358: Chapter 358 Research Directions for New Drugs

Conducting human trials would be a massive hassle. Although he could request official assistance, before seeking such help, at the very least, the absolute safety of the drug must be determined. Then, a large number of contingency plans must be formulated, such as protocols for allergic individuals.

There are also issues like acute stress inflammatory responses.

This is the most troublesome part of drug research and development.

Thinking of this, Zhao Yang sighed softly.

He shook his head to temporarily cast aside these distracting thoughts and looked up at the laboratory control console. The screen displayed the data from the first batch of functional protein extraction that Shin-chan had just completed.

The antioxidant active center of the SOD2 Mutant had been successfully replicated in an in vitro expression system, but this step was only the first step of a long journey.

There were countless steps between laboratory-scale protein extraction and a finished drug product.

He hesitated for a moment, then swiped his finger across the trackpad to call up the experimental design plan that Shin-chan had previously organized.

"Shin-chan, begin the scaled-up synthesis of the corresponding functional proteins."

"Understood. Based on the previous in vitro expression data, I suggest conducting three sets of parallel experiments first: the first group will maintain the existing expression vector and host strain, conducting a 500-milliliter scale-up culture."

"The second group will attempt to switch to a yeast expression system to see if the proportion of soluble protein can be increased; the third group will go directly the cell-free synthesis route—although the cost is high, it can bypass the two steps of inclusion body denaturation and renaturation, saving time."

Without much hesitation, Zhao Yang said directly.

"Run all three groups simultaneously. The culture conditions, inducer concentration, and lysis buffer formula should all follow the previously optimized parameters. Report any deviations to me immediately."

"Understood. Additionally, based on the data of the ACTN3 recombinant gene from your previous blood sample, I suggest starting the pre-experiment for ACTN3-related proteins at this stage as well."

"Its functional direction is completely different from SOD2; SOD2 mainly acts on the oxidative stress pathway, while ACTN3 directly affects the contraction efficiency of fast-twitch muscle fibers."

"If both proteins can be administered together, theoretically, the effect on enhancing overall physical fitness will be more significant than using either one alone."

Zhao Yang thought for a moment and nodded in agreement.

"That works!"

The SOD2 Mutant focuses on endurance and anti-oxidation, while the ACTN3 recombinant focuses on explosive power and muscle activity. If both paths could be successfully navigated in parallel, the scope for subsequent drug design would be much larger.

Protein synthesis was nothing difficult; having been through the ringer in Biology laboratories for so long, he knew the routine expression and purification processes by heart. What would truly take time was the safety and efficacy verification after administering the drug to mice.

Experimental cycles for acute toxicity, sub-chronic toxicity, and efficacy comparisons across different dosage groups often took months, and there was no rushing them. He confirmed the subsequent experimental schedule with Shin-chan and then left the basement.

Returning to the study, he took off his lab coat, draped it over the back of the chair, sat down, and began to think about another matter.

That task of publishing a paper in a Chinese core journal. The requirements weren't high—200,000 words, publication in a Chinese core journal—but when it was just settled, he could already imagine the reaction online once the news got out.

But a system task is a system task. 100,000 Linguistics experience points plus five random lucky draws, along with a 30-minute inspiration burst card—the reward was already tempting enough.

If one added the discipline branch skills unlocked after upgrading to Lv5, it was a no-brainer!

His Linguistics was currently at Lv4, still over 100,000 experience points away from Lv5. Relying solely on grinding books, who knew how long that would take, and the Intelligence boost that came with discipline upgrades was a hard gain he could not afford to miss under any circumstances.

He opened Shin-chan's search interface and had it start organizing research materials related to history. At first, he considered doing research in Linguistics itself; after all, he had the foundation of Lv4 Linguistics, so digging deep into a specialized sub-field shouldn't be difficult.

But after flipping through a few core journal papers on Linguistics, he felt the discipline was too niche. Writing a high-quality paper in a short amount of time probably wasn't going to happen.

Later, he also thought about the philosophy direction; Logic Philosophy intersected with mathematics, and his proficiency in formal logic could be directly transferred over. However, the publication cycle for philosophy in domestic core journals was always very long, and the review standards were extremely subjective, so it was also not something that could be handled in a short time.

Finally, Zhao Yang locked onto History.

Choosing history, one reason was that the direction was quite suitable. After all, he had the "Photographic Memory" passive skill.

The complex literature that other historians might take months or even years to finish reading, he could finish in an extremely short time and actually remember.

Another reason was that historical research had its own rigorous methodology, and the habit of airtight deduction he had developed while studying mathematics was equally applicable to historical textual research.

After confirming the direction, he began to grind through literature.

Photographic Memory, combined with his super-high Intelligence of over 200, brought his reading speed to an extremely exaggerated level.

Scanning a page of a book, all the text was imprinted directly into his mind with almost no need for thought. The times, locations, names, and the causes and effects of events within were all precisely categorized and stored in his memory.

Moreover, as he absorbed more and more historical data, his brain began to automatically establish relationships between geographical space, timelines, and interpersonal relationships.

When Professor Tao called him, he had just finished flipping through a thick book, "Historical Natural Geography of China," and his eyes were fixed on a schematic diagram of the Yellow River's historical course changes that Shin-chan had compiled based on the records in the book.

"Hello, Professor Tao."

"Zhao Yang, you've really played the role of the hands-off manager quite thoroughly."

"What is it now?"

"Prof. Pierre Deligne and the others are still in Peking University. Besides that report meeting and the banquet, we haven't even seen a shadow of you."

"Faltings just left yesterday, and before he left, he was still talking about you, saying that the boundary convergence problem of the trace map variant you discussed with him last time wasn't finished yet."

"People flew all the way here, and you're just leaving them hanging like this?"

Zhao Yang minimized the Yellow River course change diagram on the screen and leaned back against his chair.

"I have indeed been busy with other things these past two days. When are they leaving? I'll go see them off."

"Prof. Witten and Prof. Fefferman have already left; Pierre Deligne has a flight the day after tomorrow. But there is one thing you need to come over for today: Perelman is preparing to leave, and he said he wants to see you before he goes."

Zhao Yang stopped the pen he was spinning in his hand.

During the few days Perelman had been in Peking University, besides that report meeting and the banquet, he had hardly left the apartment arranged for him by Peking University. He didn't participate in any social activities, didn't accept any interviews, and even refused all the sightseeing itineraries arranged by the Peking University administration.

It was as if he had flown over specifically for that report meeting; after listening to Zhao Yang's explanation and confirming that all the deductions were correct, he prepared to leave.

"Where is he now?"

"Still in that apartment. He said he didn't need a car to take him; he'd go to the airport himself."

"I'll be there right away."

Zhao Yang hung up the phone, threw on his coat, and went out. Wang Hai's car was parked at the villa entrance, and Zhao Yang instructed Wang Hai to drive directly to Peking University.

The apartment where Perelman was staying was in the Expert Building in the northwest corner of Peking University, an old-fashioned small building made of blue bricks.

When Zhao Yang pushed the door open and entered, Perelman was sitting in a chair by the window, holding a Russian edition of "Principles of Algebraic Geometry."

"Professor Perelman."

"Zhao." Perelman closed the book, placed it on the corner of the table, looked up at Zhao Yang, and pointed to the chair opposite him. "Sit."

Zhao Yang sat down. The furnishings in the room were extremely simple: a bed, a desk, two chairs, and a wardrobe. The curtains were light gray, swaying gently in the breeze. Perelman's spirit seemed even better than when he had first arrived in Peking University.

"Your paper—it is a brilliant proof."