As a mage, I just want to pursue the truth

Chapter 21 Experimental Procedures
With the completion of the last step of endorphin synthesis, 10 ml of endorphin was freshly synthesized in the test tube in Zheng Li's hand.

There are four types of endorphins - α, β, γ, and δ. The activity of β-endorphin is 5-10 times that of morphine, and the activity of the other three endorphins is the same as that of morphine.

The first discovery of endorphins by humans dates back to 1975. This substance is secreted by the hypothalamus of vertebrates working together with the pituitary gland.

It was not until 2019 that Zheng Li discovered the path to artificially synthesize endorphins. What Zheng Li synthesized was β-endorphin, which is the most active endorphin.

In the paper, Zheng Li demonstrated through experiments that β-endorphin can have an analgesic effect when taken externally.

Because endorphins are automatically synthesized by the pituitary gland, people previously only knew that they had analgesic effects, but did not know whether their analgesic effects could be exerted when injected in vitro.

Fun fact: Humans discovered the method of artificially synthesizing morphine in the 18s, when Zeltina discovered that morphine crystals could be separated from opium by soaking it in hot water and ammonia.

The molecular formula of morphine was derived in 1847, its structural formula was determined in 1925, and its absolute configuration was proved in 1968.

And until two hundred years later, humans still hadn't figured out the synthesis pathway for endorphins with similar effects, let alone their structural formula and absolute configuration.

It is precisely because of the difficulty of this work that Zheng Li was able to publish a paper in Nature as a complete newcomer.

The reason why it is so difficult is very simple. The molecular formula of morphine is C17H19NO3, and its molecular weight is only 285.3, while the molecular weight of α-endorphin is 1745.96 and the molecular weight of β-endorphin is 3400.

The molecular weight of β-endorphin is more than ten times that of morphine, but the difficulty of synthesis does not increase linearly, but exponentially.

After Zheng Li published a paper on the artificial synthesis method of β-endorphin, Li Xulin, inspired by the synthesis path of β-endorphin, successfully researched the artificial synthesis method of α-endorphin and published the paper in a cell journal.

Just based on the synthesis methods of several other endorphins, it is enough to publish many articles in Cell journals or even Cell main journals. This can be regarded as the legacy that Zheng Li left to the School of Life Sciences of Jiangcheng University.

Zheng Li put the newly synthesized endorphin into an ultra-low temperature refrigerator, and then continued to synthesize another high molecular compound.

Zheng Li used double antibody immunoprecipitation of α-endorphin and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) antiserum and injected it into pituitary tumor cells of mice.

An ordinary mouse can be bought for a few dollars, but a specially bred mouse with cancer costs three or four hundred yuan. A mouse with a designated cancer cell survival area, such as the one Zheng Li requested with tumor cells in the pituitary gland, costs more than a thousand yuan.

Zheng Li continued to place the culture together with 3H-labeled amino acids and aliquoted the samples of the immunoprecipitation culture medium.

Sodium dodecyl sulfate/polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of [3H]phenylalanine-labeled immunoprecipitates prepared with endorphin antiserum separated three forms of endorphin with apparent molecular weights of 31000, 11700, and 3500; immunoprecipitates prepared with ACTH antiserum contained four forms of ACTH with apparent molecular weights of 31000, 23000, 13, and 000, respectively.

Sequential immunoprecipitation of the culture medium with ACTH antiserum and endorphin antiserum (or vice versa) showed that both antisera precipitated the same 31000 protein macromolecules.

Purified pools of different forms of ACTH and endorphin were prepared by immunoprecipitation and gel filtration.

Finally, a lipotropin tryptic peptide [βLPH(61-69)] was produced, which contains the opioid-active methionine-enkephalin sequence.

Zheng Li looked at the freshly prepared trypsin peptide and smiled a little bored. This experiment was too easy for him.

Endorphin is a very magical compound hormone, and humans still have a very superficial understanding of it. The biological attainments of the wizard civilization far exceed the imagination of the humans on Blue Star. They can conduct human experiments by cloning humans.

In the wizard's logic, humans transform nature rather than nature transforms humans. In Zheng Li's view, the environmental protection issues that Blue Star has been discussing for years are purely false propositions.

Problems such as the indegradability of plastic, global warming, the spread of viruses, and the scarcity of fossil fuels can all be solved through technological means, rather than throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

Zheng Li could not understand some of the strange phenomena on the blue planet. The stone, pottery, bronze and iron tools discarded by humans after use had been buried in the ground for hundreds, thousands or even tens of thousands of years without being separated and degraded. In modern times, the creations that used a large amount of cement would not degrade naturally unless they were destroyed or exploded after being discarded. However, they wanted plastic to be degraded in just a few years, or even to not use plastic at all.

Having said that, injecting endorphins together with lipotropin-stimulating peptide [βLPH(61-69)] into the human body can reduce human addiction and tolerance to drugs.

You should know that after long-term use of many drugs, humans will become dependent on them, that is, drug addiction, such as stimulants, analgesics, hallucinogens, etc.

Scientists have previously tried to reduce addiction through various means, such as cognitive behavioral therapy, oral topiramate treatment, oral dextroamphetamine sustained-release, and other methods.

But these methods have not been very effective.

This has a larger market than endorphins, and Zheng Li plans to bring it out later.

"Now that you are here, I will take you to meet the current general manager of the company. I will stay in the laboratory downstairs for a long time. You will report to me about the company's business dynamics every week."

"Usually you are responsible for following Cheng Gang's instructions. Cheng Gang is our general manager. What you need to do is to learn and familiarize yourself with the company's operating model as soon as possible."

After taking off his gloves and white coat, Zheng Li went to his own office upstairs and saw Li Miaomiao who had just landed and was running towards him.

Li Miaomiao, who was originally feeling nervous, calmed down after meeting Zheng Li, especially when she discovered that Zheng Li had not changed at all since he was in school, and was still fully focused on his research.

She nodded and said, "Okay."

Zheng Li: "Cheng Gang, this is Li Miaomiao, my classmate from Jiangcheng University. She is here to serve as my secretary. You can always call her if you have anything to do, and help her get familiar with the company's operations."

Cheng Gang looked at the young girl in front of him, who had a good appearance. He thought to himself: Could it be that Director Zheng wanted to have an office romance and brought his girlfriend to the company?
If this is true, Cheng Gang will have to downgrade his evaluation of Zheng Li by at least two levels.

But he remained calm on the surface: "Okay, I will make arrangements for Ms. Li. I am Cheng Gang, and we look forward to a pleasant cooperation."

Cheng Gang extended his hand to signal that he wanted to shake hands with the other party. As he shook hands, Li Miaomiao said, "I would like to thank Mr. Cheng in advance for his care. I hope we can have a pleasant cooperation in the future."

Zheng Li continued, "Cheng Gang, I know what you are wondering. Let me make it clear. Li Miaomiao and I are just classmates. To be precise, we are very good friends, but not boyfriend and girlfriend."

"The reason why I asked her to help me is because the company's management is all sent by President Lei. I need someone I can trust to prevent President Lei and I from falling out and affecting the normal operation of the company."

(End of this chapter)