"Mr. Wei, Mr. Wei..."
A soft call pulled Wei Kang out of his thoughts.
He raised his head and glanced at Li Zhong, and explained with a smile: "Sorry, I was thinking too deeply just now and was lost in thought for a moment."
"What should we do about the situation in this report?" Li Zhong asked cautiously with a worried look on his face.
Wei Kang calmed down, looked at him, and said calmly.
"This is not a problem you can solve. Anti-cancer drugs must continue to be developed, improved to fourth or fifth generations, and even new targets must be found."
"Cancer is the product of runaway biological evolution. It is a by-product of aging and an instinct imprinted in the genome."
"Oncogenes originate from the human genome. The human genome is inherently loaded with oncogenes waiting to be activated, so our genes are destined to carry this fatal burden."
"As long as you understand the birth and struggle of a cancer cell, you can understand that there is really a limit to what humans can do."
His profound eyes looked past Li Zhong's figure to the distant window, and the prototype of a story emerged in his mind.
That's a story about cancer cells.
"Let's let our imaginations run wild and think back to 30 years ago."
A smile appeared on Wei Kang's face, as if he was recounting an ordinary day-to-day thing.
"Suppose there is a normal cell quietly staying in the left lung of a 30-year-old firefighter, living a leisurely life."
"One day, a small piece of asbestos fragments from firefighting equipment drifted through the air and reached the vicinity of this cell."
"The firefighter's body mounts an inflammatory response to the asbestos fragments, and the cells surrounding the fragments start dividing like crazy, like a small wound trying to heal."
"A small clump of cells split off from the original cell, and the ras proto-oncogene in one of the cells accidentally mutated, and it grew faster than neighboring cells, forming a new clump of cells."
"This clump of cells now becomes the primitive ancestor of cancer cells."
"Ten years later, the firefighter is 40 years old. Like normal people, he still has the habit of smoking."
"When the carcinogenic chemicals in the tar reached the edge of the lungs, they blended in seamlessly with this small group of ras gene-mutated cells. The gene of one of the cells underwent a second mutation, activating the second proto-oncogene."
"Time flies, and another 10 years have passed, and the firefighter is already 50 years old."
"A certain cell in the cell cluster that had a secondary mutation acquired another mutation after being exposed to X-rays during multiple physical examinations."
"This time the mutation inactivated a tumor suppressor gene, but because the cell carried two copies, the mutation had little effect."
"The next year, however, another mutation occurred and both copies of the tumor suppressor gene were inactivated."
"At this point, a fatal catastrophe began."
"These cells, which had undergone four mutations, began to multiply at an unnatural rate."
"They continue to grow and mutate, activating various pathways in the human body. A gene that enhances mobility in cells is activated, passing through the lung tissue and entering the blood."
"It acquires the ability to survive in the bone, travel to the pelvis with blood flow, and travel to other parts of the body, where it settles and continues to grow."
"At this point, the firefighter sensed something was wrong. He felt chest pain and shortness of breath, and his symptoms were getting worse."
"He came to the hospital and had a CT scan, and the results showed that there was a tumor in his lungs, which was in an advanced stage and could not be removed by surgery."
"A subsequent bone scan showed the tumor had metastasized to the ribs and pelvis, and the patient was started on medication."
"After repeated bombardment with multiple cytotoxic drugs, a certain tumor cell acquires another drug-resistant mutation."
"Seven months after the diagnosis, the patient's tumor spread throughout his body."
"Under the influence of anesthesia, he fell into a deep coma on the hospital bed, and finally passed away surrounded by his family at the age of 60."
"And at this point, the culprit, the tiny piece of asbestos that caused all the tragedy, was still sitting at the edge of his lungs."
"This is the struggle history of a cancer cell. It continues to evolve in the human body. From an ordinary cell, by chance, patience, persistence, and unremitting efforts, it finally evolves into a super cell, possessing the super-power ethics of unlimited reproduction. Finally, Destroyed the world, that is, the human body.”
"This story looks so familiar, haha."
Having said this, Wei Kang's eyes narrowed and he glanced at the greenery outside the window.
The leaves on some branches there have already turned yellow, and when a gust of wind blows, they swirl and fall.
He suddenly felt something in his heart, paused for a few seconds, and focused his eyes on Li Zhong again.
