I Can Meet with Dead Scientists-Chapter 345: Zhang 198: The World Where Only the Donkey Is Injured Is Completed (5.8K)_2
When Xu Yun was studying for his Ph.D., he met a biologist in the neighboring laboratory, where Xu Yun did laborious physical experiments. This biologist would often come over with a big bucket of soy milk.
Back then, he and Xu Yun, both single, would chat about everything over soy milk and boiled edamame. Thinking back, it was quite entertaining.
Later, that guy’s kid was admitted to Ke Da this year, and Xu Yun is still single...
What a sad story.
Other than the bean dregs, the donkey hair that Qiu Sheng mentioned being accidentally added is also quite normal.
Ordinary petri dishes are probably the place in the lab where the strangest things appear.
You can find things like nail clippings, hair, and some curly unknown fibers.
Xu Yun even heard of someone who added a phone case into the mix unknowingly during a dinner gathering after graduation.
He paused for a moment, looked at Qiu Sheng, and asked:
"Old Qiu, where’s the test report? Let me have a look."
Qiu Sheng was evidently prepared for this question. He took a few sheets of paper from beside him and handed them to Xu Yun:
"I printed them, here you go."
Xu Yun took them and began to read them intently.
A few seconds later.
His eyebrows raised immediately, his gaze fixated on one particular column:
"Wow, 30,000u per milliliter?"
As is commonly known.
In the field of pharmaceuticals and microorganisms, the smallest unit of efficacy is called a "unit."
Internationally it’s called IU, while in Huaxia it’s called U.
There’s no conversion between IU and U, only conversions between IU and weight or U and weight.
This means U/L is a unit unique to Huaxia.
Generally speaking.
In the domestic market, vitamins are usually expressed in IUs, while antibiotics are in Us.
For example, penicillin is usually specified as 20,000u per milliliter, while erythromycin is 70,000.
The highest new species unit Xu Yun and others found in algae previously was 8,000U, but this was a high-density population achieved through special enrichment techniques, and not very universal.
Under normal circumstances.
The unit density of such new microbial species is around 1,500U.
Now achieving 30,000U in the bean dregs + donkey hair medium is indeed a massive increase.
Xu Yun then placed the report aside and asked Qiu Sheng:
"So Old Qiu, what’s the reason for the surge in the new species?"
"It makes sense that the bean dregs base could boost the population, as it might have some unique physicochemical properties, which is not hard to accept."
"But what’s the deal with the donkey hair, and why does it have to be specifically domestic donkey hair?"
Qiu Sheng lifted his eyelids to glance at him, smiling as he asked:
"Old Xu, do you remember the study led by the national gene bank on donkey gene expression?"
Xu Yun was slightly taken aback, then quickly responded:
"You mean those reports 10.13881/j.cnki.hljxmsy.2021.02.0100 and 10.28502/n.cnki.nkjrb.2014.007254?"
Qiu Sheng nodded:
"Exactly."
In 2014, led by the Huaxia Gene Bank, Academician Yang Huaming organized a donkey gene sequencing project.
This was also the world’s first large-scale donkey genome project.
During the subsequent assessments, the team found quite a few peculiar phenomena.
For example, donkeys produce a small amount of calcium mercaptoacetate in their bodies.
That’s right.
Calcium mercaptoacetate.
This stuff sounds awkward to pronounce, and it’s actually used for hair removal in reality, can you believe that...
In addition,
They also discovered that domestic donkeys exhibited a phenotype known as Light Point, or LP for short.
Under this phenotype.
The MC1R gene mutation affects not only hair but also amplifies the CDS sequence of the PepT1 gene.
This directly results in a very peculiar ratio for the Young’s modulus of donkey hair.
For example, when the relative humidity increases from 0 to 100%, the axial swelling of donkey hair is only 1%.
However, the ratio of the Young’s modulus to the shear modulus decreases from 217:1 to 15:1.
Additionally,
A pentose phosphate pathway product with 225 differential metabolites was detected on the hair of domestic donkeys, and this research result was even published in a sub-journal of Nature.
Unfortunately, the number of domestic donkeys is just too low, so over the years, no authoritative institutions at home or abroad have conducted further investigations.
Thinking of this.
Xu Yun couldn’t help but look at Qiu Sheng, asking:
"Old Qiu, are you saying that the pentose phosphate product forms a special nurturing environment with the bean dregs, thereby facilitating the expansion of the new species of microorganisms?"
Qiu Sheng nodded, affirming:
"That’s right, though this is just a surface-level feedback, and the specific internal mechanisms need further study."
"Therefore, I think we have three tasks to prioritize right now."
Xu Yun glanced at him and asked:
"What three tasks?"
Qiu Sheng quickly counted on his fingers, glancing at the box of culture media beside him, and said:
"First of all... is the analysis of the new species expansion."
"The current density of 30,000U has already reached the limit of natural growth, offering little room for further growth. But this figure is still a certain distance from our ideal target."
"So we need to quickly decipher the components of the pentose phosphate product and master its amplification technology."
"Then proceed with further amplification, deactivation, before finally considering the issue of production for toothpaste."
At this point.
Qiu Sheng couldn’t help but look around the laboratory, taking a deep breath, and said to Xu Yun:
"And to achieve this, it’s clear our current lab doesn’t have the capability. We’ll need to apply to the school for a small molecule probe."
