286: Chapter 286 Elder Yuan's Praise

"Don't be in such a hurry."

Professor Gu Ming raised his hand, his gaze sweeping over the students before him. He felt a surge of emotion, even though he was a full professor himself.

Yet, when it came to a titan of Elder Yuan's caliber, he still felt like a fan. Now, his own research had caught the eye of such a legendary figure.

Professor Gu Ming was currently overflowing with a sense of accomplishment.

That was Elder Yuan!

Ordinary people only knew that Elder Yuan was incredible for developing hybrid rice.

But to be honest, the general public had no concept of just how formidable he was in the academic world. Professors like Professor Gu Ming, however, were different.

There was a saying that put it well: "If you do not practice, you see me as a frog in a well looking at the moon in the sky. If you do practice, you see me as a tiny ant looking up at the vast blue heavens!"

And Professor Gu Ming was exactly that practitioner!

"We still have time this afternoon. Li Xin, organize those transgenic lines and pick several pots with the most obvious phenotypes to place on the outermost edge of the incubator. Gu Qing, you're in charge of preparing the experimental materials and sample displays. Zhao Yang, you're the most familiar with the data, so you'll give the presentation tomorrow."

Suppressing the excitement in his heart, Professor Gu Ming finalized the arrangements for tomorrow in just a few sentences.

Zhao Yang nodded.

That afternoon, everyone in the laboratory was busy. Li Xin carried the pots of transgenic rice he was responsible for out of the incubator one by one, using scissors to carefully trim the withered yellow leaf tips.

At the lab bench, Gu Qing organized the electrophoresis gel images and quantitative PCR results into a complete folder, marking the page numbers. Zhao Yang, meanwhile, pulled up the ion content measurement data from previous experiments to create a more intuitive comparison chart and printed several backup hard copies.

At 8:30 the next morning, Professor Gu Ming waited at the entrance of the School of Life Sciences with the entire lab staff. Elder Yuan arrived with several staff members from the Ministry of Science and Technology. He wore a deep blue jacket, and though his hair was completely white, he was in high spirits. His gait was steady, not at all like a man nearing eighty.

Professor Gu Ming went forward to shake Elder Yuan's hand.

"Elder Yuan, welcome to our laboratory. Please, come inside."

Elder Yuan nodded.

With a smile on his face, his gaze went directly to Zhao Yang at the door.

"This must be Professor Zhao?"

As he spoke, Elder Yuan reached out his hand toward Zhao Yang.

Flattered and overwhelmed, Zhao Yang hurried forward and grasped Elder Yuan's hand with both of his.

In both his past and present lives, Elder Yuan held a place among the people Zhao Yang admired most. He hadn't expected that Elder Yuan would recognize him at a glance during their first meeting.

This couldn't help but make Zhao Yang incredibly excited.

"Elder Yuan, I didn't expect you to recognize a junior like me at first glance. I'm truly honored."

"Hahaha!"

Elder Yuan chuckled and looked at Zhao Yang.

"It can't be helped, Professor Zhao. Your fame at home and abroad far exceeds mine now. I'm just an old man, but you are one of the world's top genius scholars!"

The look in Elder Yuan's eyes as he watched Zhao Yang was full of admiration.

"I see your face in the news all the time; it would be hard not to recognize you."

"This junior is unworthy of such praise."

Zhao Yang said quickly.

"Let's go, take me to see the status of your Saline-alkali tolerant rice!"

Elder Yuan said with a smile to Professor Gu Ming, who was standing nearby.

"Elder Yuan, this way please!"

Professor Gu Ming made a welcoming gesture toward Elder Yuan.

The group entered the laboratory. Professor Gu Ming led Elder Yuan to the incubator containing the transgenic rice lines Li Xin was responsible for.

"These are the NAC transcription factor overexpression lines we've constructed. This row has undergone two weeks of salt stress treatment, while the adjacent row is the control group under normal conditions."

Li Xin stood by the incubator and explained to Elder Yuan. He was clearly very nervous, his voice sounding a bit strained as he spoke.

