Chapter 2282 - 1476: Unrestrained Imagination (Part 2)

Chapter 2282: Chapter 1476: Unrestrained Imagination (Part 2)

"Where’s Chen Xiao?"

"He said he’s writing a paper. He plans to finish the first draft within three days."

"Tell him not to rush it."

"Okay."

Yang Ping hung up the phone, placed it face down on the coffee table. The living room was quiet, and kitchen noises from Xiao Su cooking echoed, with the spatula clashing against the iron wok making crisp sounds. Dabao lay on the carpet, having fallen asleep at some point, resting his head on his arm, mouth slightly open, breathing evenly, facing the window. The sunlight cast a faint golden gleam on his hair.

Yang Ping watched him and remembered something Sisi said many years ago: "Big Brother, why can people live so long?" How did he answer back then? He thought for a long time and came up with a rough answer: because the body is constantly repairing itself. Sisi didn’t question further, she simply nodded and continued her treatment. Many years later, she wrote in an email: "Professor Yang, I understand now. What you said back then about ’the body constantly repairing itself’ is actually your unified theory. You’ve been thinking about it since then, just that you didn’t say it."

Yang Ping stood up, went over to Dabao, squatted down, and gently picked him up. Dabao stirred in his sleep, muttered something, and then fell back into a deep sleep. Yang Ping carried him into the children’s room, laid him on the bed, tucked him in, gave him a kiss on the forehead, and quietly backed out, closing the door.

He returned to the living room, sat on the sofa, picked up his phone, opened the email, clicked on the data Weber sent, and read it from start to finish. The experimental design was meticulous, the data was comprehensive, the statistical analysis was standard, and the conclusions were clear. Antibodies to Receptor X not only reduced liver function indicators in liver injury models but also promoted liver cell regeneration. The pathology slices were beautiful, with regenerated liver cells arranged neatly, normal in shape, without tumor-like changes. Everything looked wonderful, almost too good to be true. He read the data again, then put down his phone and leaned back against the sofa.

"Dinner’s ready."

Xiao Su came out of the kitchen carrying dishes. Yang Ping stood, went over to help set the tableware. Dabao was still asleep, and they didn’t wake him. The two of them sat facing each other, steam rising from the dishes, the lights bright, while outside the sky had begun to darken, shifting from deep blue to ink blue.

Yang Ping said, "Manstein’s data came out; antibodies to Receptor X are effective in liver injury models. Liver function indicators largely return to normal within two days, liver cell regeneration occurs, and there’s no fibrosis."

Xiao Su paused her chopsticks, looked at him: "So what do you plan to do now?"

"Write a new paper. Integrate Receptor X data with the unified framework of repair program, demonstrating that Receptor X is a universal switch for repair programs, not just functioning in the nervous system. If this paper gets published, the unified theory will transition from hypothesis to theory. Not dependent on data from a single organ, but a conclusion formed from multi-source data across multiple systems."

"How long will it take?"

"I don’t know. The data is already there, and the paper framework exists, so it shouldn’t take long to write. But the peer review cycle is uncertain."

Xiao Su said, "Then just write, think about the next thing after it’s done."

Yang Ping smiled and continued eating. Outside, the night had fully descended, and the city’s lights began to illuminate in the distance. Xiao Su stood up, cleared the tableware, and Yang Ping helped her tidy up. They stood side by side at the sink, the sound of water flowing distinctly clear in the quiet kitchen. After washing the last bowl, he placed it on the drying rack and dried his hands with a towel. He had done this action countless times, but tonight, as he did it, he suddenly thought of a scene. In the lab, he did this same thing after washing petri dishes: placing the dishes on the drying rack, drying his hands with a towel. Actions here mirrored those in the lab exactly, yet he had never realized it before.

He lingered in the kitchen for a few seconds, watching the dishes neatly arranged on the drying rack, stacked one on top of the other, large ones below, small ones above, just like how petri dishes were stacked in the lab. Then he turned off the tap and exited the kitchen. In the living room, the lights were still bright, outside the sky was still dark, and the distant institute building had several lit windows standing out in the darkness.

