news.
The artificial bladder project was entirely a spontaneous research project by his subordinates, and was not arranged by him.
The results are now available, which is enough to prove Sanqing’s self-research capabilities and its potential in the field of stem cell regeneration.
Coupled with other clinical projects, Sanqing’s current R&D accumulation is bottomless.
"It seems that we need to increase investment in artificial organs."
"This is a very promising field. Artificial hearts, artificial kidneys, artificial livers, artificial lungs, and artificial pancreas all have huge market demand. Every moment, countless patients die due to failure of various organs in the body. .”
"If artificial organs can be used to help them survive a disaster and regain their lives, that would undoubtedly be the greatest thing in the world and the ultimate significance of the pharmaceutical industry."
The success of the artificial heart opened the door to a new world and allowed him to see a new possibility.
He originally thought that for patients with organ failure, organ transplantation was the best solution. However, the lifelong rejection of allogeneic organ transplantation and the rare matching rate proved that this path was simply unworkable.
Unless patients can use autologous cloned organs, this worldwide problem can be completely solved.
However, autologous organ cloning is technically very difficult.
At present, the scientific community can only clone cells one by one and then cultivate mini organoids based on the cells. It is still far away from cloning real organs with flesh, blood and nerves.
Not to mention mass production of autologous cloned organs.
Therefore, Wei Kang could only try the shortcut of artificial organs first.
As an entrepreneur with a solid background in science and engineering, he knows that food must be eaten one bite at a time and the road must be walked step by step.
First solve the problem of whether there is any, and then solve the problem of how to make it better.
After all, artificial organs can be used immediately after being created, without the need for patients to wait, and the rejection reaction is low. At present, it is the optimal solution.
Moreover, artificial organs also have a great advantage, that is, low cost and extremely cost-effective.
Because artificial organs are industrial products, each organ has limited models and is universal, and does not require customization.
This feature undoubtedly opens a skylight for mass production. Once mass production of any product begins, its cost can be reduced at an extremely terrifying speed, and then it can be popularized among the public at an extremely terrifying speed.
Organ transplantation can easily cost millions, which means it can only belong to a few people.
Even if many people wait for a matching organ, they simply cannot afford it.
Even from the beginning, they did not consider the option of organ transplantation because of the price.
If artificial organs can be produced, Wei Kang is confident that their prices will be on the same level as anti-cancer drugs.
For most people, this is no longer so out of reach and can become a firm choice. It is no longer invisible and intangible like the stars in the night sky.
As for better autologous organ cloning, Wei Kang knew very well that once this thing came out, it was destined to become a taboo for the rich from that day on.
Because the process of differentiating ips stem cells into autologous organs is very cumbersome and costly, it is far more expensive than organ donation.
How can those poor people who cannot even afford free donated organs afford autologous cloned organs?
The scientists who perform the cloning, the instruments and consumables used, and the doctors who perform the surgery all require money.
Organs can grow from the body on their own, but they will not clone themselves from the device.
Only rich people can afford such cloned organs.
They can even stock up, using one to prepare each other, so that every organ in the body is constantly refreshed.
For them, native organs are the best and provide an innate experience.
If given a choice, who would choose a defective artificial organ that can only perform a single function?
Only people who have no choice will use it to save their lives.
Artificial organs are cheap, affordable, durable and can undoubtedly save more lives of poor people.
The experience may not be that good in all aspects, but for the poor, as long as they can survive, it is enough. They are not qualified to consider quality of life issues.
Such thoughts kept popping up in Wei Kang's mind, making him waver for the first time about the road ahead.
"There are 7.5 billion people in the world, no, 1.4 billion people in the country. If everyone wants to clone an organ for transplantation when they age, thereby extending their lifespan, what will happen?"
Wei Kang instantly felt a sense of horror, his whole body felt like electricity, and his scalp was numb.
"If the continuous transplantation of fresh cloned organs can extend people's life span, even from 100 to 120 or even 150 years old, the entire human society will undergo earth-shaking changes."
"In the long history of mankind, before the 19th century, the average life span of human beings was only 35 years old and could not exceed 40 years."
"Whether it's emperors, generals, ministers, or poor people, it's very fair for them to die young in their prime."
"In the face of bacterial infections and various diseases, everyone is truly equal."
"In the 20th century, with the advent of antibiotics, the problem of death from bacterial infections was solved, and the average life span of humans began to advance rapidly, reaching 60 years old, and even as high as 80 years old or more in developed areas."
"There is a gap of 20 years between 60 and 80 years old, representing the developed and underdeveloped worlds."
"Advanced medical treatment, adequate nutritional intake, and good physical maintenance. These three factors are enough to make the life span difference between two people reach 20 years."
"At the end of the day, it's about money."
"The issue of money becomes even more prominent when faced with scarce resources."
"Organ transplantation, whether it is an allogeneic organ or an autologous cloned organ, is a scarce resource."
"The former is very rare, and the latter costs a lot of money. It is destined to be unlike the fruit on the tree or the food in the farmland, which is easily available."
“Because it’s scarce, it’s expensive, and the desire for it is insatiable.”
"What will be the final result?"
"When lifespan is linked to money, it will inevitably lead to a monopoly. Longevity will become exclusive to the rich and benefit their descendants, thus creating one immortal race after another."
"Poor people can only live to 80, rich people can live to 150."
"How good is this era?"
"If that day really comes and I start it myself, how should I face it?"
“What’s the point of medical technology if it becomes an accomplice to the rich’s monopoly on lifespan?”
Facing such soul torture, Wei Kang frowned and couldn't help but fall into deep thought.
"Maybe that day will come soon, maybe it will never come."
“Is this a problem that technology can solve?”
