Chapter 169 A Discovery That Shocked the World

In an office of the vaccine research team.

Liu Shuwei reported a major discovery, saying that an antigen was isolated from the serum of hepatitis B patients.

This antigen is not found in the serum of normal people.

Both of them speculated that this serum might be related to the hepatitis B virus.

Because the antigen still exists in the blood, it can stimulate human immunity and play a role in preventing hepatitis B virus. If it is related to hepatitis, it is most likely part of the hepatitis B virus.

What's more, viruses can generally infect humans. Similarly, if the inactivated virus still has antigenic activity, it would be a major discovery.

Viruses that retain stable antigens but lose their activity have another name - that is vaccine.

Thinking of this, Liu Shuwei became excited and a look of joy appeared on his face.

However, he did not get carried away, but asked Wang Mengde to give this anti-pattern a name.

After a pause, Wang Mengde said, "Both of our units are located in Beijing. This patient should also be from Beijing."

After seeing Liu Shuwei nod, he continued, "Plus, since it was discovered in Beijing, we will temporarily call it Beijing Antigen A."

He has chosen a name with Chinese characteristics.

After saying the name, Wang Mengde instructed: "For the Beijing No. A antigen, we must hurry up to study it, and you must use various methods to conduct experiments.

If you need any materials or equipment, you can report it to the team leader or me directly. This is the most important task of our vaccine research team at present.

If necessary, you can put other tasks on hand aside for the time being. "

Although discovering the antigen is a key step, it is only a small step. A lot of experiments are needed to find out its use.

For him, who had knowledge from his previous life, knowing the correct answer was naturally the easiest thing.

"Team Leader Wang, I have discussed this with several other comrades, and we are going to split into several groups and use several technologies known in the world to conduct experiments at the same time. This way, the process may be faster."

Liu Shuwei briefly reported the plan he had planned yesterday. At the same time, he looked at Wang Mengde expectantly and said:

"Team Leader Wang, do you have anything else to say about the experiment?"

If he had just joined the vaccine research team, he would definitely not have said this because he was so arrogant.

After having several contacts with Wang Mengde and experiencing his terrifying side, Liu Shuwei was finally convinced.

Whether it was his knowledge reserves or other insights, they all crushed the conceited him.

So, he changed from resisting from the bottom of his heart to obeying everything.

Some time ago, when he was asked to use the blood of hepatitis B patients for analysis, he immediately carried out the task without hesitation.

"When conducting research, it is recommended that you dilute the antigen and then conduct a heating experiment."

Wang Mengde instructed.

Then, he explained the specific reasons based on some theoretical knowledge from his previous life.

After listening to this, Liu Shuwei nodded repeatedly and almost patted his chest to promise that he would conduct the experiment according to this plan.

He was not trying to flatter Wang Mengde, but the theory he talked about was really reasonable. He was a smart man, and as he listened, he suddenly understood everything. He now understood all the things that he had been confused about before.

"By the way, how is Huang Sizhong doing here?"

After talking about the things, Wang Mengde asked about his junior brother's situation.

He often didn't see Junior Brother Huang at the Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine these days, so he guessed that the vaccine research team must have important work to do.

"Xiao Huang, he is the most serious one in the research group, and also the hardest worker."

Liu Shuwei was deeply impressed by Huang Sizhong.

At first, this thin young man was silent, as if he didn't exist.

And I spend most of my time at the Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

He thought it was for gilding.

No important work was assigned to him, and he was only asked to do some simple and unskilled work.

Huang Sizhong was not dissatisfied. On the contrary, he was very serious about these simple tasks and did every task very carefully.

At the same time, because he usually spends less time here, he comes early and leaves late, trying hard to keep up with everyone's progress.

After a long time, Liu Shuwei discovered that this young man was simply working too hard.

The effort and sweat I put in is much more than anyone else.

Not only did he not fall behind, but his achievements were among the best among these people.

So, he went from being indifferent to paying attention, and finally focused on training Huang Sizhong.

This young man now is a general under his command.

