The research group’s work had finally gotten on track, and the atmosphere in the office had shifted from the initial adrenaline rush to a more sustained calm.
The five PhDs were learning theory while starting to get hands-on, and the tedium and challenges of scientific research were gradually beginning to reveal themselves.
Liu Yang’s molecular cloning platform encountered its first hurdle—after synthesizing the first batch of enhancer gene fragnts he designed, the Golden Gate assembly efficiency was dismally low, with those enzys and DNA fragnts stubbornly refusing to fit together according to his blueprint on the microplate.
Staring at the sparse bands on the electrophoresis gel, he frowned deeply.
"It shouldn’t be like this. I’ve optimized the ligation temperature, enzy concentration, and fragnt ratio!" Liu Yang scratched his already ssy hair.
Chu Xiaoxiao leaned over for a look, patted him on the shoulder, and in a knowing tone said, "That’s normal. The macrophages I’m culturing all ’flopped’ yesterday. Adding the stimulator didn’t do anything. It’s probably a serum batch issue; I’m checking into it."
He Zijian was drowning in a sea of literature, with three brick-like monographs and seven or eight papers spread out on his desk, all marked with colorful highlighter strokes and tiny notes. He was trying to clarify a "brake" effect possibly triggered by a co-stimulatory signal domain in a specific immunocyte subset, instead of the expected "acceleration" effect. This involved extrely complex interplays of signaling pathways, making him feel his brain cells were dying off at an exponential rate.
Wang Chao was relatively aggressive. He had completed the preliminary selection of viral antigen models, choosing three structurally distinct and representative viral surface proteins, and was already designing plasmids with SpyTag and SnoopTag. He believed in "just do it," but Jiang Jitong reminded him to pay attention to the tag’s position on the antigen’s conformation to avoid a situation where the antigen loses its activity even if it connects, like buying the case instead of the jewel.
Jiang Jitong himself was diving deep into the "ligation technology" territory. Although the SpyTag/SpyCatcher system was relatively mature, he needed to ensure that in the specific application scenario, the connection efficiency and stability t the requirents. The more avant-garde split-intein system was like a cloud-shrouded technological peak, with limited literature and imnse challenges, but he thrived on it, coming up with new ideas every day, only to self-critique and discard most of them.
Professor Yang was like that mysterious ntor in a ga who issues main quests only at critical monts. He didn’t often appear in the office, but whenever he did, he could precisely pinpoint the crux of the problem, provide one or two overlooked key docunts, or propose a fresh perspective that would instantly resolve a stalled discussion.
He repeatedly emphasized, "Don’t be afraid of taking detours. Theoretical exploration is about marking all possible detours on the map so that when you actually experint, you avoid them."
In such a busy, fulfilling, yet eager atmosphere, everyone unconsciously grew.
These days, Ji Ning felt like an ant on a hot pan.
Initially, he was confident in his judgnt—what waves could five newcors stir up? It was surely a face-saving project for the higher-ups, quietly concluding with everyone happily pocketing subsidies.
However, from his recent observations, this wasn’t a retirent group at all. It was clearly an extre challenge group!
When he saw the complex cytokine storm risk assessnt model frawork on Chu Xiaoxiao’s computer screen, he was even more certain he had miscalculated. That thing couldn’t be built without so real talent and hardcore data.
A huge sense of loss and regret seized him.
Five hundred million in funding! A topic so cutting-edge it was daunting! Complete autonomy with research permissions! How had he been so foolish to believe that nonsense about a "retirent group" and voluntarily withdrew?
People can occasionally be fools, but how could one be this foolish? Whoever spread the "retirent group" rumor, he felt like he wanted to throttle them.
Unable to hold back any longer, one afternoon he found his chance, spotting that only Chu Xiaoxiao seed to be there organizing data, and slipped in again. This ti, his face was full of ingratiating smiles, carrying a bag of freshly bought steaming milk tea.
"Xiaoxiao, busy? Take a break, have sothing to drink." Ji Ning put the milk tea on Chu Xiaoxiao’s desk, his voice as gentle as if it were dripping with honey.
Chu Xiaoxiao looked up from her computer, adjusted her glasses, and stared at him warily, "Ji Ning? What are you here for again? We sure aren’t a retirent ho here."
"Oh please, Miss Chu, spare !" Ji Ning put on a look of anguish, "Those outside rumors are just nonsense! It was my shortsightedness, my foolishness! Haven’t I now... realized my mistake deeply?"
He leaned in a bit, lowered his voice, "You see, you’re all so busy now, under so much pressure. Liu Yang’s cloning isn’t going well, He Zijian is buried in literature, and Wang Chao is all thumbs... There must be soone to assist, do odd jobs, right? While I may not be as capable as everyone else, I can still run errands, order reagents, culture so cells, do basic cloning! Let join; talk to the professor for !"
Looking at his pitiable face, Chu Xiaoxiao felt both annoyed and amused. She glanced at the milk tea and said slowly, "Ji Ning, now you know they’re just ’rumors’? What were you doing earlier? Our research team is short-handed, but Professor Yang and Senior Brother Jiang said we’re better off lacking than having a weak link. We are now a well-integrated team with clear division of labor. Adding soone suddenly would disrupt the rhythm, not to ntion the entire Institute’s laboratory is extrely short-staffed. Doctor Tang and Dr. Lu are both in need of people; how could they casually reassign personnel?"
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