Chapter 63:

"New antibiotics?!" A group of professors couldn't help but connect their ears. Since penicillin was used in clinical practice in 1943, antibiotics have been developed one after another. However, most of them are too toxic and not suitable for human clinical treatment.
Unlike the pamineridine used to treat frostemia, antibiotics have an extraordinary position in the history of drugs. During the Second World War, the United States put the development of penicillin and the development of the atomic bomb on the same important position. Antibiotics are closely related to everyone, the real life-saving medicine in critical moments!
Antibiotics have always been a hot project in the field of biopharmaceuticals. Numerous laboratories around the world continue to study them day and night, but the ones that are actually used in the clinic are still those that are really important for the emergence of drug-resistant bacteria. Bacteria are the same as humans. The same method is effective once or twice, and the drug resistance will appear after hundreds of times.
A brand new antibiotic! How can this be!
"Accurately speaking, it is only a brand new antibiotic for clinical purposes." If he remembers correctly, as early as 76 years, Merck researchers discovered thiomycin and registered the first in history in the United States in 1977. A core patent for carbapenem antibiotics, counting the time, now imipenem may have been submitted for drug marketing approval.
The professors looked at each other, and they naturally understood what Li Zheng said, a new antibiotic in the clinic, that is, this antibiotic may have been developed, but it hasn't been applied to the clinic yet.
Also, Li Zheng's performance at the Asian Biopharmaceutical Conference was amazing, and he won the favor of many world-class biopharmaceutical experts. It is not surprising to get some information privately.
But they also know that those who are doing their business are a little bit brainy and will not reveal important information about drugs that have not yet been on the market. The person who brought up this matter with Li Zheng only gave a little direction at best. Li Zheng could actually propose the molecular structure of a brand-new antibiotic through such a point. This talent is already amazing.
"Dead horses are treated as live horse doctors, Pseudomonas aeruginosa..." Professor Zhao shook his head, and he said: "Li Zheng, what do you want us to do?"
In fact, the professors didn't have much hope for Li Zheng, and they developed a new antibiotic to treat drug-resistant bacteria that there is no medicine on the market. Dreaming!
But seeing friends struggling on the line of life and death, if they don't do anything, they will not be able to pass this level by themselves. Almost everyone is holding this mentality.
Li Zheng also knew that it was a fantasy to develop a new antibiotic out of thin air. Even if someone pretended to give the general direction, it would be a miracle to take out the molecular structure and extract it overnight. He doesn't expect these old professors to believe him, all he needs is execution.
"Then I'm welcome." Li Zheng's lips curled up slightly, and he issued a series of commands.
"Professor Sun, Professor Qian, and Professor Wang will separate and extract thiomycin. There are detection reagents in the refrigerator. The extraction is successful when the reagent turns red."
"Zhang Yuejun, you are responsible for helping the three professors to do data recording."
"Professor Zhao, trouble you to join me." Li Zheng said to Professor Zhao with a smile while adjusting the temperature control.
Professor Zhao nodded, and consciously walked to Li Zheng's side and laid hands on Li Zheng.
"The temperature rises another ten degrees, Zhang Yuejun observes the bacterial performance."
"How is the bacterial activity?"
"Note that at 64.3 degrees Celsius, the bacteria have differentiated and the bacterial activity is obvious."
…………
From noon to night, everyone didn’t even have time to drink saliva. Wang Jing came back in the middle and brought back the patient’s medication and response records of the patient last night. As expected, the combined use of several antibiotics, the effect is still not obvious. , Some patients have been dehydrated and have difficulty breathing. All the doctors in Queen Mary Hospital were spinning for 48 hours without any rest for a minute.
The director of Queen Mary Hospital called all night, begging the British General Hospital to help the British laboratory test the samples they sent in advance, and the British General Hospital agreed. Queen Mary Hospital obtained the sample test results at 6 pm. The sample results showed that the patient was infected with Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The British recommended centralized isolation, abandoning damaging treatment methods, and improving patient comfort.
In other words, there is no cure, stop using drastic treatments to increase the suffering of patients, and let them live through the period before death.
When Wang Jing repeated this passage, the whole person was choked up, "The hospital has begun to concentrate the infected people, and those to be observed are also isolated. Are they...really hopeless?" Looking at the familiar patient The patients were pushed out one by one, and they were gathered in an empty isolation room like a pig with plague. All the medical staff felt uncomfortable.
