Looking at Xu Mang, looking at the fruit basket in his hand, the original sympathy for him instantly came to naught, thinking about what he usually does, the anger in his heart.

The second grandfather said with anger on his face: "Xu Mang... I told you last night, don't be late.... Why are you still late for me, and let Academician Zhong wait for so long, can you have a longer memory in the future? Fortunately, you are also a great scientist, why is there still no concept of time?"

"Oops..."

"I don't want to. Xu Mang said with a bitter face: "As soon as I closed my eyes and opened them, I found that I was late... Second grandfather, I really don't blame me, besides, I just returned to China, and the time difference has not been reversed, so it is understandable that such a thing happened. ”

“...”

In the face of Xu Mang's various reasons, the second grandfather didn't want to pursue it too much, after all, the next thing is the focus.

This is Academician Zhong, head of the Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The second grandfather looked at Academician Zhong, and then said: "This is Xu Mang, the bastard boy doesn't have a straight shape every day." ”

Academician Zhong felt that the relationship between his old friend and Xu Mang seemed to be much more reliable than he imagined, and he suddenly felt a lot more relieved, and said with a smile: "Professor Xu Mang... When we first met, I heard a lot about your many deeds. ”

"It's all petty fights. Xu Mang smiled and said, "Academician Zhong... Let's get straight to the point, what the hell are I going to do?"

"We want to use your 'Xu Man system' to help predict the three-dimensional structure of a protein from the amino acid sequence. "The second is research in the field of gene editing, and we hope that you can develop a new system that can control DNA changes more precisely," said Zhong. ”

Xu Mang: ???

What the?

New... The new system?

When Xu Mang heard Academician Zhong's words, he instantly looked at him with a confused face and said, "I remember... The most popular system now is the CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing system, which was born more than ten years ago, which is... Is that going to require a new one?"

"Yes!"

"Actually, the CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing system has a huge flaw, it is not so clever, and it often goes wrong. "We need to find new gene editing technologies to make up for the shortcomings of CRISPR-Cas9, as far as I know... No one in the whole world is studying this. ”

Xu Mang didn't speak, quietly looked at Academician Zhong, developing a new gene editing system, this is not ordinary, at present, CRISPR-Cas9 is the most perfect form, in fact, CRISPR is a repeat sequence in the genome of prokaryotes, which is an immune weapon produced by the struggle between bacteria and viruses.

To put it simply, viruses can integrate their own genes into bacteria, use bacterial cellular tools to serve their own gene replication, and bacteria have evolved the CRISPR-Cas9 system in order to remove the foreign invasion genes of viruses.

Using this system, bacteria can silently remove viral genes from their own genomes, which means that CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technology is a technology that modifies specific DNA of targeted genes.

"Are there any requirements?" asked Xu Mang.

"Yes!"

"Reduce the risk of off-target. "The new system needs to be safer than the CRISPR-Cas9 system, and the so-called safety is precision, which greatly reduces the probability of off-target in order to obtain greater safety," said Academician Zhong. ”

Xu Mang smiled bitterly and said helplessly: "The difficulty is not ordinary, the CRISPR-Cas9 system is recognized as the best gene editing technology in the world, and it is characterized by being cheap and easy to use. ”

"For example..."

"The new system will be particularly expensive. Xu Mang said: "Unless artificial intelligence is used, the experiment is simulated on the computer first, and then the experiment is carried out according to the success rate, but this requires the accumulation of a large amount of data, and I do not have this data." ”

Then

Academician Zhong showed a smile: "Regarding the data, Professor Xu Mang, you don't need to worry at all, we have a very complete database that can be developed from you, and you can use the database at will." ”

I...

Come prepared!

Xu Mang opened his mouth, and finally swallowed back when the words came to his mouth, CRISPR gene editing technology has been hailed as one of the most disruptive emerging technologies of the 21st century, and it has also been affected by various negative effects, Xu Mang is worried that the new system will bring new panic to the world.

"What's wrong with Professor Xu Mang?" Academician Zhong saw Xu Mang's appearance of wanting to speak and stopped, and hurriedly asked: "Is there any problem, if there is a problem, you can raise it in person, and we can discuss it now." ”

"No... It's nothing. Xu Mang said helplessly: "Can you give me a few days to think about it?"

"Good!"

"I know what you're worried about. Academician Zhong nodded and said seriously: "Professor Xu Mang... Gene editing technology is not as scary as you think, in fact, gene editing technology is by far the most promising technology for a complete cure for HIV, heart disease and cancer. ”

Xu Mang smiled bitterly: "I know this... I am engaged in theoretical physics, and it is easiest to subvert the world pattern, such as the mass-energy equation... Academician Zhong, don't worry, I'm not the kind of person who thinks very old, but I don't think I can succeed. ”

Academician Zhong didn't speak, the more this time, the more he couldn't put too much pressure on Xu Mang.

