this day,

Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Academician Zhong was very dissatisfied with the progress of the Molecular Biology Department. However, there was still no news from Xu Mang, which made him feel a little desperate for a while. Seeing that the Chinese New Year was about to come, why did he feel so bad.

"well..."

"Is the project going to drag on for a year?" Academician Zhong originally thought that finding Xu Mang could quickly solve the breakthrough problem in the field of gene editing, but the reality was exactly the opposite, and he seemed to be in a dilemma.

The phone call with Xu Mang should have been ten days ago. The weak voice at that time was probably... tortured by this problem.

At this time,

Academician Chu, an expert in bioinformatics, came to Academician Zhong's office. Seeing his helpless expression, he couldn't help but smile bitterly: "Old Zhong... you have been looking sad for almost three months. That's almost enough. Seeing that

It’s almost Chinese New Year, can you change your expression?”

"well..."

"I also want to change, but how?" Academician Zhong sighed: "The progress of the Molecular Biology Department is almost zero, and Xu Mang's situation is not very optimistic. I am afraid it will be postponed indefinitely. The research funding for the coming year will be

It will be significantly reduced, at least in the field of gene editing, it will be reduced by about 20%."

"No way."

"The matter is too big... Some people objected." Lao Chu sat opposite Academician Zhong and said silently: "But you are much better than Xu Mang. The collider project has been stuck. Because of this project problem, Xu Mang

He even resigned as a professor, and his difficulties are much more serious than yours."

Hearing Lao Chu's words, Academician Zhong smiled bitterly and said, "Yes...it's not a concept of difficulty."

"By the way..."

"Have you contacted Xu Mang?" Lao Chu asked curiously: "How about... you make a call now and ask. I have a strong hunch that Xu Mang may have completed a breakthrough in the field of gene editing.

Question, when was the last time you had a phone call with Xu Mang?"

"Ten days ago."

"Ten days ago?" Lao Chu said with a trace of bitterness on his face: "There is no difference of ten days. If you ask now... it may give you an unexpected result. By the way... hands-free!"

Academician Zhong:???

What's going on?

Why is Lao Chu acting weird today?

no way,

Academician Zhong called Xu Mang, and the call was quickly connected.

"Hello?"

"Academician Zhong?" Xu Mang's voice came out, with a hint of playfulness in his words, "The New Year is coming soon... Let me wish you a happy New Year in advance, and I won't go there... The Magic City

The distance from the capital is not that far."

"..."

"..."

The two of them were helpless and seemed to be in a good mood. Should they ask next? After all, the Chinese New Year is coming soon. It would not be good to cause trouble for others at this time. It would be a bit unhuman.

Academician Zhong was very hesitant. He opened his mouth several times to ask about the progress, but he still swallowed it back. After much thought... he gave up the intention of asking.

but,

Xu Mang brought it up.

"Academician Zhong called me, do you want to ask about the progress?" Xu Mang said with a smile: "I have almost completed it... A basic AI system has been developed and is currently being tested.

I guess... it will be soon."

"???"

"???"

Do...

Got it done?

Isn’t this too surprising?

Academician Zhong and Academician Chu looked confused and glanced at each other, with expressions of shock and a little bit of disbelief on each other's faces.

"In my concept, I bypassed the problem of replacing DNA fragments with target sequences and directly cut off a DNA chain, and then the reverse enzyme performed gene editing at the cut site under the guidance of the RNA chain." Xu Mang said seriously.

: "Although it is still the CRISPR-cas9 system, I have modified cas9."

Bypass?

This...this idea is okay!

Academician Zhong said hurriedly: "Can you be more specific?"

"Can!"

"First cut a DNA strand and insert the target sequence y, then the original sequence is cut out, and then the other DNA strand that has not been edited is cut, and finally the CRISPR system repairs the cut DNA strand."

"In this way, the enzyme does not need to cut the double strands of DNA, so researchers do not have to rely on the cell's DNA repair system that they cannot control to edit the severed DNA strands." Xu Mang paused and said seriously: "It means using new editing

The system can develop problems related to hereditary diseases related to genetic mutations."

for a time,

The two academicians were completely silent. What Xu Mang said was simply not possible with existing gene editing tools.

"Right!"

"I thought of another method the day before yesterday." Xu Mang said with a smile: "The accuracy is comparable to my editing tool system. This technology can directly replace bases through chemical methods without cutting the DNA double strands.

For example, replace t with a and g with c.”

"The CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing system cannot do this, but..." Xu Mang sighed: "This method cannot solve problems related to polybases, such as the translated symptoms of amaurosis, which is

It is caused by the mistaken insertion of 4 DNA bases in the hexa gene."

this...

This is simply,

Isn't it too powerful?

Upon hearing Xu Mang's introduction, the two big guys from the Academy of Sciences were so shocked that they couldn't speak. They sat in their seats with blank expressions on their faces.

"Anyway..."

"My positioning of the new system is that it is flexible, simple, and can achieve a variety of gene editing functions." Xu Mang said seriously: "A system composed of a variety of enzymes, including an improved cas9 enzyme, can be used in almost no time."

Change the DNA double-stranded DNA by deleting a single base or inserting a small DNA sequence."

Academician Zhong took a deep breath and asked cautiously: "Xu Mang...how long will it take to complete?"

"Before the New Year."

"Give me another five days, and when I finish the test, I will give it to you..." Xu Mang said with a smile: "I have finally made an AI. You can use the AI ​​to conduct simulation tests, make modifications based on the test results, and then

Go to the laboratory for final tests."

"Anyway, it's just to reduce your workload. After all, the future is an era of artificial intelligence." Xu Mang said helplessly: "Academician Zhong... This is the result I got after my best efforts. If the result is still unsatisfactory,

,I’m sorry...I really can’t do anything about it later.”

Not satisfied?

What a joke!

This is clearly beyond expectations!

What Xu Mang said is more advanced than any improved CRISPR-Cas9 system because it does not rely on the cell's own repair system for gene editing.

"No!"

"Professor Xu... If all this becomes a reality, I swear... your new system will definitely become the most advanced gene editing tool in the world." Academician Zhong said seriously: "I'm not kidding, this is beyond the limit.

beyond any imagination.”

Xu Mang opened his mouth and said in a low voice: "Academician Zhong... I have a request. Can restrictions in the field of gene editing be strengthened in the future? I feel... a little worried, worried that humans in the future may not be truly human.

Human beings."

"I know what you're worried about."

"Indeed, in this regard... our binding force is not enough, including a very serious mistake that occurred not long ago." Academician Zhong said in a serious tone: "I will propose relevant measures recently and implement them all within one year.

.”

"oh..."

"That's fine." Xu Mang said, "I'll hang up first."

moment,

call interrupted,
To be continued...