newbobooks Chapter 1465 That Hand
Chapter 1465 That Hand
Chapter 1465 That Hand
At 5:17 a.m., Yang Ping woke up with a start.
It wasn't a nightmare, but a thought. Like a seed that had been dormant deep within his consciousness for a long time, it finally sprouted at this opportune moment. He lay there for a few seconds, then gently lifted the covers and went into the study.
When the desk lamp came on, he saw the lab notebook spread out on the table. It was a page he had casually flipped through before going to bed the night before, containing raw data from the first clinical application of K therapy; the corners were slightly curled.
He didn't deliberately look for the record; it had always been there, in the drawer of his desk, layered with memories from those years.
Yang Ping sat down and began to flip through the pages.
K therapy is not a panacea; it works for some people but not for others. Why? He had been asking himself this question for years.
Yang Ping turned to the last page of his notebook; it was blank. He picked up his pen and wrote at the top of the blank page:
K-therapy, stem cells, and three-dimensional guided gene theory.
Then he drew three lines, starting from the three words and extending in the same direction. The three lines converge on the right side of the page, pointing to a question mark.
He stared at the question mark for a long time.
At six o'clock in the morning, he dialed Tang Shun's number.
It rang three times, then he answered. Tang Shun's voice was clear; he didn't sound like he'd been woken up.
"professor?"
"If you run into Mainstein and Weber at work later, ask them to come to my office. You and Xiaolu should come too. We need to discuss something."
"What topic?"
“One hypothesis,” Yang Ping said, “I might know what that invisible hand is.”
Eight o'clock in the morning, in Yang Ping's office.
Mannstein and Weber arrived on time. Tang Shun was already sitting on the sofa with a cup of coffee in his hand, while Lu Xiaolu leaned back on the sofa, looking up in thought. Yang Ping didn't exchange pleasantries and directly stuck the paper he had written the night before onto the whiteboard.
The three people stared at the paper and remained silent for a few seconds.
Tang Shun spoke first: "Are you saying that the underlying mechanism of these three things is the same?"
“Yes!” Yang Ping picked up the whiteboard marker and drew a circle on each of the three lines. “It’s the same principle, the same theory, just different manifestations in different scenarios and at different stages. The three-dimensional guided gene theory guides various cells to appear in the right place, while stem cells become target cells. K therapy activates a certain endogenous repair program. They are doing the same thing: building the human body and then maintaining itself.”
“The human body is not a machine where you replace whichever part breaks down.” Yang Ping turned around and looked at them. “The human body is a program. Starting from a fertilized egg, cells differentiate, proliferate, migrate, and die according to predetermined instructions, eventually building a complete individual. We call this program the ‘developmental program’.”
Mannstein's eyes narrowed slightly; he certainly understood.
“But the developmental process shuts down in adulthood,” Mainstein said, “because if cells continue to proliferate without limit, that’s cancer.”
“Yes, the developmental program is shut down, but shutting down doesn’t mean deleting it.” Yang Ping drew a timeline on the whiteboard, from fertilized egg to adulthood. “This program is still in the genome, but it’s locked by epigenetic modifications. And what we’re doing—K therapy, 3D guidance, stem cell transplantation—is essentially doing the same thing: unlocking.”
Weber leaned slightly forward, a signature posture he adopted when entering a state of deep thought.
“And then?” Weber asked. “Will the cells start rebuilding the human body again?”
“It’s not about building, it’s about repairing,” Yang Ping said. “The developmental process builds from scratch, while the repair process is locally activated and executed in a limited manner. For example, after liver removal, the remaining liver cells will proliferate until the liver returns to its original size. In this process, the liver cells don’t know how big the liver should be, but rather they follow a precise set of regulatory logic, which we call ‘three-dimensional guidance’.”
He pointed to the words "Three-Dimensional Guided Gene Theory" on the whiteboard.
"This regulatory logic is responsible for building the correct structure of organs during the developmental stage and for repairing damaged tissues during the adult stage. Tumors occur because this program in certain cells is abnormally activated, while simultaneously escaping normal apoptosis signals. The reason why K therapy is effective against certain tumors is that it enables tumor cells to re-execute apoptosis instructions and undergo apoptosis, which is itself part of this program."
It felt like half the air had been sucked out of the office.
Mannstein stood up and walked to the whiteboard. He stared at the question mark for a long time, then picked up another pen and added a line below "Repair Procedure":
"Evidence: Unknown factors secreted by the progenitor cells."