This is also a great trauma to the patients' psychology. Many patients are crying with fever and begging if they can let them stay in the ward and if they can die with dignity. Nurses and doctors can only say sorry over and over again, because Queen Mary Hospital is not a traditional infectious disease hospital, and the medical conditions in the 1980s were not as good as in later generations. The disinfection measures in ordinary wards are far from guaranteeing the spread of drug-resistant bacteria. The number of isolation wards is limited.
A huge isolation room with rows of hospital beds put together is the ultimate hospital can do. They are responsible for the health of the remaining patients.
"I will never give up treating you until the last moment, but I'm sorry, I can't bet on the lives of other patients." A female doctor pushed a patient she had rescued from the operating table twice into the isolation room with red eyes. .
"We don't want to. Before the British inspection report came out, Professor Chen and the doctors had been fighting to isolate infected patients in the ward. Many patients are very smart. Once they enter the isolation room, they know what is going on. What's going on, this is a great blow to the patient's will to survive, but the most important thing at this moment is the patient's own willpower!" Wang Jing was very emotional.
There was silence in the laboratory, and the worst happened. Li Zheng concluded early that the sample was Pseudomonas aeruginosa, but he has not given feedback to the Queen Mary Hospital. What is worried about is this result. He is afraid that the patient will give up the will to survive before he extracts carbapenem antibiotics. .
"Where is Professor Xu? Also entered the isolation room?" Li Zheng asked hoarsely.
Wang Jing shook her head, "No, Professor Xu and those special patients are still isolated separately. Professor Chen did not tell Professor Xu that it is Pseudomonas aeruginosa..."
Yes, no matter what era, there are privileged classes. Li Zheng breathed a sigh of relief. He was fortunate that Xu Mingsheng was a privileged class.
"Tell Professor Chen, continue to use the medicine, don't give up, and work hard to cool down physically. There is still hope on my side." Li Zheng said to Wang Jing solemnly.
Wang Jing's eyes lit up when she heard that the young nurse had limited knowledge of drug-resistant bacteria. Only from the hospital's response, Pseudomonas aeruginosa was a terrifying drug-resistant bacteria, but there was no idea how terrible it was. What concept. She heard that Li Zheng said there was hope, and had no intention of questioning it.
"Then please entrust Mr. Li Zheng." She bowed deeply.
Li Zheng nodded, regardless of the concealment, directly selected the correct microorganisms and adjusted the instrument to the temperature in his memory.
Seeing the reagent at the bottom slightly reddened, he knew he was successful.
"Zhang Yuejun, is the mouse here?" Li Zheng said.
Professor Wang, who was still doing experiments on the separation of crude extracts from moldy buns and fermented beer, heard the words and stopped their actions.
"Success?" They couldn't believe it!
"Successful." There is no time, he can only succeed, Li Zheng smiled bitterly. He ignored all questions from the outside world. Except for the genius, what other explanation can there be? Events like rebirth, in a modern society that emphasizes science, no one would truly believe it.
A group of people stared at Li Zheng's reagent almost cautiously.
Whether they suspect it or not, this is their only hope now.
Li Zheng handed the experimental notes to everyone, "Follow the steps to extract, the more the better, the mice experiment requires a lot of dosage."
Zheng Lingling had prepared the mice a long time ago. As soon as Zhang Yuejun called, rows of mice were sent to the laboratory.
Li Zheng looked at his watch. At 7:45 in the afternoon, according to Wang Jing, their time was running out.
It was another night.
In the evening, Zheng Lingling and Liu Menglin and two professors from the School of Medicine of Xiangjiang University also joined the experiment. Although Zheng Lingling and Liu Menglin were a little bit handy, they were students at the School of Medicine of Xiangjiang University. They did a good job of data recording and analysis.
This evening I also lost the girl Zheng Lingling. These experimental dogs have never known to eat since they entered the experimental state. Li Zheng, Zhang Yuejun, and Liu Menglin are young people who are hungry for one or two meals, but these old professors can’t, Zheng Lingling records. At the same time of data analysis, order meals and pour water to keep things outside of the experiment in order. A little girl and the men like them, stayed for more than twenty hours without shouting tired.
This caused Li Zheng to dissipate a lot of the unhappiness caused by her taking the classmates into Lab 3 in the morning. His job here, in addition to professional knowledge and professionalism, cannot be done without certain feelings, but Those who have been up and down in society for a long time lack such a feeling.
"Ting bell." The sound of the phone was particularly harsh in the silent laboratory.
Zheng Lingling ran over to answer the phone immediately.
