At noon, Yang Ping received an international long-distance call from Professor Mainshtan.
"Professor, I have heard about the progress of the Three Nations case." Mainshtan’s voice revealed fatigue, "Berg’s situation... I’m very sorry. I’ve known him for thirty years and always thought he was just stubborn and conservative, never expected him to go this far."
"This isn’t your fault."
"But it’s a disgrace to the scientific community." Mainshtan sighed, "A scholar, driven by jealousy and profit, participated in harming patients. This is more serious than any academic fraud."
He paused for a mont: "The German Academy of Sciences has already started an internal investigation. Berg has been suspended from all positions. But I feel this is not enough. He should be permanently expelled from the scientific community."
"Let the law decide," Yang Ping said, "if the evidence is conclusive, he faces not only academic reputation bankruptcy."
"And there’s one more thing." Mainshtan lowered his voice, "I heard Berg is not the only one. So conservative scholars in Europe and Arica are very dissatisfied with the system regulation theory winning the award, considering it a ’challenge from Eastern science to Western dical tradition.’ They might be planning more systematic counterasures."
Yang Ping smiled bitterly: "Does science have borders?"
"Ideally no, but realistically yes," Mainshtan admitted frankly, "your success has made many people feel threatened. It’s not just academic status, but the interests behind it—pharmaceutical companies, dical device suppliers, existing treatnt systems. The system regulation theory is affecting many people’s interests, and your every disruptive innovation disturbs these vested interests."
"Professor, you’re not alone," Mainshtan firmly said, "I and many scholars in Europe and Arica support you. We are drafting a joint statent to endorse the scientific value of the system regulation theory and condemn any form of misuse and distortion. It will be published simultaneously in Science, Nature, and The Lancet this weekend."
"Thank you," Yang Ping said sincerely.
"No, we should thank you," Mainshtan said, "you showed us how a scientist can maintain a commitnt to truth and social responsibility simultaneously."
After the call ended, Yang Ping stood in front of the window, motionless for a long ti. Outside the window, the giant banyan tree in the institute’s yard stretched its branches and leaves in the sunlight, with several sparrows jumping on the branches.
Science, interests, ethics, law, international relations... these complex factors intertwine to make what should have been a simple scientific research work so heavy.
Science is pure, but the scientific community is not!
In the evening, Zhang Lin brought the latest developnts in global public opinion.
The joint statent ntioned by Professor Mainshtan was leaked early, causing a stir in the academic world. More than two hundred internationally renowned scholars have signed it, covering fields such as immunology, oncology, neuroscience, and tabolic diseases. A passage from the statent has been widely quoted:
"The system regulation theory represents a significant shift in dical theoretical models. Any early application of cutting-edge science cos with risks, but this should not be a reason to stop exploration. We support Yang Ping’s team in their adherence to scientific ethics and condemn any behavior that uses the na of science to harm patients. The future of science lies in open cooperation, not narrow protection."
Nature magazine will accompany it with an editorial titled "The Conscience of Science: When Exploration ets Boundaries."
anwhile, more details of the Three Nations case are gradually disclosed through legal channels. The public begins to understand that the hard patients were not due to problems with the theory itself, but because soone deliberately distorted and simplified the theory.
"The public opinion has completely reversed," Zhang Lin displayed the social dia data, "the mainstream voice now supports us and calls for severe punishnt for the usurers. There are also patient rights organizations initiating petitions, demanding enhanced regulation of frontline dical technologies."
Tang Shun added: "More practically, those previously suspicious cooperation institutions are now actively contacting us to deepen cooperation. They have seen our rigor and sense of responsibility."
Yang Ping felt no great joy; he knew public opinion could be like tides, favoring one side today and retreating tomorrow. What truly matters is Lele’s bedside monitoring data, the victims still under investigation, and how the system regulation theory should be improved next.
The next day, Yang Ping held a team eting in the office—not a crisis response eting, but a genuine scientific discussion.