"From the phenotype, the plant height and root length of the overexpression lines under salt stress are better than those of the wild type. In particular, this T3 line shows the most significant salt tolerance."

Elder Yuan bent over to observe the growth of the rice for a good while before asking, "What was the concentration used for the salt stress treatment?"

"One hundred and fifty millimoles per liter of sodium chloride solution," Li Xin answered immediately.

"That concentration is already considered moderately high."

Elder Yuan straightened up and took another look at the leaves, his eyes showing approval.

"To be able to maintain such growth under these conditions, the effect of this transcription factor is indeed quite good. Have you conducted an analysis of ion distribution at the cytological level?"

Professor Gu Ming asked Zhao Yang to step forward and answer. Zhao Yang pulled up several sets of ion content measurement data on the computer and projected them onto the screen.

"On the fifth day of salt stress treatment, we took root tip tissue for quantitative measurements of sodium and potassium ions."

Zhao Yang pointed to the bar chart on the screen.

"The accumulation of sodium ions in the vacuoles of the T3 transgenic line was about twice as high as in the control group, while the potassium ion concentration in the cytoplasm remained relatively stable. Based on the expression data of several ion transporters we analyzed, our preliminary conclusion is that this NAC transcription factor achieves sodium ion sequestration by upregulating the sodium-potassium transporters on the vacuolar membrane, preventing sodium ions from accumulating to toxic levels in the cytoplasm."

After listening, Elder Yuan was silent for a few seconds. His fingers tapped lightly on the table twice.

"This data processing is very clean, and the methods chosen are correct."

Elder Yuan smiled as he spoke to Zhao Yang and Professor Gu Ming.

"Back in our day, we spent decades soaking in rice paddies, often relying on experience and the naked eye to make judgments. We knew some things were right, but we couldn't explain the mechanisms clearly. You are using modern molecular Biology techniques to clarify the mechanisms behind that old experience. This is a good thing."

Zhao Yang didn't respond but simply nodded.

Elder Yuan stayed in the laboratory for over two hours, reviewing all the data and samples. He walked over to the electrophoresis gel image, pointed to a difference in one of the banding patterns, and asked Gu Qing a question about primer design. Gu Qing answered calmly, explaining her thought process when she originally designed those sets of primers. Elder Yuan nodded after hearing her explanation.

As he was leaving, Elder Yuan stood at the door and chatted with Professor Gu Ming for a while.

"Could the effect of this transcription factor also be verified in Indica rice?"

"It's already in progress. We are working with the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, to construct transgenic lines of Indica rice. We should have the first batch of materials by next month," Professor Gu Ming replied.

Elder Yuan nodded, then turned to look at Li Xin and the others standing nearby with a smile.

"Young people, don't just stay in the laboratory. This rice stuff ultimately needs to be planted in the fields."

"Understood, Elder Yuan. We will definitely go out to the fields!"

Li Xin and the others replied, feeling deeply honored.

After finishing with the young people in the lab, Elder Yuan looked at Zhao Yang and said with a smile.

"If you have time in the future, you're welcome to visit our experimental fields in Hunan. The conditions there aren't as nice as here. The sun will peel your skin, and the leeches in the paddies aren't polite when they bite. But true breeding is ground out little by little in places like that."

Zhao Yang looked at the white-haired old man before him. His hands were rough, unlike those of a typical researcher; the creases on the back of his hands were embedded with color that couldn't be washed away—the marks left by prolonged exposure to the sun in the fields.

Seeing Elder Yuan like this, a trace of emotion flickered deep within Zhao Yang's eyes.

This predecessor, for the rise of the Dragon Kingdom and the well-being of people all over the world, had dedicated almost his entire life to the farmland.

Even when he passed away in 2021, Elder Yuan had not enjoyed a life of leisure or retired; he was still on the front lines conducting experiments and research.

Zhao Yang asked himself if he could ever do the same, but it would be difficult. Someone like Elder Yuan was truly an Unrivaled National Scholar!

"I will definitely go when I have time."

Zhao Yang said seriously.