“This unknown factor,” Mainstein’s voice trembled slightly, “may be one of the activation signals of this program. It is upregulated after spinal cord injury, and then activates endogenous stem cells to promote nerve repair, which is exactly what we have observed.”
Weber also stood up. He walked to the whiteboard, picked up a third pen, and added a line below Mainstein's:
"Inference: Stem cells are not the main body of repair; the repair process is. Stem cells are merely tool cells used by the process."
The four people stared at the layers of writing on the whiteboard, as if they were looking at a newly cracked code.
Tang Shun put down his coffee cup, his voice low as if afraid of disturbing something: "Professor, if this hypothesis is true, what does that mean?"
Lu Xiaolu was completely absorbed, his heart pounding, and he didn't know what to say.
Yang Ping turned around and looked out the window. Sunlight was already shining into the courtyard, and the leaves of the ginkgo tree were rustling in the wind.
"This means that our research over the past few years has not been about creating new therapies," he said, "but about discovering the inherent capabilities of the human body. My three theories are just like the blind men and the elephant."
Yang Ping's office was transformed into a makeshift war room for the entire morning.
Mainstein brought over his laptop and pulled up all the mass spectrometry data on the unknown factors from the past three years. Weber brought the original records of stem cell differentiation, more than 1,200 cell culture logs. Tang Shun opened the database of the K therapy clinical trials, with follow-up data from more than 500 patients.
They were like three detectives, re-examining a crime scene that had been examined countless times before.
This is a series of cases, and all three cases are committed by the same person.
“Look here.” Mainstein pointed to a heat map on the screen. “The expression level of the unknown factor is significantly correlated with the prognosis of patients with spinal cord injury. The group with high expression had twice the recovery score at six months compared to the control group. I used to think this was just a correlation, but now I realize it’s not a coincidence at all. The unknown factor is part of the repair process, and its expression level determines the degree of activation of the process.”
Weber opened his training log and flipped through it page by page. When he reached page thirty-seven, his fingers stopped.
“I found it,” he said, his voice a little strained. “Two years ago, I did an experiment that I thought was a false positive, so I didn’t include it in the paper. I replaced the culture supernatant of stem cells with a homogenate of damaged tissue, and the result was that the proportion of neuronal differentiation was five times higher than that of the conventional group.”
He looked up at Yang Ping: "I didn't understand why at the time. Now I know, there are unknown factors in the damaged tissue, and there are signals to initiate the repair process."
Yang Ping took the journal, read it for a few seconds, and then handed it back to Weber.
“Repeat that experiment, using our current detection methods, and clarify the signaling pathway. If this hypothesis is true, then damaged tissue homogenate should be able to activate downstream transcriptional processes through the unknown factor receptor.”
Weber nodded.
Yang Ping said, "We need to finish the plan as soon as possible. This experiment is very important, but we can't rush it. Rushing will only lead to mistakes and waste time."
Weber stopped, took a deep breath, and said, "Okay, I'll write the proposal first."
Mainstein was still going through his data, but his pace had slowed considerably, as if he were chewing on something. He suddenly said, "Professor, if our hypothesis is correct, then our understanding of medicine may be completely overturned. In the past, we've been doing 'replacement'—heart replacement when the heart fails, dialysis when the kidneys fail, artificial joints when the joints fail. But if we can find a way to activate the repair process, then what we need to do is not replacement, but 'empowerment,' allowing the body to repair itself. From this perspective, the human body possesses this potential, it's just been sealed."
"This is the core of the balance theory. In fact, the balance theory I proposed before is only a part of this larger theory," Yang Ping said. "The human body's self-regulation ability far exceeds our imagination. Most of the time, we are not treating diseases, but helping the body restore its self-regulation ability. Surgery removes obstacles, drugs provide signals, but the one that is really doing the work is the body itself."
Tang Shun remained silent the entire time, but his pen flew across the page as he took notes. Only after Yang Ping finished speaking did he look up.
“Professor, verifying this hypothesis requires a lot of work.” Tang Shun’s voice was steady, as if he were giving a formal report. “We need to verify whether the upregulation of unknown factors is universal in multiple tissue damage models: find the receptors for unknown factors and prove that they are the starting point of a signaling pathway; prove the existence of repair programs at the gene level, for example, by using single-cell sequencing technology to measure the cell state at different time points after injury and see if a unified transcriptional program is activated…”
Yang Ping looked at him, his gaze filled with something complex.
"Yes, we have a lot of work to do, but it's much more than this."
Yang Ping nodded: "Then let's do it your way. You'll be in charge of coordination, Mainstein will be in charge of molecular mechanisms, Weber will be in charge of cellular-level validation, and Xiao Lu will be in charge of reviewing clinical data. I'm afraid we'll be short-handed again."
