Extreme germ phobia

Chapter 398 Data Samples
"These are experimental data, and this is a virus sample!" Wan Lin first handed a USB flash drive to Ou Yang, and then handed him a double-helix glass tube containing a light green viscous liquid.

Ou Yang blinked his curious eyes and took the glass tube: "Can this thing prevent pneumothorax?"

"It's not prevention, it's infection!" Wan Lin corrected meticulously. "We've already tested it, and this stuff can infect naturally occurring Pneumocystis bacteria, but it's unclear whether it works on Pneumocystis bacteria inside the human body. We need to conduct more in-depth experiments."

"Unfortunately, there are no longer any experimental facilities here!" He said with a sad expression. "Ouyang, please make sure to send them back to the new city. If it's absolutely necessary, you can hand over the items, but you must send back news of the successful experiment. That's the bottom line!"

The lab was not damaged, and he was unharmed. Even if he lost the USB drive and samples, they could be retrieved.

But all of this depends on the higher-ups knowing the news!
Ou Yang pinched the glass tube and shook it: "Why is it this color?"

"Ouch!" Wan Lin was startled and instinctively reached out to protect the glass tube. "My goodness, you better watch out!"

Ou Yang looked at the other person in surprise, then at the glass tube: "Is it really necessary?"

"Get rid of that!" Wan Lin grabbed Ou Yang's arm and carefully took the glass tube back, putting it into a metal can that was only as thick as a water pipe and as long as a finger. "This thing is no joke!"

Ou Yang was taken aback. So cautious?
His expression changed slightly: "This virus also affects humans?"

"No, not at all, at least not yet." Wan Lin's answer remained cautious.

Ou Yang was a little confused: "Then why are you being so cautious? You're making me nervous."

"I only have this many samples on hand. If they get broken, I'll have to culture them all over again. How can I not be nervous?" Wan Lin glared fiercely at Ou Yang. "It'll take at least a week, you know? A whole week!"

He was a bit carried away, saying "a week" but only holding up five fingers. Realizing something was wrong, he immediately switched to holding up seven.

Ou Yang looked a little awkward: "Culturing viruses is so troublesome? I thought it would be fine if I just smeared it on the culture medium and waited for a couple of days!"

"This mainly contains high-purity nutrient solution, a certain number of pneumococci, and finally pneumococcal viruses." Wan Lin breathed a long sigh of relief after processing the sample. "It must be filled and sealed in a completely sterile environment. Once it is contaminated by other bacteria, the sample will be ruined!"

"Sterile?" Ouyang repeated subconsciously, "Then does this thing have a shelf life?"

"About half a month, what's wrong?"

“It’s nothing,” Ou Yang shook his head. “I was just asking.”

High-purity nutrient solutions can support the growth of all kinds of microorganisms, and the introduction of other bacteria will inevitably affect their purity. Although he couldn't articulate exactly what kind of impact a purity issue would have, he knew it certainly wouldn't be a good thing.

"Um, can I ask how this thing was developed?" Ouyang asked curiously.

“Of course, no problem.” Wan Lin agreed immediately. “Actually, it’s not as complicated as you think. First, we need to conduct a large-scale screening of various fungal viruses, find out all the viruses that can infect Pneumocystis jirovecii, and then select the best of the best, the most effective ones.”

Ouyang was surprised: "It sounds pretty simple."

"It's quite simple," Wan Lin said. "There are only about a hundred known fungal viruses, so the workload isn't huge. We found several viruses that can infect Pneumocystis jirovecii without much effort. But infection is only a prerequisite; they also need sufficient pathogenicity, transmissibility, persistence, and safety." "All the viruses we found in the first phase only caused infection; they had little or no adverse effect on Pneumocystis jirovecii, and couldn't achieve the goal of eradicating it." A sudden, indescribable weariness washed over Wan Lin. "Later, we had no choice but to use drugs, radiation, and other methods to modify the viruses until we found a suitable one. That was an enormous undertaking, like finding a needle in a haystack!"

Ou Yang imagined the other party storing a large number of petri dishes in the laboratory, interfering with them through various means, and then searching for usable viruses from them. No one knew when they would find the target, nor did anyone know where the target was. This kind of purposeful but aimless search was really no different from looking for a needle in a haystack.

“I understand!” he said.

"No, you can't!" Wan Lin's voice was somewhat ethereal. "This is the result of countless researchers working day and night. We can't let it be buried here... So, please make sure you send it back to the new city."

"Don't worry, I would have done it even if you hadn't said that." Ou Yang smiled, but there was a hint of melancholy in his smile. "Unfortunately, it still can't be cured."

"It's already very good. At least we've found a powerful way to combat it," Wan Lin said. "Think about it. With just a simple spray, the virus can infect and kill pneumococcus. With just a small amount of virus and some time, we can limit the spread of pneumococcus. If we invest enough, completely eradicating pneumococcus is only a matter of time. Isn't that enough?"

Ou Yang wanted to speak, but Wan Lin didn't give him the chance: "I know there are many infected people now, and I also know that finding an effective treatment is very meaningful, but we have to take it one step at a time. We also want to get to the bottom of things in one go and find the final answer directly, but we can only do this much for now."

“We’ve done our best.” He sighed softly. “We all believe that finding a cure is only a matter of time, but what we lack most is also time.”

Ouyang wanted to say something, but for a moment he didn't know where to begin. After a while, he said, "I believe that this virus will soon shine and become a powerful weapon against pneumoconiosis!"

He wasn't used to speaking this way, and felt somewhat ashamed, yet he also felt that this was the right way to speak at this time.

"I hope so." Wan Lin forced a smile. "Alright, you've said everything you needed to say. Do you have any more questions?"

"Yes!" Ouyang's response was crisp and efficient. "How do I get up? By elevator?"

“Yes!” Wan Lin nodded.

"You don't know what's going on outside, do you?"

“Yes!” Wan Lin nodded again.

"What about weapons? Do you have a gun? No? What about a knife? A knife would be fine too. No? You can't expect me to go up empty-handed, can you?"

Wan Lin hesitated: "Would a scalpel work?"

scalpel...

"No, do you think I'm Li Xunhuan (Little Li Flying Dagger)?" Ou Yang was exasperated.

He often sees videos online of knives, cards, toothpicks, and even chicken bones being thrown. He doesn't know if they're real or not, and he has no way to verify them. But he's not a master at throwing leaves and flowers; he really doesn't have that skill!

We can't just hand over the stuff as soon as we get back to the ground... right?

(End of this chapter)