"Yes, he is my junior fellow apprentice. He has to study with me most of the time, and he also has to take care of the work of the vaccine research team. It is really too hard."

Wang Mengde said with a complicated expression.

Among his eight junior brothers and sisters, this one is the one he likes the most.

When the talents are similar, the only thing left is to see who works harder.

There is no doubt that Huang Sizhong's efforts are unmatched by those of others.

"So he is your junior fellow apprentice. No wonder he is so outstanding."

Liu Shuwei smiled and praised.

The two chatted for a while, and seeing that there was nothing else, Wang Mengde left.

time flies.

In the blink of an eye, it is the annual "winter storage" day.

Wang Mengde also followed the local custom and took a day off for "winter storage". He went to the Nanluoguxiang vegetable store and brought the cabbages back to the yard.

Due to various reasons this year, although cabbage does not require tickets, purchase restrictions are imposed.

The number of items a household can purchase is limited based on the number of people in the household.

Moreover, among the three grades, first-class products account for no more than 10%, second-class products account for 30%, and the remaining 60% are all third-class products.

That is, the kind without the cabbage heart.

Even so, everyone still scrambles for it.

I was afraid that if I went too late, I wouldn’t even be able to buy this kind of bargain cabbage.

Sitting in the living room, holding his several-month-old daughter in his arms, Wang Mengde thought to himself as he watched Ran Xiaomei carefully turning the cabbage.

It seems that after a while, I will have to take some cabbage out of the space from time to time and replenish the cellar.

Otherwise, there won’t be enough vegetables to eat this winter.

Yaya, with a cotton coat wrapped in her arms, waved her arms, as white and tender as lotus roots, and touched his face.

"My dear girl, you miss your daddy, right?"

Wang Mengde lowered his head and half turned his face to make it easier for his daughter to do what she wanted.

That night, the dinner was naturally the capital's signature dish - cabbage stewed with vermicelli and tofu, with two taels of pork belly added in.

That smell brings some warmth to the cold winter.

Not only their family, but in the entire capital city, almost every household had cabbage for dinner today.

Some are fried, some are stewed, some are served cold, and some are cooked with cabbage.

After finishing the 'winter storage'.

Wang Mengde began to get busy again.

This time, the main issue is with the vaccine research team.

A month ago, Liu Shuwei led the research team to conduct experiments day and night, dilute the serum, and then heat it to finally obtain the world's first hepatitis B vaccine. Looking at this virus that retains stable antigens but loses its activity.

Liu Shuwei burst into tears.

It's not easy.

Even with Wang Mengde's suggestions, their experimental process was still tortuous.

The main reason is the shortage of test materials and equipment.

They encountered many difficulties, but fortunately, they were all overcome one by one in the end.

After obtaining the legendary hepatitis B vaccine, we encountered another problem: it still had a long way to go before clinical application - safety trials were needed.

It was international practice at the time that after a vaccine was developed, its safety had to be tested on gorillas first.

But gorillas that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars each are obviously not something they can afford.

In order to verify the effectiveness and safety of the vaccine as soon as possible, Liu Shuwei decided to start with himself.

At the same time, one of the first people to experiment on himself was researcher Huang Sizhong.

By the time Wang Mengde got the news, it was too late.

They have injected themselves with a newly developed hepatitis B vaccine whose safety and effectiveness are still unknown.

Then the virus-containing serum is injected.

Over the next month, they monitored their own indicators every day. Fortunately, everything was normal. Later, they successfully detected antibodies in the body.

This means that the blood-borne hepatitis B vaccine has finally been successfully developed.

In the conference room.

At this time, not only Wang Mengde and Liu Shuwei were there, but also Guo Lun, the leader of the vaccine research team, and several leaders from higher-level departments.

"Comrade Wang Mengde and Comrade Liu Shuwei have made great contributions to the successful development of the hepatitis B vaccine.

One person grasped the direction of the research and pointed out the way for the success of the experiment, while the other worked hard to lead the team to conduct the experiment and even tested the drug himself. This spirit of dedication is worth learning from."

One of the leaders spoke up.