"The only thing we can do about cancer is to eliminate every cancer we find and try to let the patient live as many years as possible."
“Fortunately, with our efforts, cancer has become a preventable and treatable chronic disease, no different from heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and the like.
"This is the best we can do right now."
"Birth, old age, sickness and death, sewing and mending, that's what it's like."
"To reach the true origin, we can only open the Pandora's box of genes. At that time, it will be difficult to say whether an angel or a devil will come out of it."
"Let's leave this matter as it is. Everything needs to be considered in the long term."
Li Zhong was silent from beginning to end. After listening to the story quietly, he felt a sense of powerlessness in his heart.
He could only nod and then retreat silently.
Wei Kang watched him leave, stood up and came to the window, stretched out his hand, feeling the coolness brought by the airflow, as if a river of time was flowing in his hand, and there was a vague feeling in his heart.
"It has been exactly ten years since we obtained the system to today, and Sanqing has grown from an unknown person to a giant."
"It started with anti-cancer drugs and ended with organ transplantation. After constantly cracking the secrets of life one by one, it went round and round and returned to the starting point."
"History is a cycle, and cancer has never been far away, never been eliminated, and has always existed deep in our genes."
Thinking of this, he turned around resolutely, walked to the writing board in the corner, and started writing furiously.
On the empty whiteboard, two large black characters "cancer" soon appeared, firmly occupying the center of the entire whiteboard.
Then, he waved his hand again and drew a big circle on the two words.
"The next journey will start from here."
****
Hangzhou City, in a certain community.
Zhang Jun hurriedly put on a diaper for his son and put it on the bed.
Seeing his baby holding a toy in his hand, laughing so hard, he wiped the sweat from his forehead, took out his phone and started reading.
Since having a child at home, the time he spends scrolling through his mobile phone has dropped sharply every day. He can only take the time to read the news while his children are having a great time, so as to stay connected with the outside world.
No, as soon as he turned on his phone, Zhang Jun immediately let out a scream.
"Damn it, is today the day when the Wei Science Prize is announced?"
"Time flies too fast!"
"Let me see who can win the prize. 20 million. This is not a small amount. It is a large sum of money that can make people directly make money in first-tier cities. I don't know which lucky ones they are."
Zhang Jun opened Langbo at the speed of light, clicked on the hot search #伟世SCIENCEAward#, and browsed carefully.
"The Biology Award was awarded to the organ transplant technology. There are two winners. One is Huang Qin and the other is Ding Mian. They are both the laboratory leaders of Sanqing."
"This award should indeed be given to them. The two big guys definitely deserve it."
"What about the Medicine Award? Oh, it was actually awarded to the cranial nerve regeneration factor. There is only one winner, named Chen Yiqing."
"Hiss, his resume is very impressive. He has cured Alzheimer's disease and so many people in vegetative state. He has saved countless lives."
"That's right." When Zhang Jun saw this, he suddenly thought: "Isn't this the big boss who caused Sanqing to be blacklisted from the Nobel Prize?"
"Because the cranial nerve regeneration factor was not exported overseas, and then it offended the Nobel Prize Committee, he could have won the Nobel Prize, but the Nobel Prize bunch didn't know what to do and refused to give it to him, and then there was nothing more."
"This big guy has very senior qualifications and is also a laboratory director. He is definitely not short of money. It is probably to compensate for his loss of honor."
"It's awesome. One person can win the 20 million grand prize all by himself. It makes people drool with envy."
"As expected of Sanqing, the winners of the biology award and the medicine award are all our own, there is no controversy, and there are no competitors. I will only say the word awesome once."
"There is no doubt about these two grand prizes. The other three prizes must belong to outsiders. They cannot be from Sanqing."
Zhang Jun continued to read, and when he saw the winners of the physics and chemistry prizes, he almost jumped with excitement.
"Nah, I guessed it right. Room-temperature superconductor!"
Since the emergence of LK-99 three years ago, which shocked the world, the cutting-edge physical concept of room temperature superconductivity has become popular among the people.
Not only was it popular back then, but the word alchemist has also become completely popular. Up to now, many alchemists are active on online media every year, either live broadcasting or posting videos, showing off their excellent alchemy skills.
However, in the first year, only super diamagnetic materials were refined, and true zero resistance was not achieved.