"Hey, it's Mr. Li Zheng, are your medicines ready? Some patients have been declared dead in the isolation ward, and Professor Xu's condition is not very good. Professor Chen said, if it doesn't work, let you and the professors see again Look at Professor Xu."
"Pata" Zhang Yuejun's reagent was not held firmly, and fell to the ground, and the liquid crystal splashed on his pure white coat, dyeing a bright red.
Liu Menglin hurriedly processed the medicine on the ground and wiped it dry for disinfection.
"Brother, go and change clothes."
Zhang Yuejun was pushed into the dressing room almost at a loss. He was a graduate student of Professor Xu, and his feelings for three years could not be faked.
Li Zheng took a deep breath, took out the portable incubator, and put dozens of tubes of carbapenem antibiotics extracted from the existing in the incubator.
"Go, go to the hospital!" he said.
Professor Zhao watched Li Zheng's movements and said: "You are crazy, look at the experimental data, the survival rate of the mice is less than 30%! This antibiotic is not up to the standard for clinical trials, please don't Said to give the patient a direct injection!"
Yes, the data obtained from staying up all night is not satisfactory. The mice injected with Pseudomonas aeruginosa were injected with the extracted carbapenem antibiotics after infection. Less than 30% of the mice cured normally, and the rest of the mice had severe drug reactions, and even died within five minutes after antibiotic injection.
Under this kind of experimental data, all professors believe that this kind of antibiotics, like many discovered antibiotics, are too toxic and not suitable for human clinical treatment.
But they also admitted that this carbapenem antibiotic is indeed effective against Pseudomonas aeruginosa. This is an exciting result. As long as you follow this path, Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection is no longer There is no cure!
But how many years will this road take, one year, two years, five years? This may not be a big deal for the entire human process, but for the patients currently lying in the isolation ward, and for Xu Mingsheng, who is struggling between life and death, this is the distance between life and death.
"It's really effective against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, isn't it? This is the only way!" Li Zheng had never tried to extract carbapenem antibiotics in his previous life. Even if he knew the extraction steps and molecular formula, it could not be so short. Carbapenem antibiotics with perfect toxicity control in the minimum time.
This is the best he can do. He knows that carbapenem antibiotics have greater nephrotoxicity, but for patients who are already struggling with life and death, these nephrotoxicities are nothing. After all, the white mouse is not a human being. As long as some drugs are used to relieve renal toxicity, he is 80% sure that most people can survive the side effects of the drugs.
He has no time to do a trial of cooperating with the injection of relief drugs.
"No! Absolutely not! If something happens, Li Zheng, do you know what the result is?" Professor Wang strongly objected. No one would know what Li Zheng meant by doing this better than them.
Once Li Zheng does this, it is best for the patient to be safe and sound. Once someone dies due to drug toxicity, the spitting stars of the world can drown the young man. The media will wear all unbearable hats on the young man’s head, what kind of human body Experiment, what a butcher, are such examples rare in the history of pharmacy? So many amazing talents have fallen and disappeared in this circle, and some even committed suicide under pressure.
No one cares about why you do this. They only know that they don’t meet the standard and inject it into the human body, which is anti-human! No one will work with a biologist who wears the title of anti-humanity. Once he fails, Li Zheng's career will usher in a devastating blow.
A group of professors must not just watch Li Zheng do this.
Li Zheng looked at the professors who were emotionally opposed to what he did, a warm feeling in her heart, but the thoughts in her heart became more determined, "Professor, compared with more than a hundred lives. I think I can bear these consequences."
Li Zheng has already prepared for the worst in his heart. Is he sure that no patient will have an accident? No. However, he calculated that he had a lot of money, and if he really couldn't enter the laboratory, he wouldn't starve to death.
And there is no room for maneuver. Find someone you trust and put it on the table. He just hides behind the scenes. The Nobel in his dreams is about to fall through. He can no longer stand on the stage and accept any glaring honor.
Also, Li Zheng always felt that his own luck was pretty good, otherwise he wouldn't be able to rebirth in front of the experimental platform. God... I shouldn't just watch him and just finish like this.
"Li Zheng..." Professor Zhao wanted to say something more.
Li Zheng waved his hand, "Professor, I don’t have any chance to contribute. Don’t worry, I will protect myself as much as possible." He said, he winked at Zhang Yuejun, and Zhang Yuejun nodded and ran quickly. Went out to drive.
Professor Zhao almost couldn't catch his breath, and was mad. You are planning to go into battle shirtless and talk about protecting yourself. But at the same time he was angry, he was more moved, envious and ashamed.