"Yes, this is the first case in the world. It is not only an honor, but also provides protection for the people in the country.

From now on, our hundreds of millions of people will no longer be troubled by infectious diseases like hepatitis B."

Another leader continued.

When they learned that the vaccine research team had successfully developed the world's first hepatitis B vaccine, they were overwhelmed.

In this day and age, few countries have world-leading technologies.

The emergence of one often means that it can greatly boost people's morale.

The world's first measles vaccine developed by Wang Mengde has already broken some rumors and shattered some so-called conclusions.

Now there is another world number one, they can't help but pay attention to it.

After praising for a while, the topic finally shifted to the production and use of vaccines.

"Comrade Wang Mengde, can the current vaccines be mass-produced?"

“Leader, because the vaccine has just been developed, some clinical trials are still needed. Only after the results are obtained can we determine whether it can be produced.

Moreover, this vaccine has many problems. If these problems are not solved, it can only be produced in small batches at best.”

Wang Mengde said cautiously.

The vaccine they developed is a blood-borne hepatitis B vaccine, which has many shortcomings and deficiencies.

It is simply impossible to carry out large-scale production.

"Ah? What are the questions?"

Several leaders asked hurriedly.

If there are problems and large-scale production is impossible, then it will be useless for the huge population.

Because herd immunity can only be achieved when the vaccine covers a certain population.

If only a small number of people are vaccinated, the result will be that at most this small number of people can be protected, and most people will still be at risk of infection.

"Our research team discussed it together and summarized three questions."

Wang Mengde introduced:

“The first is the difficulty in obtaining it.

Because the vaccine uses the patient's serum, which needs to be diluted and heated, it requires a large amount of blood from hepatitis B patients."

After hearing his words, several leaders looked at each other. This was indeed a huge difficulty. Not to mention this era, even in the future, not many people would be willing to have blood drawn.

“The second difficulty is that when injecting the hepatitis B vaccine, there is a certain probability of contracting other diseases.

The main reason is that when using the patient's blood, the patient may also have other infectious diseases, and many infectious diseases can be transmitted through blood.

The third difficulty is that it cannot be mass-produced. Vaccines produced in small batches will be expensive and simply cannot be afforded by ordinary people."

After asking three questions in one breath, Wang Mengde kept silent and watched several leaders communicating in a low voice.

After a while, one of the leaders said with a somewhat grim expression:

"Comrade Wang Mengde, is there any solution?"

“Leader, the second question is that we can eliminate most of the disease viruses through treatment, but we can’t guarantee it 100%. We can only say that we can eliminate them to the minimum extent.

We may not have solutions to the remaining two problems.”

"Then according to what you just said, the hepatitis B vaccine that we developed is not very effective?"

Another leader asked.

“In fact, the discovery of the Beijing A antigen in the patient’s serum already played an extremely important role in the history of hepatitis B vaccine development.

If it is made public, it will not only have a huge international impact, but will also have some benefits.”

"Ah? No, no, no, no, no, no."

Several leaders shook their heads like rattles.

In their opinion, it is too late to keep this world-leading technology secret, let alone make it public.

"Of course it is not free publication, but publication with certain conditions. For example, if a country supports us with some high-end research equipment, we can exchange some technology with them."

Wang Mengde smiled and said:

"Blood-borne hepatitis B vaccines have too many shortcomings. I already have other research ideas. This idea requires a lot of high-end research equipment. If I have these, I am confident that I can develop a more advanced hepatitis B vaccine within two years."

The tone and demeanor of his voice were very confident.

Everyone couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

A few minutes later, one of the leading leaders said, "Comrade Wang Mengde, I can't make the decision on this matter. Wait until I get back and report to my superiors."

a few days later.

An explosive piece of news spread internationally.

China has actually discovered antigens in the serum of hepatitis B patients.

They even used antigens to develop a hepatitis B vaccine.

This news shocked the world.

In Europe and the United States, words such as 'f**k\s**t' have been heard coming from many top laboratories.

However, scolding will be scolded.

They all turned their eyes to the East.

(End of this chapter)