"Based on the full process data from treating Lele over the past seven days, coupled with the issues exposed in the Three Nations case, I have a few thoughts." Yang Ping drew a large circle on the whiteboard, representing "system regulation theory," and then extended three lines from the circle.
"The first line, theory deepening." Next to the first line, he wrote: "Mathematical definition of stability." We currently use multiple indicators to comprehensively evaluate the system state, but this is descriptive. Can we establish a ’system stability index,’ like the Richter scale in earthquakes, to quantify the disturbance resistance of complex systems with a nurical value?"
Jiang Jitong imdiately responded: "Just like the concepts of ’robustness’ and ’elasticity’ in engineering. A system needs not only to be balanced in a static state but also to maintain dynamic balance."
Xu Zhiliang joined the discussion: "This requires... a large-scale patient data. Not just... Lele’s, but populations with different diseases, ages, and genetic backgrounds in a healthy state as the ’system baseline.’ Then... we can define what ’deviation’ is and how much ’deviation’ needs intervention."
"So this is long-term work." Yang Ping noted under the first line: "Requires 3-5 years, multicenter cooperation."
"The second line," he pointed to the second line, "is also the most urgent: the safety transformation system of cutting-edge dical concepts."
Several keywords appeared on the whiteboard: training, certification, tiered implentation, continuous supervision.
"The fundantal problem exposed by the Three Nations incident: when a new dical model erges, how to ensure it isn’t misused?" Yang Ping turned to the team, "We publish papers, do academic reports, hold seminars, but those who actually want to apply it—doctors, clinics, biotech companies—may not have enough training. They attempt to use ’old maps’ on ’new terrain,’ resulting in getting lost and accidents."
Song Zimo nodded: "Berg provided a ’simplified plan,’ essentially forcing system dicine into the traditional drug developnt mold. But system regulation isn’t a drug; it’s a thod, a theory, requiring implenters to understand the basic principles of complex systems."
"So I want to establish a ’system regulation clinical implentation certification system.’" Yang Ping clearly expressed this idea, "Not comrcial training, but a public-spirited, rigorous education and evaluation system. Divided into several levels: basic theory certification, specialized application certification, advanced dynamic adjustnt certification. Only dical institutions and doctors who pass complete certification can receive our complete technical support, including access to the monitoring and analysis platform we developed."
The eting room was silent for a few seconds, everyone was digesting the weight of this idea.
"This will be a huge workload." Song Zimo finally said, "Course design, textbook writing, assessnt standards, international legal differences, continuous supervision chanisms... may need a specialized team, full-ti work for three years to establish a prototype."
"It will also involve conflicts of interest." Little Five said pragmatically, "If we certify certain institutions but not others, will we be accused of monopolizing? If we charge fees, we’ll be said to be comrcializing; if we don’t, how do we maintain operation?"
Yang Ping had long considered these questions: "So it can’t just belong to us. I suggest partnering with Professor Mainshtan and other international scholars in the statent to jointly initiate an ’International System dicine Transformation Alliance,’ expanding based on K Therapy training as a neutral non-profit organization. Certification standards are open and transparent, training materials are open-source shared, implentation processes are subject to third-party supervision. As for fees, a tiered model can be adopted: free for low-inco countries, cost fees for high-inco countries, surplus used to support frontier research and patient assistance funds."
He paused, looking out at the darkening sky: "If we truly believe system regulation theory can help more people, we must establish a system to ensure its correct use. Otherwise, today there’s Berg providing simplified plans, tomorrow there will be others. We cannot always redy after the harm occurs but must prevent the harm before it happens."
"What’s the third line?" Tang Shun asked, who had been taking notes.
Yang Ping wrote two words on the third line: communication.
"Scientists need to learn to talk to the public." He spoke slowly, each word weighted, "System regulation theory is too abstract for ordinary people, giving room for speculators to misinterpret. We need to find better ways to explain to patients, to the public, to policymakers, making continuous popular science."
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