Chapter 84

Naturally, these preparations currently extend beyond just Fang Ziye and those he is currently communicating with.

Some other arrangements remain only in conversation, not documented in writing.

For instance, Fang Ziye has already planned the coming year, expecting to complete all experiments for his grant application before April, then submit manuscripts, striving to publish papers during his doctorate to fulfill the basic thesis requirements for graduation.

At the same time, research results from another, more in-depth project will serve as preliminary data for his own general project application and for when Fang Ziye becomes a postdoctoral researcher next year, to see if he can apply for a city-level or provincial level 1 project in his own name.

The more basic, straightforward experimental data will be used as foundational material for Junior Brother Jie Han's applications for university-level and city-level projects; if they burst forth with results, then starting next year, his research group will have four project-specific funds.

He estimates possibly five hundred thousand in research funding; at that time, the group's finances will be relatively comfortable, and with so much money, Fang Ziye can conduct larger experiments, more operations, and deeper basic molecular biology and even genetic epigenetic research...

Fang Ziye has truly put in the effort and planned for the future, and it is precisely because of this that Yuan Weihong is unwilling to let him go work for someone else.

With such a good student, how can he rest easy if he doesn't keep him by his side?

Naturally, the path to becoming a Qinghua Youth Talent or Distinguished Youth Scholar while having him work for himself would also be relatively smooth.

"No, I can't just have Ziye ask for money; I need to ask the hospital for some research funding." Yuan Weihong gathered his thoughts and muttered softly.

The hospital has special research funding rewards; if you perform well academically, they can allocate you a lot of project startup funds and special research expenses.

As long as you have sufficient output, research funding ranging from a baseline of one hundred thousand up to a limit of ten million is not impossible.

Yuan Weihong plans to cast his gaze there, to see if he can scrape some money, so Fang Ziye doesn't have to scrape by here and there; if he doesn't need to scrape, he can buy whatever he needs openly, wouldn't that allow Fang Ziye to spread his wings even more?

As a teacher, building a higher and better platform is of great benefit to the development of students and the team.

For example, the current laboratory platform was built by Professor Deng Yong, which provides the foundation Fang Ziye now scrapes by on; otherwise, you're just one person without even a lab, what experiments can you do?

After finishing the second-to-last sentence of his chat with Yuan Weihong, Fang Ziye had no time to reply to his Master.

Because Luo Tingzhu walked out of the Cell Room at this moment and said, "Senior Brother Fang, can you help me take a look? Does this cell line we exchanged for have a problem?"

"A problem? Is it the 143B or the HUO9 cell line that has a problem?" Fang Ziye's gaze flickered.

These two cell lines were what Luo Tingzhu ran around for a long time to exchange for; if there is a problem, the other party would be too deceitful, right?

"It's the second cell line; the morphology looks off to me, but it doesn't seem like contamination either." Luo Tingzhu had only changed her shoes, not removing her mask and cap.

Hearing this, Fang Ziye hurriedly put on his mask and cap, his eyes quickly narrowing as he followed Luo Tingzhu into the Cell Room.

Right now, Luo Tingzhu placed both cell culture dishes under the microscope; the 143B type resembled the osteosarcoma morphology, but indeed, the other HUO9 osteosarcoma cell line differed slightly in morphology from common osteosarcoma cell lines.

Although Fang Ziye doesn't work with osteosarcoma cells himself, he understands the morphological characteristics of osteosarcoma cells.

Oval or spindle-shaped: Osteosarcoma cells typically appear oval or spindle-shaped, allowing them to adhere to the culture dish surface and form monolayers or multilayers.

Mesenchymal characteristics: Since osteosarcoma usually originates from bone tissue, osteosarcoma cells sometimes exhibit mesenchymal morphology, including elongated, stellate, or spindle shapes.

Nuclear size and shape variation: Osteosarcoma cell nuclei may display variations in size and shape; this nuclear pleomorphism may be one characteristic of osteosarcoma.

Processes and pseudopodia: Osteosarcoma cells in culture may produce processes and pseudopodia, aiding their movement and adhesion on the culture dish.

Heterogeneity: Morphological differences may exist between different osteosarcoma cell lines. This difference may reflect osteosarcoma subtypes, as osteosarcoma can manifest in various subtypes, including high differentiation, low differentiation, etc...

But in this cell line, it doesn't seem to have the osteosarcoma morphology; it looks rather round and rolling.

And because Fang Ziye previously did cell passages with Luo Tingzhu, possibly having participated in part, at this moment, as soon as Fang Ziye saw this thing, floating before his eyes as if gone mad:

"+1!"

"+1!"

"+1!"

"..."

This continuation lasted for over twenty seconds, and every second, the speed continued at 2-3 points, a full forty to fifty knowledge points suddenly pouring directly into Fang Ziye's Skill Point Allocation Panel.

Very sudden.

Fang Ziye looked left and right on the spot, slightly confused, and his gaze finally settled on the neck of the standing Luo Tingzhu.

However, Luo Tingzhu did not feel Fang Ziye's gaze was invasive at this moment, and his blank expression indeed confirmed her guess.

