"Human life is limited, everyone will be born, old, sick and die, but who knows why we are born, old, sick and die?"

On the podium, the old professor spoke slowly, and the sound echoed through the sound in the spacious classroom.

"As we all know, the unit of life is the cell, and each of us here is divided from a small fertilized egg cell."

"One becomes two, two becomes four, four becomes eight......"

Under the podium, Chen Chen held his chin and turned a gel pen in his right hand, staring at the projection screen boredly.

"Cells also age and die, and newly dividing cells keep replacing apoptotic cells, and that's the secret to our growth."

"However, this split is not infinite."

"In 1965, Professor Havelick of Stanford University discovered that it is impossible for human cells to replicate themselves more than 57 times, and that each cell dies after 56 replicates."

"It's like having a counter in a cell that determines when the cell will stop dividing and when the person will age......"

"Theoretically, human cells can divide up to 56 times, and the limit life span of a human being should be about 120 years old by calculating the cell division cycle, and this theory is called ......"

"Smack!"

Just when he was fascinated by what he was listening to, Chen Chen suddenly slipped his fingers, threw the gel pen out of the air, and fell under the table.

Chen Chen immediately bent down and reached out to touch the ground.

"Huh?"

Just as his head was lowered below the table, inadvertently, a dark light came into his eyes.

Don't ask why the light is still black, the moment he bends over, Chen Chen did see a touch of black light.

He subconsciously looked over.

It was a long strip of thing, pitch black, stuck underneath the table bucket, embedded in a hidden groove.

So, after Chen Chen picked up the pen, he stretched out his arm again and picked at that position.

With a slight force, only a click was heard, and the pitch-black thing was successfully cut off.

"That classmate over there who got under the table, you can answer—"

But at this moment, the professor's voice suddenly came from the podium.

"Poof!"

There was a low laugh from the dormitory friends behind him.

Chen Chen hurriedly got out from under the table, his face flushed with embarrassment.

He looked at the professor who was still smiling, and then looked down at the textbook, and then stumbled, "Hai, Haflik limit?" ”

"You may be seated."

The professor pressed his hand and asked Chen Chen to sit down.

The lecture continued.

"At both ends of the DNA, there is something called telomeres, which plays a vital role in cell division."

"It's responsible for keeping the chromosomes intact, and every time the cell divides, the telomeres become shorter, and when the telomeres are too short to protect the genetic structure, the cells inhibit growth, stop replication, and go into aging."

"This is the Haflik limit."

As he spoke, the professor turned around and quickly wrote the words "Havelik Limit" on the blackboard.

Chen Chen, who sat down again, breathed a sigh of relief, and took advantage of the professor's efforts to turn around and write, he quickly picked up the things in his hand and took a look.

emmmmm……

This glance made Chen Chen completely disinterested.

It turned out that the black bula thing was nothing else, but a USB flash drive.

Different from the USB flash drive on the market, this USB flash drive is much longer than the ordinary USB flash drive, which is twelve or thirteen centimeters long, and looks like a carbon rod.

Only the USB port exposes the fact that it is only a USB flash drive.

In addition, the entire USB flash drive is completely integrated, pitch black, and even the logo and memory logo do not exist.

However, for the sake of the cool shape, Chen Chen finally put the USB flash drive into his trouser pocket and studied it when he returned to the dormitory.

At this point, the professor continued: "With the current state of technology, it is impossible for cells to break through the Haufflich limit, but we can also bypass this problem in other ways......

As he spoke, the professor wrote five words on the blackboard again:

Eternal Hela.

"People will surely wonder if there is a way to keep telomeres from wearing out, will our cells be able to live forever?"

"The answer is yes!"

The professor excitedly added the words "HeLa cell line" under the "immortal Hela".

"The HeLa cell line, a cell isolated from human cervical cancer tissue in 1951, was contributed by Harita Lacs."

"The researchers found that the cells collected from Lux not only did not die, but showed signs of growth, doubling the number of cells every 24 hours."

"Later, it was found that the reason for the immortality of these cells lies in the RT tumor virus that causes cervical cancer, and the genes of this virus can change the 'switch' of normal cell lifespan, so that the cells will live forever and proliferate indefinitely."

"In the years that followed, HeLa cells were supplied to research institutes across the federal government, where it helped scientists clone cells, it was used to investigate the effects of nuclear radiation on the human body, and it was used in rockets to study cell proliferation in weightlessness......

"According to the data of medical and biological databases, as of this year, there have been more than 65,000 papers related to HeLa cells, and more than 50 million tons of HeLa cells have been cultured......

"As a result, there is a common knowledge that everyone in later generations knows - cancer cell lines are 'immortal', and as long as there is a suitable culture environment, it can divide indefinitely."

At this point, many students in the audience began to applaud spontaneously, which was a tribute to the contributor.

"Of course, if we humans use this kind of 'switch', it is the way to die!"

The professor changed the topic and suppressed applause.

"After all, if the division cycle of cells in our body is disrupted and cannot age on time, it will turn into a malignant tumor and threaten our lives!"

"We humans are constantly advancing on the path of truth, as early as the period of clan society, the average life expectancy of human beings was less than 20 years, and by the Middle Ages, the average life expectancy of human beings had advanced to 40 years......"

"With the advent of science, human civilization has completely entered a period of rapid development, and in just a few decades, the average life expectancy of the Earth Federation has approached 80 years old!"

"But is that enough?"

"Even if human development is extreme, it is only 120 years old as Haflik's limit says, far from the level of eternal life, so what should we do?"

After a pause, the professor continued.

"So, the turning point came......"

"In 2002, this 'switch' was finally found, and Cambridge University professor John Sulston and three others discovered a genetic regulatory mechanism called 'programmed cell death'."

Again, the professor wrote the words "programmed cell death" on the blackboard and redrew a circle.

There was a click, and the chalk broke because the fingers were too hard.

"This discovery shocked the entire medical community, because it determined that cell death was a physiological and active 'suicide', like a kind of programmed in the dark!"

The professor stretched out his hands, "In other words, we think aging is a natural process, but in fact it may be a genetic defect!" If we can repair this defect, we can hope to overcome aging and gain eternal life! ”

The audience suddenly shouted.

As if a brand new door had been opened, Chen Chen's pupils shrank, and he kept repeating those two magical words in a voice that only he could hear.

"Eternal life?"

"Eternal ......"

"Therefore, as a major in biological science, you are the generation with the most hope of repairing genetic defects."

The professor had an expectant smile on his face, "Or you are the closest to immortality in the history of mankind!" ”

At this point, the course was also nearing its end.

The silver-haired professor picked up a handkerchief and wiped his sweat, and concluded with anticipation and sighs:

"I have to say that we humans still know nothing about the vast sea of truth, and perhaps even the unattainable dream of eternal life is only the first step in the pursuit of truth......"

"But no matter what, the future belongs to you......"

"Alright, class is over!"

Bang Bang ......

The audience burst into warm applause.