All the expectations and fears of human beings about cloning are in fact the knowledge of the future.

The clones of the '80s, or the clones of the 2010s, had no practical application value and no need for fear.

However, if you use this as a starting point, by 2050, cloning will be very useful and terrifying.

Technically, this is mainly because cloning can be very modular.

The development process of cloning is tedious, but if you lock all the complexity into modules, it's very simple.

Take cloning sheep as an example, first pick out the cells of sheep No. 1 and take the nucleus, which is the first module. The nucleus of Sheep 1 is stuffed into the enucleated egg cells of Sheep 2, which is the second module. The egg cell is stuffed into the body of Sheep Three, and Sheep Three gives birth to a lamb, which is the third module.

The three steps, simplified, can be called taking the nucleus, plugging the nucleus, and getting the cub.

If the three modules are all broken, all of them can be automated, just like the PCR machine after 2010, then just find a cave with electricity, or any bear child's bedroom, you can start to operate cloning.

Imagine how comfortable it would be to use such a convenient technology in agriculture, medicine and animal husbandry, even Chinese medicine will benefit immensely, and if you want rhino horn grinding, no problem, clone a rhinoceros for you, or simply clone a rhinoceros horn out of it, it will not be difficult - the new outlet will be the pharmacy scene, so that customers can watch you clone a rhinoceros on the spot, and you can also ride and play for a while and then cut the horn, the user experience is brutal and fun.

If the convenience is used to infringe on the rights of others, it can probably infringe on the flowers. Regardless of high-end crimes such as terrorist organizations, when anyone with a complete set of equipment can clone a Wagyu cow, the Japanese will probably not be too happy. In fact, when the cloning technology was confirmed, merino wool was required to be inactivated for export, but the wool can be inactivated, and the inactivation plan of beef is somewhat difficult.

However, convenient technologies are all developed.

Standing on the soil of China in 1988, Yang Rui faced many difficulties first.

The first hurdle of cloning sheep is superovulation.

Yes, it is the same technique as the superovulation required for embryo transfer in cattle.

Yang Rui agreed to the plan of Ding Shiyi and others to set up a genetic engineering laboratory in Haidian District on the same day, also because many techniques of bovine embryo transfer can be used in cloning.

However, if you don't use your brain at all, you can't transplant it directly.

Not to mention that one is the super-ovulation of cattle and the other is the super-ovulation of sheep, even if it is the same cattle, the requirements of different breeds are not the same.

For Yang Rui's genetic engineering laboratory, which has not yet been built in the test site, the task is even more complicated. Because they are not faced with the problem of transferring technology from cattle to sheep, but from cattle to 34 types of sheep.

Yang Rui was also not sure which breed of sheep he would eventually adopt to replace Dolly's position, so in the laboratory, he could only post a large blank piece of paper, write down the names of all 34 sheep species, and try them in groups.

Hormone-based, hormone-free, neutral, lightly acidic, lightly alkaline......

If all the possibilities were to be arranged and combined, it would not be enough to expand Yang Rui's genetic engineering laboratory by a factor of ten.

Therefore, Yang Rui is just drawing a line, once a sheep can test a suitable combination, even if it passes, if it can't pass in the end, it will be eliminated in the first round.

Some people may say, what is the relationship between superovulation and cloned sheep?

In fact, it is still a matter of cost and time.

Because in the second step, putting the nucleus of sheep one into the unfertilized egg cell of sheep two, there will be countless failures.

The nucleus of Yang Yi can be selected from various somatic cells, and the raw materials are infinite, and the number of egg cells is limited.

If you don't use superovulation, you will need more sheep.

A few thousand are not necessarily enough.

Why did Hwang Woo-seok, a national scientist of South Korea, lose his reputation? When he was doing cloning, because the eggs donated by the society were not enough, he forced the female researchers and female students in the laboratory to provide egg cells.

Although cloning sheep does not involve such a problem, the egg cells that a sheep can provide are very limited, so the breed of sheep with low superovulation efficiency is basically unusable.

It is not for nothing that a cloned sheep will take several years to do.