Only, Luo Tingzhu asked with slight disappointment and nervousness: "Right, Senior Brother? This cell line shouldn't be an osteosarcoma cell line; I don't know what it is."

"Did that person give me the wrong one?"

Fang Ziye looked again at the adherent growth results of the other 143B cell line, which had some similarities to the HOS cell line he had seen before, but with slight differences in detail, possibly a different subtype.

Fang Ziye stood up: "It might be the wrong one; this doesn't look much like an osteosarcoma cell line, it might not even be osteosarcoma."

"Take a photo, ask her about the specific situation."

"Don't throw the culture dish away directly just yet." Fang Ziye added afterwards.

Good fellow, who knows what this thing is; I only watched it for twenty-odd seconds, just looked at its culture, and it increased my knowledge points this much; this is definitely not simple.

Fang Ziye really wants to keep a stock of it, not to do anything else, just do some interventions to see if he can get even richer knowledge points.

Currently it's just culture, looking at adherent morphology; if it undergoes processing, Fang Ziye dares not imagine.

Fifty knowledge points, that's one-tenth of a Level 4 Skill.

The awesomeness and power of a Level 4 Skill go without saying!

"Senior Brother, I definitely won't throw it; I'm just saying this shouldn't be an osteosarcoma cell line, right? It's not that I read it wrong." Luo Tingzhu pointed at the culture dish and asked.

Actually, to determine what cell line this actually is, doing a gene test or sending it to a company for a cell bank comparison would yield results.

But that cost isn't worth it compared to just buying a few new cell lines; how could Luo Tingzhu waste such idle money?

The research group wouldn't waste money like that either.

"It shouldn't be; you take a photo first, ask that person what's going on, then find a picture of common HUO9 cell morphology online — available on the company's official website — and send it to her."

"Maybe she made a mistake; if it's a mistake, we'll think of other ways."

If it really was a mistake, going to Sha City again would be too troublesome; Fang Ziye figured it's better to look at the Orthopedics Departments of a few hospitals affiliated with Huazhong University of Science and Technology or the Provincial People's Hospital.

Luo Tingzhu doesn't have rich classmate resources, but Fang Ziye has plenty; some went from Tianjin Medical University to other universities in Han City, some study in Magic Capital and such places.

Maybe they can borrow a cell line from them and send it via express delivery.

Because they know each other, it's more reassuring.

Luo Tingzhu hurriedly took a photo and then started asking.

She did not delete the friend.

And, after Luo Tingzhu sent the message, the other party replied: "Ah? How come it's this cell? That might be me taking the wrong one."

"Then what do we do now? Are you still coming to Sha City to pick it up?" the other party asked.

Luo Tingzhu showed the message interface to Fang Ziye, her expression full of desolation.

"Senior Brother, it really was the other party who took the wrong one." Luo Tingzhu sighed.

Fang Ziye said: "Why don't you ask the other party what kind of cell this is, which cell line of the cell it is. Taking the wrong one can't be helped, things are like this now."

"If it's our Orthopedics Department's cell line or cell line, we'll just freeze-store it first; it might come in handy later."

The inventory of cell types and quantities in a laboratory is actually a kind of foundation.

Orthopedics has many cell experiments that can be done, such as inflammatory cells, giant cell tumor of bone, chondroblastoma, and so on...

Even if it's not an Orthopedics cell line, it can be kept first.

Fang Ziye can use it himself; anyway, it's all been cultured now.

Luo Tingzhu asked, then didn't show Fang Ziye the messages again, but said: "The other party said, this is a new cell line their team constructed, taking the wrong one is just taking the wrong one; in their research group, there are many cell lines, no need to return it."

"It's huo9; how to give it to me now. I can go pick it up again, or the other party can come deliver it."

Fang Ziye thought for a moment: "If she delivers it, that's naturally best."

"A team able to construct a new cell line shouldn't be a small team; maybe the other party really is a student from Central South University's affiliated Xiangya Hospital, just accidentally took the wrong one."

"When freeze-storing, if the label falls off, it's possible to mistakenly revive the wrong one."

Luo Tingzhu said: "Making her specially run over to deliver it is actually quite troublesome; I'll have her mail it over. Anyway, we've met, know she's not a scammer."

"We're also doing this for scientific research..."

Luo Tingzhu then continued to edit the message.

Exchanging cells, the reason it can't be directly mailed, is because cell experiment systems and cell lines can only be used for experiments and scientific research; if you're not doing research, it can't be given to you.

Imagine, if such tumor cells were placed in an ordinary person's hands, and then directly thrown into food, what would happen in the end, no one can determine.

But if you're exchanging with the other party, at least the other party has professional instruments, the probability of confirming the other party does research is very high; this way, completing mutual gifting is relatively reasonable in the research field.

"This is a Ewing sarcoma cell line, a cell line their team constructed themselves, typical cells taken from a patient's body, currently not yet entered into our country's National Cell Bank."

"Can't do experiments temporarily, but if freeze-stored, might be useful later." Luo Tingzhu also found out the cell line's source.

"Then let's freeze-store it first; our laboratory currently doesn't seem to have any team doing Ewing sarcoma related experiments!" Fang Ziye listened, inwardly delighted.

