In the next month, Chen Chen didn't go anywhere. He stayed at the embassy every day and read theories and papers related to biology.
From induced pluripotent stem cells to regenerative medicine, from biomaterials to tissue engineering, from genetic engineering to cell engineering, Chen Chen is moving forward step by step.
When the channels for acquiring knowledge were no longer a limitation, Chen Chen almost absorbed all the biological knowledge currently known to mankind at the speed of a whale.
Unconsciously, the time came to January 31, 2022 in the Federation. If Chen Chen was still in school at this time, the time would be the end of the first half of the sophomore year.
At the same time, this day is also the most important traditional festival in Zhongzhou District - New Year's Eve.
At two o'clock in the afternoon, Chen Chen, who was reviewing a paper on "Position Effect of Human Gene Activation Based on CRISPRCas9 System", suddenly felt something. He took out his mobile phone and after a slight hesitation, he dialed the very familiar number.
Namibia is in the East Time Zone, which is six hours different from the Central Continent. At this time, the time in the Central Continent is exactly eight o'clock in the evening.
"Hey, Xiaochen, why do you have time to call mom?"
On the other end of the phone, Chen Chen's mother's voice came out, "Don't worry, your dad and I are fine. After listening to your advice, your dad has bought a villa and is renovating it."
"In the future, when you get a wife, you won't have to move out. Mom can help you raise your grandson..."
"But, your dad still has the same problem, being poor and generous to relatives... Forget it, I get angry when he mentions this!"
"By the way, Xiaochen, when are you coming back? I haven't seen you for a whole year since the Chinese New Year last year. Don't just be busy outside. Go home and visit when you have time, and bring a girlfriend with you." Come back, huh?"
Listening to his mother's nagging, Chen Chen agreed like a yes-man, and hung up the phone after half an hour.
After hanging up the phone, Chen Chen closed his eyes slightly with a residual smile in his eyes.
When he opened it again, the smile was completely hidden in the dark pupils.
The further away from home, the more he misses the beauty of home. But because of this, Chen Chen wants to keep this beauty forever.
"Human Life Escape Plan..."
Chen Chen murmured in a low voice that this plan was the plan that Chen Chen began to conceive after getting the USB flash drive. It was the ultimate plan to forcibly increase the overall life span of human beings and do everything possible.
Ultimately, this plan is to serve Chen Chen's parents. After all, Chen Chen does not want to live alone for a long time. He hopes that his relatives can accompany him all the way.
Of course, parents must think the same way. They also have relatives of their generation who care about them the most, and they must also hope that they can accompany them.
Thus, the plan that Chen Chen envisioned for all mankind emerged.
If you want to live forever, you must first break the Haiflik limit of the human body to obtain immortality. Only after you possess the technology of immortality can you be qualified to pursue that illusory eternal life.
It can be said that everything Chen Chen has done so far is paving the way for this plan.
Of course, Chen Chen's embryo cloning plan is different from the gene-edited baby incident that occurred in Zhongzhou District in 2019.
In the gene-edited baby incident that year, a medical madman knocked out the HIV-infecting gene in the embryo and implanted the embryo into a woman, causing her to become pregnant, without complying with the law and ethics.
What that person specifically used was a gene editing technology called CRISPRCas9. This technology modified the CCR5 gene of the baby during the embryonic period in an attempt to form the CCR5-Δ32 mutation.
The so-called CRISPR is actually an immune system developed by bacteria to defend against virus attacks.
To put it simply, a virus is like a robot mainly composed of nucleic acid. When attacking bacteria, it will embed itself into the bacterial nucleic acid chain like a parasite, and then secretly remove the bacterial nucleic acid to make it the same as itself. to copy yourself.
Therefore, in order to protect themselves, bacteria evolved this repetitive genetic sequence called CRISPR, which "cuts" the virus when it is embedded in the nucleic acid chain in its body.
Cas9 is the name of a protein nuclease. CRISPR can cut double-stranded DNA by combining two RNAs with this nuclease. It can cut or make other changes.
As a result, the famous CRISPRCas9 technology appeared.
The person chose to modify the CCR5 gene because the CCR5-Δ32 mutation formed by CCR5 is a naturally occurring genetic mutation in 10% of Europeans. After research, humans carrying this mutation are resistant to HIV infection. ability.
However, Chen Chen once checked the experimental data released by this person, but found that his technology was not up to standard and might even cause three different mutations in the embryos, and the effects of these mutations were unknown.
To put it simply, this guy may have missed the target when he was shooting...
Moreover, the potential impact of missing the CCR5 gene is far beyond human understanding.
The reason why the entire scientific community has condemned this matter is because this modified gene will be integrated into the human gene pool. In other words, after these two gene-edited babies give birth to offspring, their children and grandchildren will also will carry this gene.
Thousands of years later, if this genetic hidden danger suddenly breaks out, the impact will likely affect the entire human race...
No one can afford this risk.
What's more, this person's experiment did not have any technical breakthroughs, and he did not invent the CRISPRCas9 technology. All the technologies he developed are basic operations in the scientific community and can be done by any scientist. matter.
In Chen Chen's opinion, this person made a mess every step of the way, whether it was scientific design, technical implementation, or ethics!
It is normal for this person to be sentenced to prison. Zhongzhou District promulgated corresponding laws as early as 2003, strictly prohibiting any human embryo gene editing activities for the purpose of reproduction.
In other words, if this person only uses CRISPRCas9 technology to modify the CCR5 gene of human embryos, but the embryos are not born, then he is not breaking the law.
It's a pity that this person has reached the point of being crazy for fame and fortune...
The ethical aspect involved in Chen Chen's plan is the technology of cloning human embryos. However, simply cloning embryos is not illegal internationally. After all, in the eyes of many scientists, newly developed human embryos do not even produce brains. Just a lump of meat.
Just like abortion technology, when the pregnancy is more than 14 weeks, abortion is generally not recommended medically and ethically, because 14 weeks is a critical point. The brain of the fetus beyond 14 weeks has begun to develop rapidly. From this time on, he is already considered a A human being.
As for whether human embryo cloning technology violates ethics or morals, this debate has always been a major problem in the academic community.
In fact, Chen Chen also knew that this was a minor violation, but in his opinion, if this minor violation could be exchanged for medical progress, cure more diseases, and save more people from pain, the price would still be worth it. of.
To put it simply, the development of medicine is always a double-edged sword. Ethics and morality are constantly involved in technology. Without the restraint of ethics and morality, medicine can only fall into the abyss of destruction step by step.
However, if the ethical and moral bottom line is set too high, it will also hinder technological progress.
However, Chen Chen always firmly believes that obstacles to development will not stop development. The progress of human science and technology is always accompanied by obstacles. Many people know that humans must protect the earth and the natural environment.
But they have forgotten that the motivation of human beings to protect the earth's environment is because humans need to protect themselves. If the earth's environment is destroyed, humans will cease to exist.
This is the real motivation of mankind to protect the earth.
Of course, some grateful conservationists often make this argument:
"The number of any kind of race cannot be too large. Rats breed too fast, so there is plague. Deer breed too fast, so there are wolves. Nature will always balance them, with the exception of humans."
"So, nature is so kind to humans, we should repay nature!"
Chen Chen's answer to these people was:
It's not that nature is kind to humans, but because humans are constantly moving forward and defeating nature...