Surgery Godfather

Chapter 2169: Chapter 1426: Surprise (Part 2)

Yang Ping picked up a photo and looked at it against the light for a while. Clusters of red cells were distributed along the course of the small blood vessels, extending from the periphery of the injury to the center, resembling an army on the march. Their shapes were very irregular, with large nuclei and prominent nucleoli, completely different from the surrounding mature neurons.

"This discovery is more important than the M8 discovery." Yang Ping put down the photo.

"Why?"

"Because M8 underwent complete intervention, targeted vectors, gene editing, precise regulation. You could say in the paper ’it was our method that activated the stem cells.’ But M21 didn’t receive these. It only underwent a nonspecific microenvironment adjustment. If it also can activate stem cells, it suggests the conditions for activating stem cells might be more complex than we imagined, aside from precise gene editing, there might be other pathways."

Manstein looked at Yang Ping, his eyes lit up. "Professor, do you mean our method is just one among many activation ways? Perhaps there are other simpler, safer methods to achieve the same effect?"

"It’s possible! But not necessarily." Yang Ping put the photo back on the table, crossing his arms in front of his chest, "M21’s non-targeted intervention, although not precise, still changed the microenvironment. It didn’t do nothing; it did something similar to M8, only the method was different. The real question is what are the key signals for activating stem cells? Is it a specific molecule? Or a physical condition? Or both necessary? What we see now is the result, not the mechanism. The mechanism requires a lot of experimentation to explore. However, according to my experience with K Therapy, it is likely a specific molecule, the human body routinely uses these molecules as keys to unlock certain locked behaviors."

Manstein was silent for a while, he knew Yang Ping was right, there is a whole world of difference between seeing the result and understanding the mechanism. What did M21 tell them? Stem cells can be activated by nonspecific microenvironment adjustments. But the questions of "how to activate" and "why can activate," M21 can’t answer.

"So what do we do next?" Manstein asked.

"Create a complete molecular atlas of M21’s tissue section. Single-cell sequencing, spatial transcriptomics, proteomics, do everything possible. We need to understand where these activated stem cells are coming from, whether they are locally existing adult stem cells, precursor cells migrating from the blood, or transdifferentiated from surrounding glial cells. Then return to the mouse model for systematic mechanism study. Use chemical inhibitors to block possible signaling pathways one by one, find the indispensable key molecule. Also, validate in Chen Jianguo, if positive corticogenin cells can also be detected in his cerebral spinal fluid, it suggests this mechanism is conserved in humans."

Manstein quickly jotted down notes in his notebook. His handwriting was very messy, understandable only to himself.

"Professor, you mentioned validation in Chen Jianguo, how to validate? I don’t want to conduct a spinal puncture, it’s too risky."

"Withdraw a small amount of cerebral spinal fluid via lumbar puncture, measure the concentration of corticogenin and NeuroD. If the stem cells have been activated, they will release some factors into the cerebral spinal fluid. We don’t need to see the cells themselves, just need to see their fingerprints. Don’t forget, cerebrospinal fluid circulation itself is a transport pathway."

"When to do it?"

"As soon as possible, preferably tomorrow."

Manstein closed the notebook, stood up, walked to the door, then stopped. "Professor, do you know what I’m thinking right now?"

"What?"

"I’m thinking about M21—it’s called ’Surprise’. When we named it, we only felt its recovery was an unexpected, unexplainable phenomenon. Looking back now, it wasn’t accidental. It’s an early arrival of answers, it took us several months to understand."

Yang Ping didn’t respond, he lowered his head, his gaze falling on those microscopic photos. The red, migrating, repairing cells were quietly working in M21’s spinal cord like a group of tireless craftsmen. When M21 was alive, no one knew about them; after M21 died, they were discovered by Manstein from thousands of corners of tissue sections. That’s science, ninety-nine percent of the discoveries come from intentional design. One percent comes from accident. And that one percent accident often holds more value than the ninety-nine percent design.

Manstein went to the rehabilitation training room.

Chen Jianguo was doing standing training. He held onto the parallel bars, his legs trembling slightly, sweat beads on his forehead glistening under the light. Sister Li stood behind him, holding a towel, ready to wipe sweat at any moment.

"Professor Manstein." Chen Jianguo immediately stopped.

"Actually, you can call me Professor Man! Stand still, don’t move, I have something to tell you."

Chen Jianguo steadied himself on the parallel bars, adjusted his breathing; before he could speak, Manstein said:

"I need to take a little cerebral spinal fluid from you."

Chen Jianguo was stunned for a moment. He had stayed in the rehabilitation hospital for two years, knew what cerebral spinal fluid was, the fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord, extracted by lumbar puncture. He also knew what lumbar puncture felt like, a very long needle inserted into the back, passing through the intervertebral space, entering the subarachnoid space. Not painful, but very uncomfortable.

"When?"

"Tomorrow."