Surgery Godfather

Chapter 2218: Chapter 1448: Acting Director (Part 2)

Manstein was sitting in front of the computer, wearing reading glasses, staring at the screen typing. His desk was piled high with literature and notes, and there was half a cup of cold coffee left in the cup.

"Haven’t left yet?" Yang Ping walked in.

Manstein looked up, took off his reading glasses, and rubbed his eyes: "You’re still here too."

"I just came back from the operating room." Yang Ping pulled over a chair and sat down, "What are you writing?"

"A paper!" Manstein said, "It’s about the topic of original cell repair for spinal cord injury. We’ve made new progress. Previously, we found that original cells can promote nerve regeneration after spinal cord injury, but the mechanism was unclear. Recently, we’ve conducted a group of experiments and got a bit more understanding of the mechanism."

Yang Ping’s eyes lit up: "Tell me more about it."

Manstein turned around, tapped a few keys on the keyboard, and pulled up a set of data charts.

"Look, this is the inflammatory factor expression profile at different time points after spinal cord injury. Without treatment, inflammatory factor peaks three days after injury, then slowly decreases, but remains at a high level at twenty-eight days. When original cell treatment was administered, the peak of inflammatory factors significantly dropped, and by fourteen days, it almost returned to normal levels."

Yang Ping looked at those charts, his mind racing.

"Does this mean original cells inhibit the inflammatory response?" he asked.

"Not just inhibition." Manstein said, "We also found that in the original cell treatment group, the expression of anti-inflammatory factors was significantly increased, while the expression of pro-inflammatory factors was significantly decreased. This suggests original cells might not simply be inhibiting inflammation but transforming the inflammatory response from a ’destructive’ pattern to a ’reparative’ pattern. This might just be the tip of the iceberg."

Yang Ping was silent for a moment.

This discovery was very important. If Manstein’s conclusion was correct, it would mean that original cells can not only directly repair damage but also indirectly promote repair by regulating the immune microenvironment. This opens up a whole new research direction.

"Are your data reliable?" Yang Ping asked.

"Repeated three times, and the results were consistent." Manstein said, "I’ve already asked Weber to perform cross-validation with his stem cell model. If his results match mine, then we can be quite sure."

"Good!" Yang Ping nodded, "Once Weber’s results come out, let’s discuss together."

He stayed in Manstein’s laboratory for a while, discussing some experimental details, and then got up to leave.

When he reached the door, Manstein suddenly called him: "Professor Yang."

Yang Ping turned around.

"Before I came to China, many people advised me not to come. They said China doesn’t have a good research environment, said I would regret it if I came."

Yang Ping didn’t speak, waiting for him to continue.

"But now I can tell those people, they were wrong. Not only does it have one of the best research platforms in the world, but also the best research partners in the world. Thank you, Professor Yang, without you, I wouldn’t have made another breakthrough in my life. Thank you."

Yang Ping was stunned for a moment, then smiled.

"You’re welcome." he said, "Go home and rest early, there are more experiments tomorrow."

He walked out of Manstein’s laboratory and continued down the corridor.

Weber’s laboratory was at the end of the corridor, the lights were still on. Yang Ping walked over and saw Weber busy at the operation table with two students. Weber’s movements were slow but precise, each step strictly following the experimental plan.

"Weber." Yang Ping knocked on the door frame.

Weber looked up, saw Yang Ping, and smiled: "Professor Yang! What brings you here?"

"Just passing by, came in to see." Yang Ping walked in, "What experiment are you working on?"

"Co-culture of original cells and stem cells." Weber said, "I want to see if the presence of original cells alters the proliferation and differentiation ability of stem cells."

"Results?"

"Still ongoing." Weber said, "But preliminarily, original cells seem to promote neural-directed differentiation of stem cells. If we can prove this, the combined application of original cells and stem cells might become a new strategy for treating spinal cord injuries."

Yang Ping nodded.

Weber’s thinking is correct. Original cells and stem cells each have advantages, and if combined, a synergistic effect greater than the sum of parts might be achieved. However, seeing the phenomenon is one thing, explaining the mechanism behind it is the key.

"How’s your new paper coming along?" Yang Ping asked again.

Weber’s expression turned slightly nuanced: "Still revising, the reviewers’ comments are very pointed, one reviewer almost dismissed all our conclusions."

"That’s normal." Yang Ping said, "Reviewers for top journals are leading experts in the field; they won’t easily overlook any loopholes. Take each comment seriously, revise what you can, and explain what you can’t."

"I know." Weber said, "Some opinions seem unreasonable, but I don’t know how to counter them."

"Send those comments to me; I’ll take a look for you." Yang Ping said.

Weber’s eyes lit up: "Really?"

"Of course." Yang Ping smiled.

He stayed in Weber’s laboratory for a while longer, chatted with the two students about their topics and then left.

At the elevator entrance, Yang Ping ran into Tang Shun.

Tang Shun had just come up from downstairs, holding a stack of documents. He stopped when he saw Yang Ping: "Professor, you’re still here?"

"Just leaving." Yang Ping said, "What about you? Coming up so late?"

"Forgot a document in the office, came back to get it." Tang Shun raised the files in his hand, "Need them for tomorrow morning, didn’t want to forget."

Yang Ping looked at Tang Shun, remembered something.

"Tang Shun, come over, I want to tell you something."

The two walked to the lounge area in the corridor and sat down on the sofa.

"Are you busy lately?" Yang Ping asked.

Tang Shun smiled wryly: "Professor, what do you think? The cell lab is expanding, need to guide new PhD students, coordinate Manstein and Weber’s topics, and manage the daily affairs of the institute. I feel like a spinning top, going from morning to night, no time to catch a breath."

"Don’t forget, your director role in the lab comes with the authority to recruit staff. You could hire a few deputy directors or find a couple of assistants."

Tang Shun paused for a moment, then shook his head: "I can handle it, I prefer flat management, directly communicating with the lab directors is better. I’ve already assigned less important tasks to assistants."

"Alright, just remember you have the authority to hire anytime you need." Yang Ping reminded him.

"Sure." Tang Shun stood up, "Professor, if there’s nothing else, I’ll leave now; there’s a meeting tomorrow morning."

"Go ahead!"

Tang Shun hurried away with the documents, his footsteps fading down the corridor.

Yang Ping sat for a while longer, then toured the hospital ward before walking out of the research institute building, the moonlight already poured onto the ground.

He looked up at the sky, the moon was very round and bright, hanging in the velvet-like night sky.

It’s already the fifteenth of the lunar calendar.

Yang Ping took out his phone and sent Xiao Su a message: "There’s moonlight tonight, feel like taking a stroll?"

Within ten seconds of sending the message, Xiao Su’s reply came: "Where are you?"

"At the institute’s entrance."

"Wait for me."

"Should I wait for you on the sky bridge?"

"Sure!"

Yang Ping put away his phone and walked to the sky bridge.

It only took Xiao Su a few minutes to arrive. She wore a light-colored thin jacket, her hair loose, appearing softer in the moonlight.

The two walked side by side on the hospital footpath, the street lamps stretched their shadows long and overlapping.

"I ran into Head Nurse Jiang in the operating room today."

"Head Nurse Jiang? She’s good at everything except being too meddlesome." Xiao Su said with a smile, but without displeasure, "Did she try to convince you to have a second child?"

"How did you know? Yes!" Yang Ping was quite surprised.

Xiao Su pursed her lips and smiled: "She used to be my head nurse, I know her well. I heard she was once an unofficial head of the Family Planning Office, now she’s the unofficial head of the Birth Encouragement Office."

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