Tang Shun immediately responded, "I will expedite the recruitment of talent."
"Everyone should get moving when there's nothing else to do, and meet up to discuss any problems that arise," Yang Ping instructed.
Tang Shun, Mainstein, Weber, and Lu Xiaolu left, and the office door closed.
The office quieted down. Yang Ping looked at the layers of writing on the whiteboard: repair program, unknown factors, the shutdown and activation of development program, stem cells as the execution unit. He suddenly felt that these things were not what he was thinking, but rather what they were looking for him.
I waited a long time until he was finally ready before he knocked on the door.
He stood up and walked to the window.
The ginkgo leaves swayed in the wind, sunlight filtering through the gaps and casting dappled shadows on the ground. In the distance, the inpatient building stood against the blue sky and white clouds, its windows reflecting light like countless eyes.
At 2 p.m., Yang Ping went to the general thoracic surgery department.
The patient who underwent Lumbar resection by Director He was discharged today. Yang Ping hadn't planned to go, but Director He called three times, saying the patient wanted to thank him in person, and he felt bad refusing.
In the ward, the old man had changed into his own clothes, a dark blue jacket, his hair neatly combed, and his complexion was much better than before the surgery. His wife stood beside him, carrying several bags, her eyes a little red.
"Professor Yang!" The old man exclaimed loudly upon seeing Yang Ping, his voice booming like a command being shouted on a playground, "You've arrived!"
"You look good." Yang Ping walked over, picked up a stethoscope and listened to his lungs. "Your breath sounds are clear, and there are no dry or wet rales. After you go home, be sure to rest, take your medicine on time, and come back for a follow-up check-up in a month."
"I've got it, I've got it." The old man nodded repeatedly. "Director He has given all the instructions, prescribed the medicine, and written down the precautions. I've written them all down in my little notebook."
He pulled a palm-sized notebook from his pocket, opened it, and found it filled with dense writing. Yang Ping glanced at it; the handwriting was neat, the content detailed, even specifying the exact time to take his medicine each day.
Yang Ping put the stethoscope away.
"Take good care of yourself," he said. "You have a good constitution, so you're recovering faster than I expected."
"That's all thanks to the excellent surgery you and Director He performed." The old man grasped Yang Ping's hand tightly. "Professor Yang, you saved my life. I may never have the chance to repay you in this lifetime, but I will live well and not let your surgery down."
Yang Ping looked at him, wanting to say something, but felt that anything he said would be superfluous.
"Your good health is the best way to repay me," he said.
As I walked out of the ward, Director He followed me out.
"Professor Yang, thank you." Director He's voice was low but sincere. "I really didn't dare to do this surgery if you hadn't been standing by me. You not only saved that patient, but you also gave me confidence."
Yang Ping said, "The technology is yours; I just stood there and looked at it."
“Your presence alone is more effective than anything else.”
Yang Ping didn't reply. He patted Director He on the shoulder, then turned and left.
As he walked out of the inpatient building, he saw Lin Xiaoyu.
The girl sat in a wheelchair, being pushed outside by a caregiver to bask in the sun. Her complexion was better than a few days ago; although not completely recovered, it was at least not as pale and bloodless as before. Her eyes were open, gazing at the clouds in the sky, her expression serene.
"Xiaoyu." Yang Ping walked over.
The girl turned her head, saw him, and the corners of her mouth curved slightly, which could be considered a smile.
"Professor Yang."
How are you feeling today?
"I'm feeling a bit better." Her voice was still soft, but she had more energy than she did in the two days after her first infusion. "I didn't have a fever last night, and I ate a bowl of porridge this morning."
"That's good." Yang Ping squatted down to look her in the eye. "Would you like to get down and walk around for a bit?"
The girl paused for a moment, then nodded.
The caregiver helped her stand up from her wheelchair. Her legs were still a little weak, and she was unsteady on her feet, but she could stand on her own without assistance. Yang Ping took two steps back, opened his arms, as if catching a toddler learning to walk.
"Come here, come to me."
The girl hesitated for a second, then took a step.
One step, two steps, three steps.
She walked up to Yang Ping, reached out her hand, and touched his palm.
"Great!" Yang Ping smiled. "You took two more steps than yesterday."
The girl looked up at him and asked, "Professor Yang, will I be alright?"
This question is exactly the same as the one Sisi asked a few years ago.
Yang Ping looked at her, and after a moment of silence, said, "It will be alright!"
(End of this chapter)