Therefore, the phenomenon of room temperature superconductivity has not been confirmed, let alone the theory.
In the following years, various papers continued to erupt like a volcanic eruption. Materials students won the best era and jumped out of the sinkhole.
Now three of the four major sinkhole majors have escaped from the sinkhole, and only one, environmental studies, is still hanging on alone at the bottom of the sinkhole, with no hope of getting out of the sinkhole for the time being.
With the persistence of the three major players in physics, chemistry, and materials, and after three years of hard work, room-temperature superconductivity finally achieved a qualitative breakthrough.
In the first half of the year, an employee of a Chinese materials company finally made a room-temperature superconductor.
Later, a university in Eagle Country perfected the specific theory.
Finally, a Chinese scientific research institution developed mass production thin film technology.
In short, the superconducting feast in the first half of the year was as chaotic and heated as it was three years ago.
As for the Wei Science Prize and the Physics Prize, the two discoverers from the Stick Country and the two great men from the Eagle Country who perfected the theory were shared.
The Chemistry Prize was awarded to three researchers from China.
Two of them were originally low-level employees of the company and had no chance of patenting. The superconductors they produced directly belonged to the company. Apart from the hundreds of thousands of bonuses issued by the company, the economic benefits were not high.
Two hard-working workers suddenly received a windfall of 7 million yuan each. They were so happy that they almost had a heart attack.
Mainly, this money is a recognition and reward for their talents and is not tied to patents, so the company cannot get it away at all, and it all falls in the pockets of individuals.
As for the scientific research institution, the person who developed the mass production technology was a quasi-academician-level boss. He was not short of money, but he was very happy to receive an honor.
"Yes, yes, Mr. Wei is so kind. He actually paid the taxes for the winners and gave them all their after-tax income."
"Hey, Mr. Wei probably has other ways to exempt them from some taxes and fees. It just makes it cheaper for the overseas winners."
Zhang Jun was filled with excitement when he saw it: "The other award recipients are all big guys and they are not short of money. For them, this award can only be the icing on the cake."
"Only those two working dogs who were extremely lucky and succeeded in making elixirs are the luckiest. Now that they have fame and money, they are simply winners in life."
He immediately drooled with envy and hatred.
Continuing to look at the mathematics awards, Zhang Jun's expression instantly became confused the moment his name appeared.
"Tang Yi? Who is this person?"
"Landau-Siegel zero-point conjecture? What is this?"
"Generalized Riemann function—the problem of abnormal zero points of L function?"
"Why can't I understand these words? I can recognize each word if I look at them separately. But when I put them together, I don't know what they mean."
His eyes gradually focused on the four words "Riemann function", an idea flashed in his mind, and he couldn't help but exclaimed.
"Holy shit, the Riemann Hypothesis has been proven?"
Zhang Jun has never heard of the zero-point conjecture, but the Riemann Hypothesis is a famous one and can often be seen even in online articles. Therefore, when he saw the word Riemann, he immediately thought of the latter.
However, he was immediately slapped in the face by the speed of light, confirming the truth that he was mathematically illiterate.
After some searching on Baidu and some high-intensity surfing on Bianhu, Zhang Jun finally figured it out.
Although the zero-point conjecture belongs to the Riemann function and is considered as difficult as the Riemann hypothesis, it is not the same thing as the Riemann hypothesis.
Mistaking the zero-point conjecture for the Riemann hypothesis, I was really blinded.
But it didn't make any difference to him. Anyway, no matter what the conjecture was, he couldn't understand a lot of mathematical formulas. He only knew that it was very awesome.
Not long after, when the background of the winner Tang Yi was revealed, his legendary and deviant experience immediately attracted his attention.
"Damn it, this guy is simply a sweeper in the world of mathematics!"
"The ups and downs, twists and turns of the experience are nothing short of comparable."
"The top 985 academics were reduced to nibbling on old age, and they were even kicked out of the school while studying for a Ph.D.. At nearly 50 years old, they solved the world's problems, and a paper caused a sensation all over the world."
"Tsk, tsk, it's so full of elements, what kind of cool life is there for a loser to counterattack!"
Zhang Jun's eyes suddenly lit up when he saw the title of the media report, and he couldn't wait to read it. (End of chapter)
