368: Chapter 368 Fires the First Blow! Public Opinion Erupts!

Unlike the protein initially extracted directly from white mice, SOD-1 has completely moved away from protein form and is prepared using chemical synthesis.

Doing this has several benefits: the batch-to-batch consistency of chemically synthesized products is far higher than protein extraction, the process controllability for scaled-up production is stronger, and more importantly, it avoids a series of troubles such as the short half-life of protein-based drugs in the body and high immunogenicity risks.

Currently, SOD-1 is undergoing toxicology testing. The acute toxicity data is already out; mice did not show obvious toxic reactions at a dosage equivalent to one hundred times the recommended human dose, and no organic damage was observed in organ slices.

This is a good start, but there is still a long way to go before completing the system tasks. Sub-chronic toxicity tests are underway, long-term toxicology is still being scheduled, and the design for human clinical trials hasn't even begun.

What's more critical is industrial mass production... that is even more troublesome!

He leaned back in his chair and rubbed his temples. Human clinical trials are quite troublesome. Although there is safety dosage data from mice, humans and mice are, after all, two different things. Testing the drug on himself?

He thought about it and dismissed the idea. His current physical fitness is too strong; a physique value of 33 means his metabolic rate, liver detoxification ability, and cell repair mechanisms are far superior to normal people. The pharmacokinetic curve of the drug in his body is simply not on the same coordinate axis as the general population, so the data tested would have no reference value.

Wait until all the toxicology test results for the mice are out, then ask General Li if there is any way. If that doesn't work, seek help from the military. Special forces recruit training and pilot anti-fatigue duty both have clinical verification channels; going through the military's special approval channel is much faster than going through civil drug application.

He shook his head, temporarily putting these thoughts behind him, and pulled his attention back to the screen.

Shin-chan had already rebuilt the molecular structure of SOD-1 into a 3D model, using data to reassemble this molecular structure.

He wanted to try exploring other synthesis pathways for this substance through computational Chemistry.

If a more reliable synthesis pathway could be found, perhaps the difficulty of industrial mass production of SOD-1 would be reduced significantly.

This is also the path Zhao Yang currently wants to take.

And in the few days that Zhao Yang spent buried in deducing synthesis pathways.

The inaugural issue of "Spark Biology Journal" was finally officially released. The first printing was 30,000 copies; apart from the portion reserved by major university libraries and research institutions, the rest were snapped up on the first day of sale.

Old Zhang called to say that the editorial department's phones were ringing off the hook, with requests for restocking everywhere—libraries and bookstores were all asking for more stock.

He had been an academic journal editor for half his life and had never seen such a scene; an academic journal, not some fashion magazine, actually being sold out.

You have to know, those who can understand this kind of academic journal generally need at least a graduate degree, and it has to be a Biology graduate degree.

There are so many people buying it, it's truly outrageous!

Weibo quickly became lively. Someone posted a picture of the inaugural issue they managed to snatch; the deep blue cover shimmered in the sunlight, and the image on it looked very high-end.

Someone flipped to the first page of Zhao Yang's paper on the SOD2 Mutant and wrote a line next to Zhao Yang's name: "Although I can't understand a single word, this was written by God Zhao, so I bought it specifically to enshrine it."

"Brother, are you buying a journal or enshrining an idol?"

"Seriously, although I study Biology, I only understood the abstract and conclusion of God Zhao's paper. But just these two parts are enough for me to digest for several days; the content inside is too solid."

"Did you notice the directed evolution screening method used in this paper? I've seen similar ideas in a review by some big shot abroad, but they only mentioned the concept, while God Zhao actually made it work. This is truly awesome."

"What's even more moving is that a paper of this quality was actually released in Chinese first. In the past, when reading research of this level, wasn't everyone gnawing on English with a dictionary? Now it's great; reading in my native language, the time saved is enough for me to run two more sets of PCR."

"Saving time is a good thing, but what I'm worried about is that since this paper was published in a Chinese journal, will the international citation rate be affected? Even if God Zhao doesn't care about citation rates, what if young scholars want to submit to Chinese journals in the future? What about their professional title evaluations and grant applications? The current evaluation system still recognizes SCI."

"That's why it needs to be changed slowly. What God Zhao is doing is exactly this: letting Chinese journals have enough academic weight first. Once the influence rises, the evaluation system will naturally adjust accordingly. Someone has to be the first to pave the way."

"I bought five copies. One for myself to read, one for my advisor, one for my junior fellow student, and two to hoard, waiting for them to appreciate in value. This is the inaugural issue, after all! If "Spark Biology Journal" really becomes China's "Nature" in the future, this inaugural issue will be an artifact!"

"Damn, you're such a jerk! I couldn't even grab one, and you bought five?"

"Speaking of appreciation, it's already being scalped for several times the original price on scalper platforms. What's outrageous is that people are actually bidding. An academic journal being targeted by scalpers—I've lived for so many years and this is the first time I've seen it."

"Scalpers scalping journals is no news; last time, for God Zhao's history paper, that issue of "Historical Research" was reprinted twice. This guy has a built-in ability to drive sales; whatever he sells becomes popular."

"He is an academic star, after all; normal, it's normal."

"My roommate is a liberal arts student and never touches Biology, but just now she actually posted a picture of one on her WeChat Moments. I asked her why she bought it, and she said the cover looked nice. I'm truly speechless!"

"So, are thirty thousand copies enough or not? I didn't get one! God Zhao, print another batch!"

The internet was buzzing with heated discussion.

The hashtag #Spark Biology Journal Inaugural Issue Sold Out# quickly rushed into the top ten of Weibo trending searches, with over 100 million views.

There were both good and bad things being said, but everyone couldn't get around one fact: an academic journal selling out is extremely rare in the history of publishing in the Dragon Kingdom and even the whole world.

In sharp contrast to the liveliness on the internet was the silence in academia.

In the first two days after the inaugural issue was released, there was almost no public comment from the mainstream academic circles both domestically and abroad. This silence itself was an attitude; most people were just watching and waiting at this time.

In fact, even in the domestic scientific research community, not everyone supports purely Chinese journals; one could even say that a large portion of researchers are not optimistic about purely Chinese journals.

It's just that because the person who founded the journal is Zhao Yang, everyone kept silent.

But one day after the inaugural issue was released, this silence was broken.

The first to fire a shot was Professor Michael Ross from the University of California, San Francisco. This old gentleman, who enjoys a very high reputation in the field of cellular aging and antioxidant research, posted a long article on Twitter with intense wording.

"I have just barely finished reading the paper published by Dr. Zhao Yang in the inaugural issue of "Spark Biology Journal." I like this paper very much.

This paper has achieved a major breakthrough in the research of the antioxidant mechanism of the SOD2 Mutant; this breakthrough might be one of the most exciting pieces of work I have read in the last decade.

But I encountered huge obstacles in the process of reading it, because this is a paper published only in Chinese. There is no English abstract, no English chart titles, and not even any supporting translation to assist non-Chinese readers in understanding it. I had to use translation software to translate it paragraph by paragraph just to barely understand its core content."