Yang Ping sat on the sofa without turning on the TV or checking his phone, just sat looking at those few bright windows outside, wondering who might be inside.

Suddenly, he remembered something, picked up his phone, opened WhatsApp, found Chen Xiao’s avatar, and sent a message: "Are you in the lab?"

Less than ten seconds later, Chen Xiao replied: "I’m here, about to leave."

"Wait for me, I’m coming over. There’s something to discuss."

"Okay."

Yang Ping pocketed his phone, stood, and walked out of the study. As he passed through the living room, Xiao Su was sitting on the sofa looking at her phone, she glanced up at him. "Out again?"

"Going to the institute; Chen Xiao’s there, need to discuss something. I’ll be back soon."

"Wear your jacket; it’s cold outside." She handed him the jacket draped over the sofa’s armrest. Yang Ping took it, wore it, zipped it up, and paused as he changed shoes by the door, glanced back at her. "Has Erbao woken up?"

"Still sleeping, Dabao too. Go free of worry."

Yang Ping opened the door and stepped out.

Chen Xiao’s office light was on, the door slightly ajar. Yang Ping pushed it open and saw Chen Xiao at the computer, not having saved an Excel sheet on the screen.

"Professor, you said there’s something, what’s up?"

Yang Ping sat across from Chen Xiao, repeating what he said earlier in front of Xiao Su: "Your development-repair fold analysis, if developmental programs vary greatly between different organs, but each organ’s development fold equals its repair post-fold, then doesn’t Receptor X face different developmental programs within different organs?"

Chen Xiao didn’t answer directly, tapped a few keys on his keyboard, and opened a folder with several images. Each organ had its developmental curve and repair curve. He opened the five images simultaneously, displayed them side by side on the screen, allowing Yang Ping to see them in full. The five images lined up, each development curve followed by its repair curve, differing in shapes and directions, yet each repair curve uniquely mirrored its respective developmental curve.

"Receptor X," said Chen Xiao, "doesn’t directly command repair. It opens a channel for the organ to invoke its own developmental program. Each organ has its development blueprint stored in stem cells. Upon Receptor X activation, stem cells read this blueprint and proceed according to it. The repair isn’t done by antibodies, but by the cells themselves. Cells receive signals via Receptor X, then initiate the program."

Yang Ping sat facing Chen Xiao, with the screen displaying five lined-up images. He stared at the five images for a long time, without speaking. After staring for a long while, he drew back his gaze, looked to Chen Xiao, and uttered a sentence that Chen Xiao took several seconds to digest: "If we can find a way to provide stem cells with a different blueprint at the moment of Receptor X activation, can we let one organ grow the structure of another? Like, letting the liver grow heart cells?"

Chen Xiao put down the mouse, leaned his head out from behind the screen, his expression not showing much change, but his speech slowed a bit, akin to carefully checking if the path he tread was firm: "Theoretically, yes. From a developmental biology perspective, blueprints can be replaced. If the liver blueprint is swapped for a heart blueprint at the fertilized egg stage, the embryo would grow a misplaced heart. Since blueprints can be swapped, theoretically, if we provide stem cells with a different blueprint at the adult stage, letting it proceed according to new plans, we could achieve a brand-new tissue regeneration approach, not repairing existing structures, but creating new ones."

Yang Ping thought and said: "If this path is viable, then organ transplant wouldn’t be the only option. If the heart fails, no need to wait for a donor, let liver stem cells differentiate into myocardium cells and repair it. Of course, many issues need overcoming, like vascularization, immune rejection, structural integration. But the direction is correct."

Chen Xiao glanced at Professor Yang, then back at the computer screen.

Professor Yang’s imagination is always so wild, free-spirited, unlike the cautious nature of doctors, yet all his bizarre ideas are verified step by step.