"Anyway..."

"If I accept, then where is the place of work?" Xu Mang asked curiously, "Should I go to the capital?"

"No, you don't. ”

"I think the biology department building of Fuda is very good, with very complete supporting facilities, and there is no need to come to Beijing. Academician Zhong said.

"Oh..."

"Then I'll go first and get back to you in a few days. ”

As soon as the words fell,

Xu Mang carried the fruit basket he had just brought and left the principal's office directly, in the face of this situation, the second grandfather was already surprised, but Academician Zhong was confused, this... This fruit is bought for your own consumption?

...

Xu Mang died on the sofa alone, thinking about the new system in the field of gene editing, the new system is estimated to be unlikely, the difficulty is not too great to sporadic and half, in most cases it should be optimized on the CRISPR system.

But...

It's not ordinary!

The CRISPR system is already a game-changer in the biological sciences, using a specially programmed enzyme in Cas9 to discover, excise, and replace specific parts of DNA, and is clearly cheap, simple, and powerful.

"Can there be a breakthrough?" Xu Mang grabbed his head, a little confused for a while, according to the historical process, it is possible to make a breakthrough, after all, CRISPR technology was discovered in the early nineties of the twentieth century, and then seven years later became the most popular gene editing tool in the fields of human biology, agriculture and microbiology.

But...

There is a little bit that Xu Mang wants to complain, the United States is really shameless, and secretly obtained the first patent authorization for CRISPR, which means that the use of CRISPR technology in the future may be illegal.

Finally stayed up until five o'clock in the afternoon,

When Yang Xiaoman came home from work, he saw Xu Mang lying motionless on the sofa, and he was not surprised by the situation that his husband was paralyzed to death at every turn, so he walked to the side and asked curiously: "You shouldn't have been lying on the sofa for a day, right?"

"Nope. ”

"It's just half a day..."Xu Mang said with a smile: "Xiao Man... In the morning, I went to meet my second grandfather, and he introduced me to a person, Academician Zhong, the head of the Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. ”

Yang Xiaoman frowned, and asked indifferently, "Are you looking for help again?"

"Hmm!"

"Second grandfather's friend, but I really want to challenge it. Xu Mang said seriously: "This is about the research direction in the field of gene editing, looking for a new editing tool system that is better than the existing CRISPR system." ”

Hearing Xu Mang's words, Yang Xiaoman's face was full of confusion, and he couldn't understand what he was saying at all, this guy's field is getting wider and wider, and he has begun to involve the field of gene editing...

"Huh?"

"Big fool?"

"Are you engaged in physics?" Yang Xiaoman sat beside Xu Mang and asked curiously: "I found that your bias is getting more and more serious, you are a theoretical physicist, can you do your job well?"

"Ugh..."

"Those who can work harder. Xu Mang smiled and said, "Isn't that the truth?"

"Stupid!"

Yang Xiaoman glanced at him and asked indifferently: "What do you want to eat at night? I'll make it for you? Do you want braised pork? or... How about steamed sea bass?"

"Whatever. ”

"As long as you make it, I love it. Xu Mang said casually, and the result was such an absent-minded remark, which made Yang Xiaoman run into the kitchen, even the heavy oil smoke could not stop Xu Mang from cooking.

Following

Xu Mang was lying in bed, and after a night of thinking, Xu Mang decided to contribute to the field of gene editing, trying to open up new possibilities, but most likely to make some changes in the CRISPR system.

"Hello?"

"Second grandfather..."Xu Mang said with a smile: "Guess what I want to do?"

“...”

"What do you want to do?" the second grandfather said angrily, "Anyway, how did you think about it?"

"Almost. ”

"I'm going to give it a try. Xu Mang said seriously: "This is a very interesting challenge, and I like challenges, otherwise I wouldn't have married Xiaoman." ”

The second grandfather's tone suddenly became a little serious, and he said to Xu Mang: "Xu Mang... Are you sure you can? It's not a joke, but if something goes wrong, the consequences are terrible... Do you want to stop thinking about it?"

"No need!"

"I've thought about it. Xu Mang said, "Accept the challenge!"

Followed by

The two talked about the trivial things in life, and then hung up in a hurry.

The second grandfather took the phone and hurriedly called his old friend Academician Zhong, who said that he was fighting the same as Xu Mang, got off the plane early in the morning, and went back in the evening.

"Hello?"

"Old Bell!"

Xu Mang agreed. The second grandfather said, "You can relax." ”

......