As expected, this is definitely something new; otherwise, just looking at cell morphology wouldn't increase so many knowledge points, that wouldn't be scientific.

Good fellow, being able to construct a new cell line, this strength is also quite formidable.

Fang Ziye currently hasn't learned exactly how to construct a cell line, but also knows the procedure's tediousness, the steps and processes' complexity.

But it doesn't matter; others constructed it, later if it gets recognized, can be used directly, and also equivalent to saving a sum of money.

Ewing sarcoma, right? Fang Ziye felt he might be able to change a small experimental direction, develop toward Ewing sarcoma direction.

It's not that Fang Ziye is fickle; mainly it gives a lot of knowledge points!

Fang Ziye proposed to help with cell freeze-storage, but Luo Tingzhu naturally didn't agree, just said: "Senior Brother, it's fine, I'll do it myself; the operation procedure isn't complex either."

"This is my Senior Sister, counting up is your Junior Sister, called Xie Xin."

"She said she'll mail me a bottle of cultured huo9 cell line as soon as possible."

"Senior Sister Xie Xin said, before she was originally culturing u2os cell line, but the liquid nitrogen tank she freeze-stored u2os cell line in, was empty for a National Day holiday."

"She went home, thought there were other people in the laboratory, so..."

Fang Ziye recalled Luo Tingzhu's elaboration, and felt heartache for the other party's laboratory.

Holy crap, the liquid nitrogen tank was empty for a while; the cells inside, if not dead, also shed a layer of skin; how many cells died at once?

Moreover, one liquid nitrogen tank empty, represents the other party's liquid nitrogen tanks possibly having two, or three; this laboratory's scale.

Worthy of Xiangya Hospital, old-brand top institution, deep pockets, can't compare.

"Mm, confirming the other party's identity is good; having one more peer Senior Sister isn't bad either; later can mutually exchange cell lines."

"Or seek to purchase a little bit." Fang Ziye gave a thumbs-up for Luo Tingzhu's good luck.

With this extra connection, and within the same specialty at that; as long as they get along well, Luo Tingzhu's future cell resources and reserves might be even more than his own.

Luo Tingzhu had already returned to the cell operation bench, turned and smiled at Fang Ziye with narrowed eyes.

Fang Ziye then tactfully left the cell operation room.

Then sent a message back to his own teacher, Fang Ziye started working.

Mainly there are two key tasks.

The first is the Master's thesis revision during Master's period, and revision and more revision. No matter how careful the Master's thesis revision, it's not excessive; this will accompany oneself for a lifetime.

If there are obvious errors, they might become one's stains later.

The second is facing the upcoming Doctoral Re-examination, material preparation, carefully reading the re-examination process at that time.

Although the hospital already gave a quota, the process still has to be walked, and try to walk it well, avoid at that time the hospital still having to argue with other re-examination personnel, that wouldn't be good.

After Luo Tingzhu finished the experiment and came out, she first stood beside Fang Ziye for a while, looked at Fang Ziye's revised thesis, didn't interject, roughly looked for ten minutes, then sat at her own computer, and started typing away.

Her school-level project proposal writing also has to reach the end; in December, must submit to the school to get money; this also needs many revisions.

After Fang Ziye's experiment ended, the quantity of knowledge points obtained again was only eight points.

Eight knowledge points, although not few, but compared to the previous fifty-plus knowledge points, made Fang Ziye unable to feel enough satisfaction.

"Tingzhu, can you help me review my Master's thesis, check for typos or low-level logic errors." Fang Ziye issued an invitation.

Such a graduation thesis has no gold content; mainly repeats content from that one Zone 1 basic paper he published.

Such depth and experimental process, as a Master's graduation, is far more than enough; even Doctoral graduation would be no problem. But precisely because the gold content is too high, so need to be cautious again and again, carefully correct; content is also much.

"Sure, Senior Brother." Luo Tingzhu nodded, walking out of the laboratory's automatic induction door while checking the keys, campus card, mobile phone, and other items inside her chest pack; only after putting everything neatly in order did she patiently wait for the elevator.

Fang Ziye waited until Luo Tingzhu finished doing her tasks, then said: "Mm, thanks. After you finish checking, I still need to find the Senior Brothers to help verify a few more times; only then can I rest assured."

"I heard everyone in this cohort has to send their thesis for blind review; we can't be negligent!"

Ever since the Spring Festival of the Tian Lin era, graduation for all Master's Students and Doctors has become more and more difficult. And the requirement for all Master's Students and Doctors to send their theses for blind review started from an incident involving a certain Senior Brother two years ago.

Why? Because a Senior Brother who graduated several years ago, when his Master's Thesis was spot-checked after graduation, hit a mine...

More and more difficult!

"Senior Brother, you definitely have no problem."

Luo Tingzhu gripped her backpack straps with both hands, elbows pointing backward, the palmar sides of her forearms pressed tightly against her waistline; even through the wool coat, her slightly clever figure could still be seen.

Luo Tingzhu smiled and said: "Senior Brother, your thesis — if given to me for a Doctor's graduation there would be absolutely no problem; how could it possibly fail blind review?"

(Chapter End)