Chapter 3 (1/2)
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation
Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
He did not discover any anomaly in his skin sample under the electron microscope, and just like that, the weight on Zhou Wen’s heart was reduced by two-thirds.
However, he could only be at ease after fully examining the mutated aphid tomorrow and confirming that it too was virus-free.
By the time he was done with these matters, it was already time for lunch!
Zhou Wen made his way to Shi Lei’s side and smilingly asked, “Brother Lei, is there anything that I can help you with?”
Shi Lei, who had just prepared the electrophoresis gel and was preparing to kill the white mice, asked without even looking up, “Why do you ask? Are you done with your tasks?”
Zhou Wen smiled and replied, “What’s there for me to do anyway? I’ll be fine when I update the data later on. You know me.”
The process of a gel electrophoresis would take two to three days under normal circumstances. In addition, there was the PCR process too. Even after putting in hard work and long hours for two to three days, one would frequently find the experimental data to be completely absurd.
Then, it would be followed by curses and screams of frustration! “F*ck! Jesus! Damn it!”
This was basically the unspoken life of a biology student. Most biology students have done this before. If they did not want to repeat the process, all they could do was to fake the data.
Shi Lei chuckled. He was a person who had gone through it all before so he knew the pain of the process. He nodded and said, “In that case, you should head back and take a rest. I shall finish up everything. Oh right, please help us to grab some takeaways.”
Zhou Wen turned around and said while leaning against the working table, “What’s the point of heading back? I don’t have a girlfriend anyway.”
Meanwhile, Lin Jiayi covered in a huge, white lab coat and was looking through her electron microscope with her back facing them while they chatted. She turned around and joined in the conversation, “Hey Zhou Wen, are you still in contact with Qu Fangfang?”
Qu Fangfang was the most beautiful out of the few girls in the laboratory in the past. She was good-natured, gentle, and was brought up in a humble family. She was the dream wife in many men’s hearts.
What a waste that she left for her internship one year ago.
Zhou Wen answered, “I’ve never contacted her before. Why do you ask?”
“Nothing,” answered Lin Jiayi, casually. She giggled and continued, “Hey Zhou Wen, how about you treat me to a meal and I shall agree to be your girlfriend?”
Zhou Wen pursed his lips and replied, “If there’s any woman that can live up to what she has promised, I would have a child by now.”
Shi Lei chuckled.
Lin Jiayi turned around and giggled as well.
It was a joke. She was a second-year postgraduate student who had a clear idea of the type of boyfriend she wanted.
Zhou Wen turned his head to the side and said smilingly, “I mean it, Brother Lei. Is there anything that I can help you with? Otherwise, I’m going back to watch some television series.”
Upon hearing Zhou Wen’s remarks about going back to watch television, Shi Lei looked up and said shyly, “Then it’s better for you to stay back. Lanlan has invited me out for a movie date this afternoon.
Zhou Wen urged him on by saying, “Then it’s better for you to head back soon to get ready; make it a successful date tonight.”
Shi Lei chuckled bashfully. The man did not come from a wealthy family, just like Zhou Wen. In addition, he did not have good looks and was no sweet-talker. He was about to graduate as a postgraduate student yet he had yet to kiss a girl’s lips before.
It was a rare opportunity for him to meet a girl that did not seem to mind him. Everyone was truly very happy for him.
He accepted his girlfriend despite being hurt by her after she cheated on him in the past.
“I’m really going to leave now. Is that alright?”
“Go ahead.”
Shi Lei passed the white mouse in his hand to Zhou Wen and then turned around and left the laboratory.
“Please remember to get some takeaways for us.”
“Noted…”
Zhou Wen clutched the white mouse’s throat and pinned it against the work bench with one hand while his other hand grabbed the white mouse’s tail and pulled upward. “Crack.” The white mouse was killed from a broken neck through cervical dislocation. It did not suffer the slightest bit.
Then, the white mouse’s chest and abdomen were opened up while its thigh bone was cut away with a pair of shears to strip away from the muscles and tendon around the thigh bone.
The thigh bone was doused clean and then cut open to extract the bone marrow. Next, Zhou Wen washed the bone marrow inside the thigh bone with a low penetrant solution and distributed the final irrigation fluid equally into the test tubes.
Soon afterward, he killed another white mouse and extracted its bone marrow before he prepared the irrigation fluid. It was pretty much repeating the previous process step by step. The irrigation fluids were separated into ‘Group A’ and ‘Group B’ according to weight before they were placed into the centrifuge for separation.
A white mouse’s gene was 95% similar to a human being’s gene. As a result, the vast majority of the large scale laboratories would use white mouse’s gene for the testing of all kinds of medications.
However, the process of DNA extraction would generally require two to three days. The large scale laboratories and research centers that prioritized efficiency would delegate the DNA extraction tasks to the laboratories of prominent universities.
Theoretically, one could extract four to eight gene segments from one white mouse. However, only four gene segments could be extracted under normal circumstances.
Of course, these gene segments cost money. According to the current market price, one gene segment would cost about 400 to 500 RMB.