Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD.
In the Institute of Life Sciences, a bald old man was leaning on a cane and tapping the ground hard. The sound of dong dong dong was like the roar of war drums.
The researcher in white clothes stood opposite him obediently, with his head lowered and not daring to take a breath.
"Shameless! Rogue! Robber!"
A slightly sharp voice echoed in the research room, and the LED lights seemed to dim, as if they were flickering in the old man's anger.
"Mr. Edwards, you..." the assistant beside the old man reminded in a low voice.
But before he finished speaking, the old man hit the reagent rack next to him with his crutch.
There was a crunching sound, and a set of reagents worth hundreds of thousands of dollars was smashed to pieces.
The researchers didn't know what was happening. They could only lower their heads cautiously, at a loss.
This project team is studying a large project - changing the human immune environment at the genetic level to treat cancer. It is said that the project has been recommended for the Nobel Prize in Biology, and the first phase of clinical trials has begun with great fanfare.
But when the first phase of the clinical trial failed, Mr. Edwards was not so angry. What happened to him
Time has taken away the old man's healthy body, and he cannot bear the anger burning in his heart. Soon he was panting and leaning on a cane, his snow-white beard was trembling, and his eyes were filled with red bloodshot eyes.
He clutched his heart, and after being helped into his room by his assistant, there was a slight conversation in the laboratory.
"what happened?"
"Did the first phase of the trial fail and Mr. Edwards was unhappy?"
"Probably not. Didn't we just find the point where the first-phase trial failed? Besides, isn't it normal for this kind of research to fail once or twice? Let alone once or twice, even if it fails for ten years, it is possible."
The researchers talked about it, but after talking about it, everyone was stunned and no one knew what happened.
In Mr. Edwards' room, he sat on a chair, his hands shaking slightly. The assistant held the medicine bottle in his hand and asked with concern, "Mr. Edwards, you should pay attention to your health."
"Those robbers are shameless! Despicable!" Mr. Edwards closed his eyes and murmured.
The assistant didn't know how to comfort him.
Although the project originally went smoothly, we did not encounter any major problems. This is already the sixth year, and it’s time to bear fruit. The project needs recognition. Only when it is recognized by the majority of people can investors be willing to invest more funds.
Each of modern technologies requires large amounts of financial support. However, the investment of hundreds of millions or billions of cash is enough to bring down a large multinational pharmaceutical company.
So they are as cautious as crocodiles. If you don't give them enough confidence and don't let them smell the smell of raw meat, it will be difficult for them to come to the door waving a check.
The Nobel Prize in Biology is the best reason!
After being recommended for the biology prize, Mr. Edwards immediately flew to Europe and launched an aggressive lobbying campaign.
The work there is life-or-death for the research project. Although Johns Hopkins University is the oldest research university in the world, its funding is limited after all.
Ultimately, success requires investment from major pharmaceutical companies.
The lobbying was successful. Although it faced certain resistance - mainly pressure from European clinical medicine, after all, the Nobel Prize in Biology and Medicine has not been awarded to clinical procedures for decades.
Even procedures such as kidney transplantation and in vitro fertilization, which are widely used clinically, can only win Nobel Prizes in the name of biology.
With the victory in hand, Mr. Edwards returned to Baltimore. He originally thought that all he had to do was wait quietly for a call from the Nobel Prize project team one early morning in October, telling him that if the project won the Nobel Prize, it would be fine. .
Aides also knew that Mr. Edwards had even prepared an acceptance speech. He secretly memorized the speech of several thousand words many times.
However, everything just looks beautiful.
One phone call overturned all expectations. Shattered the dream into countless pieces.
Mr. Edwards' assistant only knew that it was a secret phone call. When Mr. Edwards received the call, his hands were trembling and his excitement was beyond words.
The assistant vaguely heard some intermittent words.
It seems that it was a call from some arrogant big shot, asking Mr. Edwards to give up this year's Nobel Prize in Biology and Medicine.
He knew that this was not a discussion, but a notification.
That's why Mr. Edwards was so furious after hanging up the phone.
After taking the medicine to avoid a myocardial infarction, Mr. Edwards murmured after a long time: "Contact Maryse."
The assistant was stunned for a moment, Maris... is that old witch who still uses a crystal ball to see the future? It is said that there is a curse on her, and every time she looks into the future, she will pay with her life.
Why did Mr. Edwards contact the old witch? The assistant was stunned for a few seconds.
"Contact Ms. Maris now!" Mr. Edwards' voice was hoarse and low.
The assistant responded quickly and took the time to find Maryse's contact information.
She never left a phone number, only an email address. The assistant thought about it for a long time, drafted an email and showed it to Mr. Edwards.
After the email was sent, Mr. Edwards did not leave the laboratory. He silently looked at the modern and technological laboratory in a daze.
If there is no further infusion of funds, what awaits him is the closure of the laboratory, and all research will come to an end.
The assistant knew that Mr. Edwards was not willing to let so much of the initial investment go to waste.
But who can do anything? Even if you win the Nobel Prize in Biology and receive investment from multinational pharmaceutical companies, you may not be able to develop drugs that treat cancer through immune methods.
But who knows? This is a direction, just a direction.
"Dr. Zheng? Ask the medical school why he is a tenured professor." Mr. Edwards said again in a deep voice.
This request was countless times simpler than the previous one, and the assistant immediately agreed. Is a tenured professor at the medical school going to compete with Mr. Edwards for the Nobel Prize
Better to ask.
Soon, Dr. Jessea from Johns Hopkins Hospital called. He and Mr. Edwards chatted for a long time, and the assistant could hear Mr. Edwards scolding Dr. Zheng who was far away across the ocean through the well-soundproof door of the room.
It wasn't until Maris responded to the email that the assistant knocked on the door, interrupting Mr. Edwards's nagging.