Yang Ping stood on the sky bridge to rest for a while, the southern night’s unique moist breeze rushing over.
Now, Manstein’s 14% implies that people with spinal cord injuries might have a chance to stand again, not through an exoskeleton, not through a brain-computer interface, but through their own body, their own cells, their own nervous system reconnecting and working.
The phone vibrated, it was another ssage from Manstein: "I plan to submit the paper to Nature dicine and your na is in the acknowledgnt section. Professor, do you agree to use ’Yang-Manstein Spinal Cord Original Cell Repair’ for this naming?"
Yang Ping looked at the screen, his lips unconsciously curving up. Naming rights in the scientific world are an ancient honor, and also a responsibility. Once a theory is nad, it separates from its creator, becoming a part of public knowledge, to be cited, questioned, revised, surpassed. He replied: "Just use ’Manstein Spinal Cord Original Cell Repair’, my na is not important."
Manstein’s reply ca quickly: "Your na must be included, without your theory, I would not have made a breakthrough, ’Yang-Manstein’ isn’t an honor, it’s a fact."
Yang Ping did not argue further, Manstein was right, Manstein’s theory was built on Yang Ping’s theory, there’s no point in declining, naming it after him aligns with the facts, that is enough.
"Professor, I’m sorry, I want to co to China and et you, so things I always feel are best communicated face-to-face."
"Alright, you co over."
"Thank you, I know it will disturb you, you are also very busy now, but I can’t contain my excitent, I must co over."
Three days later, Manstein flew to Nandu.
He didn’t bring an assistant, didn’t notify the dia, just carried a small suitcase and a printed experint plan. Yang Ping sent Tang Shun to pick him up at the airport, the mont they t in the office they barely spoke. Manstein looked exhausted, but there was sothing burning in his eyes, Yang Ping was very familiar with that look, that’s the excitent of being troubled by a problem for a long ti, suddenly seeing an exit.
While speaking, Manstein took out his docunts: "I am now preparing for primate experints, previously using small mice for experints, I plan to raise the 14% to 50% using primates."
Yang Ping took the folder, didn’t open it, and said: "Are you sure you want to push forward so quickly? 14% to 50% is not a linear growth, there might be a plateau period, there might be obstacles we didn’t foresee."
"I know," Manstein said, "but I’m fifty-seven, Professor, been stuck on a problem for fifteen years, now finally seeing a way out, I don’t want to wait any longer. And..." he paused, "And I have a hunch, this window won’t stay open forever, there are many such monts in the history of science, when a field suddenly becos conquerable, and everyone swarms in, the person who breaks through first sets the rules, those who co after can only follow. I want to be that person who sets the rules, not for fa, but to ensure the direction is right."
Yang Ping turned his head, looking at this man more than twenty years older than himself. Manstein’s hair was already graying, deep wrinkles at the corners of his eyes, but when he said these words, his expression was like a young man, with a certain naive, almost stubborn eagerness.
"Your theory," Manstein continued, "it’s not just about spinal cord injuries. I’ve been thinking, if cell regeneration and spatial consciousness can both be restored through regulating gene expression, then what about other degenerative diseases? Alzheir’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, even aging itself, aren’t they like that too? Use original cells, migrate them to where they are needed, then perform replacent repair?"
Yang Ping didn’t answer, he had thought about this question, in countless late nights, in those low-cost trial-and-error systems allowed. Where are the boundaries of the three-dinsional directional gene theory? Is it so more universal insight into the principles of life organization?
"I don’t know," he finally said, "but we can find the answer together."
Manstein smiled, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes squeezing together, like a child who got a promise.
Manstein’s efficiency was very high, the experint began two weeks later.
The ethical review went more smoothly than expected, perhaps thanks to Manstein’s Nobel Prize aura, or perhaps because the 14% data was indeed convincing. His experint was conducted in Europe’s best non-human primate laboratory, equipped with the most advanced electrophysiological monitoring equipnt and gene editing tools.
The first batch of experints used twelve Heng River monkeys, divided into control and experintal groups. Manstein insisted on personally creating the spinal cord injury model, which was a technically demanding surgery, requiring the creation of a controlled, incomplete injury at a specific segnt, ensuring the damage was severe enough to block function, yet avoiding a complete transection that would prevent evaluation of the repair effect.
August acted as his assistant, the two worked under the surgical light for six hours, without unnecessary conversation, only the crisp sound of instrunts colliding and the rhythmic ticking of the monitor. Manstein occasionally paused, closing his eyes for a few seconds before a critical step, then continuing. It’s an ancient ritual, many old-school European and Arican surgeons have this habit, it’s a kind of tacit understanding between man and technology, a respect for uncontrollable factors.
After the surgery, the experintal group received intervention based on the three-dinsional directional gene theory: within a forty-eight-hour window post-injury, precisely regulating the expression of specific genes, lifting inhibitory factors in the microenvironnt. The control group received placebo treatnt.
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