"Quick reaction, huh? It seems our approach really hit their sore spot. I appreciate their excellent quality of learning from mistakes." Yang Ping’s tone even carried a hint of admiration.
"Professor, you can still laugh?" Chu Xiaoxiao was almost on the verge of tears, "Without those enzys and reagents, Liu Yang’s platform can’t be set up; without a specific detection panel, my risk assessnt model is just a castle in the air; without computing resources, He Zijian’s design optimization is as slow as a snail... Our project is on the verge of stillbirth!"
"Stillbirth? That’s an exaggeration." Yang Ping put down the thermos cup, his gaze swept over the young and anxious faces in front of him, "What they’re blocking is the ’most convenient’ and ’easiest’ path, the ’main road.’ But in scientific research, especially if you want to create sothing different, you can’t just take the main road, sotis, you have to take the ’wild path.’
"Wild path?" Everyone was taken aback.
"That’s right." Yang Ping stood up, walked to the whiteboard, and picked up a pen, "They don’t sell us ready-made ’bullets,’ so we’ll make them ourselves, or find substitutes, or even change our thinking—use a slingshot instead of a gun to shoot birds."
As he spoke, he wrote and drew on the whiteboard:
"First, substitute and self-develop core reagents."
"Liu Yang, high-throughput cloning isn’t only achievable by the Golden Gate thod. Traditional Gibson assembly, SLiCE assembly, or even older thods like enzy digestion and ligation—can we optimize the conditions to use more common enzys? Or, can we express and purify so key enzys ourselves? Does the institute have related strains and vectors? Go find them! Ask around! Collaborate with other lab groups in the institute who are doing enzymology! Tang Shun has a list of every lab group’s research directions."
"Jiang Jitong, you investigate if there are dostic suppliers that can substitute, or if any labs have a stockpile that we can exchange other resources for. If not, see if it’s possible to use ’non-standard’ channels, like so small start-ups, or so non-mainstream suppliers overseas, who might not be influenced by big companies."
"Second, equipnt modification and function discovery."
"Wang Chao, the equipnt for protein interaction detection can’t be bought, but can the old machines in the institute’s public platform be useful? Its detection limit might not be low enough, but if we optimize sample handling processes, amplify the signal? Or, is there another technology that can indirectly characterize the interaction? Such as old models of surface plasmon resonance (SPR)? Fluorescence polarization (FP)? Go chat with the platform managent teachers to see if we can get so permissions to adjust the underlying paraters, and we’ll optimize the thod ourselves."
"Chu Xiaoxiao, if the flow panel is blocked, then use the basic antibodies to configure it yourself! It’s just a bit more troubleso, requiring more compensation optimization and condition exploration. List the antibody targets you need, we’ll order them separately from different companies, breaking it down into parts. If that’s not possible, for so key detections, send them out to be done, do it in Europe or the United States, they can’t block themselves, right? If needed, I’ll practice."
"Third, computing resources."
"He Zijian, comrcial computing software is limited, can you contact Nandu University dical Digital dical Laboratory, to rise using these software thods, directly use the artificial intelligence of Nandu dical University, maybe the effect will be better."
Yang Ping analyzed point by point, with a clear thought process and decisive strategies, as if he had a well-thought-out plan. He not only identified the problems but also provided a set of strategies on how to ’go around,’ ’exploit gaps,’ and ’do it yourself.’
"Rember," Yang Ping concluded, his eyes sharp, "The barriers they built may appear solid, but they are often stagnant and bloated, slow to react to changes. Whereas we are small, quick, and agile. They haven’t completely blocked all the paths, nor can they. This is our opportunity. These basic experintal equipnt and reagents, Ruixing is also trying, but those things can’t be solved overnight, not without five or ten years to produce a product."
Yang Ping’s words, like a strong wind, blew away the despair hanging over the team’s heads. The people who initially felt at their wit’s end, their eyes lit up again.
Right! Why must we use the best? Why must we take the smoothest road? Isn’t the essence of scientific research to solve the seemingly ’impossible’ one after another?
...
In the days that followed, the research group underwent a transformation, from a "state-of-the-art elite troop" to a team full of grassroots wisdom, becoming a "back-to-basics steelmaking" squad.
Liu Yang dived into the institute’s strain preservation center and protein purification platform, starting attempts to express and optimize several key recombinant enzys himself. The process was fraught with difficulties, and the purity and activity couldn’t compare with comrcial products, but he enjoyed it, carrying the sll of culture dium on him every day. He even found a thod from an old article that simulates specific cloning effects with a combination of common endonucleases and ligases. While the steps were cumberso, and efficiency was compromised, it at least allowed his vector construction to continue.
Chu Xiaoxiao beca a "nail-household" at the flow cytotry platform, using soft tactics and persistence, becoming buddies with the platform administrator, gaining the privilege to "fiddle" with the old instrunt during non-peak hours. She used the most basic antibodies to configure detection panels like building blocks, repeatedly adjusting voltage and compensation, and recording a large amount of data. This painful and prolonged process, however, deeply ingrained her understanding of flow technology.
anwhile, He Zijian ran to the Nandu University dical Digital dical Center daily, communicating with engineers about how to use more powerful computing models to accomplish his work.
Wang Chao fully utilized his "hands-on master" trait, taking Jiang Jitong to the electronics and chanical engineering schools to "ask for help," to see if they could build a simple protein interaction detection device themselves. Although the final product looked like a "junk ensemble" (as Wang Chao put it), assembled from various discarded optical components and homade sample cells, with a signal-to-noise ratio that was quite touching, they actually managed to detect so indicative results, providing preliminary screening bases.
Jiang Jitong acted as the team’s "logistical supply chief" and "diplomat," leveraging all his connections to find a substitute for a crucial chemical reagent from an obscure dostic biotech company; through alumni relationships, he "borrowed" a batch of urgently needed rare enzy preparations from an institute in another city; he even contacted a small research institute in Europe, which was very interested in Yang Ping’s project and offered so help in the form of technical exchange.
This sudden blockade did not defeat this five-mber group; instead, it unleashed their infinite potential and creativity. They seed to have returned to the "pioneering era" of scientific exploration: without ready-made tools, they made their own tools; without smooth roads, they carved their paths.
During this process, their understanding of the technologies they are researching deepened in unexpected ways. Self-optimizing enzys taught them more about the bottlenecks of enzy reactions; configuring the flow panel themselves helped them understand antibodies and labeled substances better; building detection devices on their own led to a deeper grasp of signal detection principles and interference factors...
Perhaps this is the value of the ’wild path’ Yang Ping ntioned—it forces you back to the core of the problem, using the most fundantal knowledge and the most primitive tools to tackle the most cutting-edge issues.
Dean Xia also heard about the "difficulties" the research group encountered. Once again, he "passed by" the office. This ti, he didn’t beat around the bush and directly expressed his concern: "Professor Yang, I heard you ran into so procurent troubles? Need to report it upwards and help coordinate?"
Yang Ping smiled and pointed at the five busy young people, "Dean, no need to worry. Look, they’re in the midst of comprehensive ’scientific research survival training.’ These difficulties are just right for them to practice. Sotis, too much smooth sailing can’t cultivate scientists who are truly battle-tested."
Dean Xia observed the bustling, even sowhat "chaotic" scene in the office, and the light of determination in those young people’s eyes, nodding doubtfully. He seed to understand what Yang Ping ant by "not understanding scientific research"—he was used to working in existing fraworks with ample resources, while Yang Ping seed better at paving new roads under constraints and adversity.
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