Moved by Li Zheng’s choice, I am envious of Xu Mingsheng’s old boy who has such a good student. He is ashamed... He raised his head and looked at each other, and they all saw the shame in each other’s eyes. They are used to fame and fortune. I'm used to being respected, and I no longer have the courage to make a desperate move.
"Go, let's go with you!" Professor Zhao said.
The professors nodded at the same time, and went with Li Zheng to show that they knew and supported this matter. This is also a great risk for the professors. If there are patients who die because of antibiotic injections, although they will not be forced out of the circle like Li Zheng, it is inevitable to be scolded and damage their reputation.
Li Zheng looked at them in surprise, a helpless smile appeared on his face for a long time, "Well, you are free." These stubborn bulls, if you strongly refuse, will make them think you look down on them. Li Zheng, who has been a scholar for two lifetimes, understands their psychology too well.
At 3:15 in the morning, a van with more than 100 lives, more than 100 families, and hundreds of people's hopes drove out of the Green Garden slowly, and headed towards Queen Mary Hospital in the city under the dark.
At 3:15 in the morning, the nightlife of Xiangjiang is not over yet, the dazzling neon, the sports car carrying the beauties, the breezy and cheerful shouts of young people, they don’t want to fight, not far from them, a group of people are Struggling on the line of life and death, striving to gain hope of life.
Zhang Yuejun's car drove fast, and perhaps God was also on their side today, and he didn't encounter a red light along the way.
When seeing the four characters of Queen Mary Hospital from a distance, Li Zheng looked at his watch. It was 3:45.
The Mary Hospital has been cordoned off. The police saw the van approaching with flashlights waving in their hands.
"Don't come close, don't come close."
Zhang Yuejun made a beautiful drift. The car stopped in front of the blockade. Li Zheng and others quickly got out of the car. The police were about to come forward and negotiate with them.
Chen Sufen and Wang Jing in white coats rushed out of the cordon.
"You are here!"
The leading policeman knew Chen Sufen, and did not move forward when he saw it, shrugged and returned to his position.
Li Zheng still wears laboratory protective clothing. The protective clothing of Li Zheng laboratory is of the highest international standard. The effect of isolating bacteria is much better than that of doctors' white coats at Queen Mary Hospital.
"Go in, Old Xu is still conscious now." Chen Sufen did not take the hope that Wang Jing said in his heart at all. The doctors who have been in the clinic know more about the terrible Pseudomonas aeruginosa. She asked Li Zheng and others Coming over, it was entirely with the idea of ​​letting Old Xu see his colleague and proud disciple for the last time.
There are already many people in Xu Mingsheng’s ward, young people in their twenties, and older people in their 30s and 40s. A young man in his 30s sat sadly on Xu Mingsheng’s bedside and saw Li Zheng and his party came in and said, "Dad, Uncle Zhao and them are here."
This is Xu Keqiang, the son of Xu Mingsheng, who is a PhD student at Harvard Medical School.
"Old Xu!" Several professors stepped forward.
The ward remembered one after another of greetings. It seemed that these people were all Xu Mingsheng’s students.
Li Zheng stepped forward, put the refrigerated incubator aside, and picked up Xu Mingsheng's case hung at the end of the bed.
The medication record clearly shows that Chen Sufen has tried all the antibiotics that can be used on Xu Mingsheng's body, but there is no good effect.
The high temperature caused Xu Mingsheng to have signs of dehydration and difficulty breathing, and he could no longer wait.
"Old Zhao, you have a few points for the project funding I applied for this year, just remember that you must never let the hospital take it back! Not to mention the old guys in the humanities department!" Xu Mingsheng's voice was a little weak, the high temperature caused He was weak all over.
"What nonsense! You have finally applied for the funds, and you can spend it yourself. If we are short, we will naturally go with the old guys in the humanities department to grab it. It doesn't take you to be humble here." Professors said. , There was no trace of sadness on their faces, as if this was just a daily conversation between ordinary colleagues.
Xu Mingsheng felt a lot more relaxed when he heard this. He smiled and looked at everyone, "You are still polite to me."
Turning his gaze to Li Zheng, Xu Mingsheng showed a kind smile on his face, "Good boy, I am very proud. Although to be honest, I didn't teach you anything, but I am still very proud."
Li Zheng felt that his eyes were astringent, and he took two steps forward, "Teacher, since you know that you haven't taught me anything, should you reflect on it and try to find something that can teach me in the days to come? ."