Chapter 355 Old Irons
Yang Ping's choice of stem cell cultured muscle as a subject was not a whim, but a deliberate decision.
If successful, it will be easier to transition to growing other organs in the future, such as skin, tendons, ligaments, cartilage, bones, and even joints.
Taking a longer view, we can also develop the heart, liver, kidneys, etc.
The tissue technology and equipment for this subject will be relatively more convenient, such as nano-micro scaffolds, which are easier to obtain through Takahashi.
Nano-microscaffolds have very high requirements for 3D printing technology. Their three-dimensional structural arrangement is at the level of cell clusters and must be able to guide muscle fibers into spatial configuration.
This level of 3D printing technology is currently unavailable in China, and the core technology is monopolized by German and Japanese companies.
This is also the reason why Yang Ping seeks international cooperation. It is impossible for one person to break through all industrial technologies. He can only work hard on medical technology.
The obstacle that the United States and Japan cannot overcome now is the collapse of cells. The collapse results from the instability of certain cell structures. There are many unstable factors, including unstable cell membranes and unstable organelles.
Many papers now assume that any one of these collapse factors acts as a initiating factor, causing cells to collapse, leading to the collapse of other structures. When making observations, it is not surprising that researchers focus on one side due to various reasons.
This is the inevitable result of artificially induced stem cell differentiation. If the induction technology is immature, it will inevitably cause some structural instability, which is a potential cause of collapse.
In fact, the cultivation of stem cells in organs is already in full swing.
The University of Tokyo also cultivated the world's first heart, which is 1 millimeter in diameter and has a complete ventricular and atrial vascular structure, which is about the same size as a mouse fetal heart.
The National Center for Adult Education in Japan also cultivated livers; the University of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom cultivated kidneys; and Harvard University in the United States cultivated skins.
These technologies all face a common problem - maturity and stability.
If this problem is solved, these technologies can move from the laboratory to the clinic.
Muscle culture is still the most mature method and can be transplanted into animals to obtain survival time of several weeks.
Those internal organs, such as the heart, a small heart with a diameter of only one millimeter, will face the problem of collapse if it is further cultivated, and the small heart will not be able to grow smoothly.
Yang Ping wants to start with muscles to solve the problem of maturity and stability.
Then it expanded to skin, tendons, cartilage, etc., which are widely used in orthopedics.
With skin, there is no need to do skin grafts or skin flaps.
With tendons, those patients who have ligament reconstruction will have better surgical outcomes.
With cartilage, cartilage degenerative diseases such as senile knee osteoarthritis can be solved.
Even growing a joint for joint replacement.
Stem cells are the most promising field in future surgery and will change the history of surgery.
Perhaps one day, a patient like Yu Shuilian can use her own cells to grow a complete lower body, and then perform a transplant operation to connect the upper and lower bodies to restore a complete body.
After get off work in the afternoon, young doctors from the Department of General Orthopedics, who were free, would attend Mr. Guo's dinner.
Mr. Guo was generous and set up several tables at the Hakka restaurant next to the hospital. He was so happy that he was willing to bleed like this.
After eating and taking a rest, Xiao Su said that Fujiwara Miyuki invited her to play ball together and asked Yang Ping to go too.
They seemed to have made an appointment a long time ago. They had tennis clothes under their coats and a backpack for their rackets.
Xiao Su usually works in the comprehensive orthopedic operating room, and only interacts with Miyuki during operations. Unexpectedly, they chatted quite well, and Tang Fei, the three of them seemed like old friends.
Everyone rests for half an hour, then goes to the court, etc. It's almost time for strenuous exercise.
Song Zimo, Tang Fei and Xu Zhiliang returned to the department, Fatty went for a run, Xiao Wu wanted to go home to be with his wife, and Zhang Lin's wife was on duty. He packed a few bags, all of which were his wife's favorite foods, and he had to deliver them in time.
Yang Ping, Gao Qiao, Xiao Su, and Miyuki went to play tennis. Yang Ping and Gao Qiao didn't change clothes.
Xiao Su pulled Yang Ping: "Mei Xue and I will play a few games, and you can just be the audience."
Miyuki held Xiao Su's hand again: "China-Japan women's tennis friendly match."
Takahashi felt as if he was redundant and followed behind, keeping a certain distance.
However, watching two tall beauties playing tennis is actually quite eye-catching.
The two of them had even booked the venue in the hospital gymnasium in advance. Yang Ping and Gao Qiao simply sat down next to them to discuss project cooperation.
Two stunning beauties playing tennis attracted a lot of attention from the sidelines, and people looked over from time to time.
Both of them were of very good level, and the fight was very fierce. The fight was indistinguishable, and the score was very tight. It seemed that Xiao Su had met an evenly matched opponent.
Takahashi took the initiative and said: "Dr. Yang, premature cell collapse is a problem faced by all stem cell cultured organs. If it can be solved, this will be an epoch-making progress. If Dr. Yang decides to set up this topic, Takahashi requests cooperation. The University of Tokyo I am the main person in charge of the research team and have enough say.”
"Cooperation can save us a lot of time. I don't want to reinvent the wheel, I just want to tackle the most critical difficulties." Yang Ping expressed his plans. "If Dr. Yang is willing to cooperate with us, we can share all the early technology, which will save Dr. Yang's time. It will be a win-win situation for us." Takahashi also thinks so.
