Surgery Godfather-Chapter 1461 - 1088: Sanbo Medical Research Cooperation Association

The four major laboratories began launching new experiments with great enthusiasm, fully endorsing Yang Ping’s philosophy: First, do things right, then do things well.

Therefore, after establishing new topics, everyone did not wait until personnel and equipment were completely ready to start, as that would waste a lot of time. Instead, they first set up research topics, and gradually supplemented personnel and equipment later on. After all, it’s like feeling the stones to cross the river, so they adjusted while conducting experiments; without starting, one would never know what is right, what is wrong, where adjustments are needed.

However, with so many new topics recently initiated, the major laboratories indeed do not have enough manpower. But that’s okay, they will proceed slowly, according to their own pace, expanding their talent pool while conducting experiments.

Yang Ping formed an official alliance between two laboratories of Sanbo Hospital and three experimental groups of Nandu Medical University, facilitating cooperation, and allowing this alliance to include other laboratories in the future. Yang Ping named this alliance "Sanbo Medical Research Cooperation Association"; any laboratory that formally joins this association will receive funding provided by the Sanbo Research Fund. Of course, not any laboratory can join; the team and academic capabilities must meet specific requirements. Yang Ping aims to build a massive scientific research alliance to enhance the national level of medical research.

Sanbo Cell Therapy Laboratory, Oncology Research Laboratory, Digital Medical Laboratory, Genetics Laboratory, and Virus Research Laboratory of Nandu Medical University are currently the founding members of this association.

Yang Ping plans to adopt an "expert governance" model for the management of the association, meaning core leadership must be accomplished scholars rather than lay bureaucrats, to prevent bureaucratization, a severe issue that could result in the loss of the institution’s due scientific capabilities, ultimately transforming it into a venue for fame and profit. Non-core management personnel will be professional staff such as routine administrators, recruited from across society.

Through establishing the "Medical" Journal, Yang Ping tasted success, gaining substantial influence in the global academic community. Previously, publishing articles required approval from others, but now, he can publish anytime on his journal—a significant facet of authority representing the voice of a nation in this field.

Now, by establishing a research alliance, Yang Ping aims to build a united, effective research chain, similar to how industries need to establish supply chains; research also needs to create its own chain to avoid dependency on foreign entities in the future.

The cell therapy laboratory has successfully cultured NK cells, and this time, instead of conducting experiments directly on Sisi, they are carrying out animal experiments.

The direct progression of K-virus treatment into clinical trials previously was due to necessity, as Sisi had no time to wait for life-saving K-virus treatment; it was a gamble.

Now the circumstances are entirely different; after several K-virus treatments, Sisi’s tumor is somewhat controlled, giving her more time to wait for the next treatment step. Thus, there is no longer such an urgency, and Yang Ping does not need to risk using NK cells directly on Sisi.

Although NK cell therapy is relatively safer, there are still certain risks involved such as fever, embolism, cytokine storms, etc.

Sanbo Hospital has its animal experiment laboratory, an advantage that is now immediately utilized. Yang Ping can use experimental pigs to simulate the tumor patient model; the laboratory has rich experience in making these models and conducting animal experiments.

The temporary prefab house is not yet completed, and the animal laboratory has not been relocated. On the day of the experiment, the animal laboratory gathered many people. In fact, the staff and students of Sanbo Hospital are accustomed to these experiments; despite this being a world-class experiment, they are here purely for learning. In addition to the researchers involved in the experiment, many students gathered, and the students’ enthusiasm for learning is the highest.

It is necessary to anesthetize the pig for the experiment to prevent disturbance which would affect the progress of the experiment and could easily spread noise.

After anesthesia, the laboratory quietly lies on the experiment table, and the recombined NK cells are injected into its body followed by a series of observations and data collection.

NK cells, also known as Natural Killer cells, compared to other innate immune cells like neutrophils and macrophages, have a broader range of clearing bacteria, resisting viruses, eliminating tumor cells, and combating aging cells—they are versatile. Moreover, unlike T cells, they do not require antigen presentation, making them quicker and more sensitive to detecting "enemy" invasions. Additionally, they generally have fewer side effects. Therefore, NK cells are considered to combine efficacy, safety, and relative ease of use, making them highly suitable for cell therapy. There are already some products related to NK cells on the market, but their effectiveness is not ideal and cannot stand alone yet.

The injected NK cells in the experimental pig are specially marked, as are the tumor cells in its body. After injection, the pig should periodically be taken to the imaging department for PET-CT scans, which allow the tracking of the injected NK cells’ trajectory and whether the number of tumor cells has decreased or not.

In future plans for the animal laboratory, there will be various scanning devices, including PET-CT, but currently, there is no PET-CT here, so the experimental pig must be restrained and taken to the imaging department for scans.

During the process of transporting to the imaging department, it is essential to disguise the experimental pig well. Otherwise, many patients seeing a pig being taken for scans would definitely complain, wondering how pigs can be mixed with human testing. Ideally, this shouldn’t be necessary, but there’s no choice now as the animal experiment department lacks a PET-CT; the experiment cannot be halted because of this.

Initially, the animal laboratory was prepared to install a PET-CT, but the installation had to meet various radiation safety standards, which complicated matters.

Now, as the animal laboratory is about to move to the temporary prefab house, which lacks the conditions to install such equipment, they have temporarily ceased this plan. They will wait for the new experimental building to be constructed with everything required inside, so there’s no need for the surreptitious moving of experimental pigs for scanning.

The experimental pig is secured on a specially designed flatbed cart; then, everyone pushes it towards the imaging department. Because it is covered with a cloth, nobody can see exactly what is underneath, and the uninformed might think they are pushing a cart of medicine.