Even though Yang Rui had already made a lot of arrangements and preparations, it was only the first step of the second module to complete the Yang Rui Genetic Engineering Laboratory, which took almost three months.

And during this time, the first step of the first module, the extraction of the nucleus, is still far away!

The newly established 8811 project is so silent that it is really a little disappointing, so that the establishment of Yang Rui's genetic engineering laboratory has almost no signs of big operation, although there are a lot of media reporters, but compared with the scale when Yang Rui won the Nobel Prize, it is far from enough.

As the official representative, Hu Chi was very worried about Yang Rui's nonsense, and when he saw Yang Rui, he said: "Everyone knows that scientific research takes time, no one expects you to produce results in two or three months, the media are chasing hot spots, and it is not easy to listen to so many people this time." ”

"No, Peking University, Tsinghua University and the Academy of Sciences have come forward together, and those who play the science and technology sector can't help but give face. Yang Rui laughed, and couldn't see anything on the surface.

Hu Chi was even more worried, and said, "It's not about everyone's face, it's about your confidence." Don't worry, as far as I know, the leaders still trust you very much, you just need to do serious research. Besides, your lab has just been completed, and if you count the time, it's just the beginning. ”

Among the leaders that Hu Chi knows, they naturally include Qiao Gong, and even refer to Qiao Gong specifically.

Yang Rui immediately responded: "Thank you for the leadership's concern, but we have already started, and there will not be much problem in terms of progress." ”

"You don't want to keep up with your progress and affect your pace. "Hu Chi is very considerate of Yang Rui.

He has experience in connecting with the scientific community, and knows that many steps in scientific research can actually be changed, but the fastest step is not necessarily the best way, and the mode of early results is not necessarily conducive to later research.

For the current Yang Rui, the research is done quickly, and the small results are more, except for a little publicity advantage, it is unnecessary.

What is the value of the domestic media's reporting? If it is really necessary, all the media on the propaganda front must speak in unison, and Hu Chi is very worried that Yang Rui will not see this and will choose the wrong way of expression.

Of course, for scientists with average relationships, Hu Chi would not remind them like this at all.

Yang Rui couldn't help but smile and said, "I do it at my own pace, don't worry, I have no reason to chase the progress." ”

"I'm afraid you're paying too much attention to the media. Hu Chi's worries cannot be said to be groundless. The power of the media is very powerful, and it is easy to make people flutter with successive praises, and small scolding can also make people depressed.

Yang Rui grew up in flowers, and it is possible to be unhappy if there is less applause, not to mention that there has been no results recently, and it is easy to be scolded.

A large amount of money and policies have been invested, and as a result, three months later, there is only news of the completion of a new laboratory, and Hu Chi can already imagine the serious face of the media's righteous words.

Yang Rui smiled and said: "If the media pays attention to it or not, if it can't affect the funding, it's nothing." ”

He said and blinked, leaving Hu Chi stunned.

This is completely different from the scientists he is familiar with.

It can only be said that this is a deviation in the understanding of the two eras.

Scholars in the 21st century always pay the most attention to funding, followed by experimental conditions.

But in the '80s, scholars focused on very different things. Because scholars cannot move freely, in addition to science but also politics, and even the evaluation of honor is not necessarily based on achievements, this makes everyone pay great attention to public opinion, not only to the views of the leaders, but also to the voice of the masses.

In the 21st century, there are not so many troubles, and scholars who have made achievements can not only change jobs, but even go abroad, so although everyone cares about the opinions of the leaders, they have no fear of the masses, and social media is not the first priority.

When Yang Rui was a graduate student, funding had become the lifeline of scholars, and only with funding could he be qualified to talk about other things. Of course, liberal arts scholars still have to talk mainly about politics, after all, they do subjective questions.

Under the gaze of the media that is less than usual, but still a large number, Yang Rui completed the steps of cutting the ribbon and speaking, announcing that the 8811 project has officially entered the experimental stage.

For Gengxin and others, this also means that the confidentiality requirements have soared by two levels.

"Any living creature in the yard, not even a sheep, must be innocent. Ben Gengxin looked solemn at the closed-door meeting of the Secrecy Section.

(End of chapter)