After the training of Qu Gong, Shen Qi and others mastered the operation method of XT80.

After Qu Gong left, the door of the biology laboratory of Shen Qi Scientific Research Center was closed.

"Han Meng, we're going to start. ”

"Come on, I'm ready. ”

Han Meng was lying bare on the experimental table, full of tubes.

Han Meng was first edited with a prostate cancer gene.

The main operator, Shen Qi, operated the XT80 to knock out Han Meng's harmful mutant genes and inject the healthy genes into Han Meng's organs.

Genes are nucleic acid molecules, and every atom, every free radical, and every heterocycle in the molecule plays its own role.

The operation at the molecular level continued, and Han Meng's diabetes mutation gene was corrected.

This is followed by major depressive disorder, liver cancer, heart failure, ......

57.8% of Han Meng's genes were modified, including those suspected to be defective.

The gene-editing operation was successful, and Han Meng did not die directly in the laboratory.

Han Meng got dressed, and he thanked Shen Qi and the brothers: "Thank you, you have given me a new life. ”

Shen Qi and his brothers paid tribute to Han Meng: "Thank you for your contribution to science. ”

From this moment on, Han Meng became a completely new person biologically.

This gene editing experiment is of great significance and academic value to Shen Qi's group.

They have verified that diseases known to humans can be prevented by genetic technology.

Through Han Meng's gene therapy, they have accumulated valuable experimental data.

However, these valuable experimental data cannot be formed into a published paper.

In the past, some scientists have performed gene therapy surgery on babies of AIDS patients, which has been severely criticized by international organizations.

Shen Qi: The gene therapy they implemented on Han Meng included many diseases.

Shen Qi didn't want to quarrel with others, and he didn't bother to explain anything, so only the six of them knew about Han Meng's gene therapy, and he wouldn't disclose it to the public.

How can five PhD students get a Ph.D. if they don't have a published paper?

Shen Qi has already arranged for the next step of their biological laboratory's work to form a series of published papers.

Shen Qi said: "Han Meng, in the process of gene therapy for you, I marked your PYY-3-36, which was only labeled, not modified. ”

"So what are we going to do next?" Han Meng didn't care that Shen Qi had marked his PYY-3-36, he twisted his arms and twisted his waist, refreshed. It's awesome to be a brand new person.

Shen Qi: "We need to extract your current cell sample." ”

"No problem. ”

PYY-3-36 is Maishuling, which has a strong regulatory effect on the body's appetite and is also known as the hunger gene.

Everyone has PYY-3-36, and in addition to humans, PYY-3-36 has also been found in rats, dogs, chimpanzees, and other animals.

Study hunger genes and modify them if necessary. This is the next research direction proposed by Shen Qi.

The aim of the study was to find out if the genes that cause the disease can be edited, but can the non-disease genes also be manipulated.

In addition to getting sick, people also feel hungry, and they also have seven emotions and six desires, some people are smart, and some people are not so smart.

Can these non-disease factors also be regulated at the genetic level?

It's worth looking into.

A large number of white rats were transported to the biological laboratory of the Shen Qi Research Center.

Comparing the PYY-3-36 of the white mouse with the PYY-3-36 of Han Meng, it is the same.

That is, the genes that control hunger in mice are the same as in humans.

Of course, this has already been proven by Professor Bloom in the UK, and Shen Qi and the others are just proving it again.

Bloom's team has published a series of papers, and they have studied PYY-3-36 for many years, giving a complete set of detailed animal experimental protocols.

According to a series of papers by Bloom's team, Shen Qi et al. carried out starvation gene editing experiments on white mice.

In the control group, when the food in their bodies is consumed, their hunger genes produce corresponding proteins, which are transmitted to them to signal that they need to replenish food, so they develop hunger pangs, they start to look for food, and eat.

In the No. 1 experimental group, the hunger gene was modified, and when the food in their bodies was consumed, they did not develop a strong hunger feeling, and they did not look for food. Shen Qi and the others put the food in front of them, and they had some appetite and began to eat.

The white rats in the experimental group 2, their hunger genes were modified according to a different setting, they were starving most of the time, they were actively looking for food, and eating it.

The rats in Experiment Group 3 were an enhanced version of Experiment 1, and their hunger genes were modified to extremes, causing them to lose their hunger pangs and not take a bite of food even when they put it in their mouths. They all starved to death.

The rats in Experimental Group 4 are an enhanced version of Experimental Group 2, their hunger genes are modified to the other extreme, they are perpetually hungry, and they are constantly actively eating. They all died.

After disposing of the carcasses of white rats that had starved to death and survived, Shen Qi and others discussed.

"Bloom's team is right in that by modifying the hunger gene, the appetite of the rats can be increased or drastically reduced, and in extreme cases, they will die of starvation. ”

"If we modify the hunger gene in humans, will it be the same?"

"Theoretically, modifying the human hunger gene could help obese people lose weight and also treat anorexia patients. Obesity and anorexia are also considered diseases, and if they do so, it is the same thing as modifying the cancer mutation gene, and international organizations will still have to criticize it severely. ”

The doctoral students had a heated discussion, but Shen Qi never spoke. After a while, Shen Qi said: "No matter what the attitude of the international organization is, our experiments cannot be stopped. The hunger gene is one of many genes that are the same as humans in mice, and we have experimentally demonstrated that modifying the hunger gene can affect the appetite of mice. I believe that modifying the hunger gene can also affect human appetite to some extent. We're not going to do starvation genetic modification experiments on humans for the time being, let's go back to white mice. I don't know if you have noticed it, but the SHANK3 gene of white rats is the same as that of humans. ”

The crowd said, "Yes, it's been discovered that the SHANK3 gene is one of the genes that controls IQ. ”

Shen Qi nodded and said, "Next, let's continue to study how to edit the SHANK3 gene of white rats to regulate the IQ of white mice." ”

"For the research on editing the SHANK3 gene, there are no convincing research results in the world, which is very challenging. Everyone couldn't help but look forward to it, they believed that Shen Qi must have some more mature ideas.