godfather of surgery

Chapter 1235 presents yet another new challenge.
Survival utilitarianism is somewhat different from natural selection, but it also has certain similarities.

Survival utilitarianism is an active behavior of organisms, involving proactive changes to adapt to their environment. In contrast, changes in organisms during natural selection are random. If such random changes are beneficial to survival, the number of organisms will increase through reproduction; conversely, if such changes are detrimental to survival, the organisms will be eliminated. This process is passive.

But in the end, they all end up the same thing: survival of the fittest.

From a survival-oriented perspective, tumor cells might secrete a factor that kills themselves, but this is conditional; the environment must force them to do so. Just as bacteria encounter antibiotics, tumor cells encounter targeted drugs. Their survival is severely threatened, forcing them to make changes. These changes can lead to drug resistance in bacteria and drug resistance in tumor cells.

Yang Ping said, "What the doctor just said is right. Many people may have already paid attention to the survival utilitarianism of organisms. I have also always wanted to study the survival utilitarianism of organisms. Once this active mechanism of adaptation for survival is deciphered, it will open up a new world."

"I am very interested in survival utilitarianism and have been paying attention to this law. If this biological law can be deciphered, it can be used in many ways in the future. For example, in the treatment of some infectious diseases, if we can figure out the mechanism by which microorganisms evade drugs, we can use this mechanism in reverse to improve the efficiency of drugs."

"For example, in the treatment of tumors, the application of survival utilitarianism can also have unexpected effects. For instance, tumor cells can develop resistance to many of the current targeted drugs. The initial use of targeted drugs is very effective, but the effect becomes less effective over time. This is because tumor cells are very cunning. They make some changes in response to targeted drugs. These changes can help them evade the attack of targeted drugs, and this evasion ability will become stronger and stronger, eventually making the targeted drugs have little effect."

"If we can thoroughly study the survival utilitarianism of tumor cells, we can reverse this mechanism to allow targeted drugs to continue to exert their good effects and inhibit the development of drug resistance in tumor cells."

"This is the cell's own survival utilitarianism. Survival utilitarianism also involves the interactions between different cell populations. Sometimes, they will do everything they can to eliminate each other in order to compete for living space. So if you think that the K factor might be secreted by tumor cells, is it possible that there were other cells in the culture at the time? These cells secreted the K factor to kill the tumor cells in order to compete for living space? Anyway, think more, make bold assumptions, and carefully verify them."

After being praised by Yang Ping, the PhD student who had just entered put down his soy milk and began to seriously participate in the discussion.

Previously, he only had occasional flashes of inspiration regarding the survival utilitarianism of organisms, and each flash of inspiration would arouse a strong curiosity. Unfortunately, these ideas were just fleeting thoughts, and he did not think about or study them in detail later. Now that he heard that Professor Yang was also paying attention to this topic, he felt more confident and felt that it was time for him to take the lead.

"Professor, now that you say that, my mind is becoming clearer and clearer, and I'm becoming more and more interested in the survival utilitarianism of organisms. Should we start a research project specifically to study it?"

Yang Ping immediately agreed: "Since you are interested, you can organize a few colleagues or lead a few students to set up a research project. This project has great potential."

However, this project is by no means a small one; it is extremely large. The PhD student thought that this was definitely beyond his current knowledge reserves to complete, and it should be undertaken by a professor. He could be the most capable assistant, and with the professor's guidance, such a grand project could truly be carried out.

But which of these research topics didn't receive guidance from the professor? The professor encouraged everyone to set their own research topics and to ask him for help when they encountered difficulties. The doctoral student thought for a moment, mustered up his courage, and said, "Hmm, I'll prepare."

Unexpectedly, a novel idea could lead to the establishment of a research project. The newly arrived PhDs have broadened their horizons. Everyone used to say that the Sanbo Research Institute was good, but now they know exactly why it is.

Tang Shun has been quite busy these past few days. I heard that his wife's due date is approaching, and he has been frequently accompanying her to prenatal checkups. So you often don't see him in the lab.

However, it didn't matter if Tang Shun wasn't seen. Every time Yang Ping came over, he would mingle with everyone, discuss the progress of new projects, and find out what difficulties they encountered and what kind of help they needed.

These PhDs are all quite insightful, but they're a bit timid and not very curious. Curiosity is very important for researchers; it's the main driving force that motivates them to engage in research.

Yang Ping decided to continue encouraging them and giving them courage so that they could break free from mental constraints and freely explore the unknown without any worries.
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After discussing with everyone for over an hour, Yang Ping returned to his office to rest. That hour had been quite fruitful; research on the survival utilitarianism of organisms had become a new topic. Yang Ping had also been pondering the origin of factor K these past few days, constantly considering whether it might be secreted by the tumor itself—a possibility that certainly exists.

Don't underestimate these cells; they have their own survival wisdom. Why do tumor cells develop resistance to some targeted drugs? All drug resistance can be seen as an escape for survival, an active adaptive behavior.

This phenomenon is also related to Darwin's principle of survival of the fittest. Once they weaken the harm of drugs to them through mutation, these new bacteria or viruses can rapidly expand their numbers through reproduction, while microorganisms that lack this ability are naturally eliminated slowly. In the end, all microorganisms become new varieties that can tolerate drugs.

If this factor K is secreted by the tumor cells themselves, then what would happen if we could decipher the conditions for its production, find the patterns within it, and apply these patterns to other tumor cells, enabling those other tumor cells to also kill their own exclusive factor K?

Excited just thinking about it, Yang Ping decided to continue exploring.

Many people have moments of sudden inspiration, but some people, driven by curiosity, always want to understand it clearly, while others don't take it seriously. When their absurd ideas pop into their heads in a moment of enthusiasm, they eventually come to nothing.

Yang Ping entered the system space to think about the problem, which would allow him to make the most of his time.

He listed all possible sources of the K factor, including everything he could think of, regardless of whether it was mature enough.

1. Tumor cells secrete it themselves.

Second, the nutrient solution used to culture tumor cells at that time was formed by the reaction of its chemical components under certain conditions.

Third, the virus, bacteria, fungi, and other microorganisms that contaminate the culture vessel may have produced this. The experimental team is currently studying this, and they have conducted a rigorous analysis of the remaining samples, but have not yet found this possibility.

IV. It is generated by the reaction of certain biochemical substances inside and outside tumor cells with the components of the nutrient solution.

V. Produced by the interaction of air with nutrient solution and tumor cells.

VI. Other possibilities discovered temporarily.

These are the things he can think of for now. He will add anything else he thinks of later. Until he has figured things out, all possibilities are just possibilities and cannot be ruled out.

From the perspective of the survival utilitarian rules of organisms, the first possibility is the most likely, but it is only the most likely and does not mean that the other possibilities are not possible. Now Yang Ping can only check them one by one according to their probability.

Scientific research can be tedious and boring for most people. Without curiosity and a passion for exploring the unknown, it's hard to keep going.

Having determined these ideas, Yang Ping decided to start studying them, hoping to come up with a clear approach.