Currently, the University of Tokyo is at the forefront of this technology, but it has encountered difficulties. Yang Ping analyzed all current papers.
It was found that the recent papers from the University of Tokyo were all focused on the survival period of cells implanted in animals, and the increase in time, from one day to two days, was very slow.
It shows that they have no technological breakthrough for the time being, but are just continuously improving the original technology.
Cooperating with them will achieve twice the result with half the effort.
Scientific research is similar to navigation. The establishment of a new route requires countless trials and errors, constant revisions, and the accumulation of data.
If you obtain the artifact of the System Space Laboratory in the future, you will also need a real laboratory to complete the experiment.
The data obtained in the system space laboratory can help you avoid detours in reality and even get it right in one step, but it still requires a real-life laboratory to repeat the entire experiment.
Therefore, it is beneficial and harmless to cooperate with these top international universities or hospitals.
The key is how to use and control these resources and be the leader among them. While insisting on independent innovation in scientific research, we must also be open to cooperation, Yang Ping thought.
Takahashi has seen Yang Ping's surgical skills and thinking ability with his own eyes and is convinced of Yang Ping's abilities.
Now that I have established a friendship with Yang Ping because of my further training, I am lucky enough to be able to cooperate with him.
In the future, when Yang Ping's scientific research becomes popular, the teams working with Yang Ping will probably have to queue up, and it will be even more difficult for Takahashi to squeeze in.
Yang Ping was watching the beauty play and thought: "Takahashi, let's cooperate and share the results."
"No problem. I will send a formal email to the University of Tokyo in the evening to obtain authorization to negotiate and sign the contract. We will definitely not be worse than Duke University. Although we used stem cells to grow muscles later than them, we also completed it independently. , but the paper was published a little later. Compared with them, we are more advanced in induction technology and micro-stent. Their animal survival time is three weeks, and ours is six weeks.”
Since Takahashi got to know Yang Ping, he has constantly seen Yang Ping create miracles. He firmly believes that Yang Ping can create miracles if he focuses on the field of stem cells.
From a selfish point of view, Takahashi wants to catch this smooth sailing. As for the conditions of the laboratory and the existing technology, they may be very precious to others, but for people like Yang Ping, even if you don’t agree with him Cooperating, he could catch up on his own, it would just take a little longer.
If cooperation was proposed at that time, it is estimated that Yang Ping would not be interested at all. If cooperation is proposed now, at least existing technology can be used to help him save time.
After playing a few games, the two beauties were drinking water, chatting and laughing across the net. They were both dripping with sweat. The girls in motion were so cute.
After five games, Xiao Su was still stronger and won three games.
Everyone packed their things. Xiao Su and Miyuki went back to the dormitory to take a shower and change clothes. Yang Ping and Gao Qiao went to grab a seat. They wanted to find a barbecue stall for supper.
Yang Ping also called out Song Zimo, Xu Zhiliang, Zhang Lin, Xiao Wu, and Fatty.
Zhang Lin is still in the pediatric department and works the night shift with his wife. Xiaowu's home is near the hospital, and the two of them can get there soon.
Song Zimo and Xu Zhiliang were practicing peeling grape skins under the microscope. When they heard that there was a midnight snack, they came out without hesitation.
Everyone gathered around and Zhang Lin ordered several boxes of beer. Except for Yang Ping and Song Zimo, all the other men drank.
Several grown men kept talking professionally and continued the topic. Song Zimo and Xu Zhiliang also joined.
The three girls were chatting together. Fujiwara Miyuki was very good at Chinese. From time to time she would come up with interesting Internet slang, making everyone laugh. She would even take selfies with Xiao Su and Tang Fei in her arms and post them on Moments.
Takahashi drinks very happily. He drinks the glass as soon as he touches it. He strictly follows Teacher Tang's instruction, no matter who he clinks the glass with, the glass must be lowered by one centimeter.
“When you go to Japan, I’ll treat you to Wakayama’s Marina Beer!”
Takahashi feels that these Chinese friends are really good. He wants to learn from Abe Nakamaro and write an article, preferably a book, about this training so that the Japanese can gain insights.
Those girls didn't know what they were talking about so happily. They seemed to be talking about the fun places in China. Miyuki had finally found a good sister in China.
They didn't care what the men here were chatting about. They clinked glasses of juice and made plans to go horseback riding on the grasslands of Inner Mongolia, to see the snow-capped mountains in Tibet, and to take pictures wearing Hanfu at Hangzhou's West Lake.
Pairing skewers with beer is so damn fun!
Gao Qiao, Xu Zhiliang, Zhang Lin, Xiao Wu, Fatty, one drink for you, one drink for me, plus two jealous drinkers, the atmosphere was very lively.
"Xiao Gao, okay, do it!" Zhang Lin immediately gave Gao Qiaoman a hand.
"Do it first as a courtesy!" Takahashi didn't hesitate, flipped the cup over, and drank it, and he didn't refuse anyone who came.
After finishing his drink, Takahashi stood up and pointed in the direction of the bathroom: "Old men! Wait for me, relax, and come back to continue fighting."
Who taught him this, even the old guys called him?
Zhang Lin, Xiao Wu and Fatty were stunned for a moment, this kid.
(End of chapter)