The Surgeon’s Studio

“Old Bao, what do you think?” Department Chief Kong asked when the two men left the wards.

“Hm?” There was nothing beyond a muted response from Department Chief Bao.

“Su Yun. The Lancet.” Simple words that had heavy implications.

“Su Yun was from the cardiothoracic department, so you might not know him that well.” Department Chief Bao sifted through his memories and said, “Two years ago, he attempted 3D bioprinting for heart transplant. When I first heard of it, I thought it a joke. Since when had technology progressed this far?”

“And?”

“I hadn’t realized 3D printing had been incorporated into the medical field, so I admitted my mistake,” Department Chief Bao said with a smile.

Although he had been upstaged by Su Yun, he held no grudges. He had high expectations for the young man.

Doctors were always happy to see technological advancements being translated from bench to bedside as the ultimate beneficiaries were always patients. Department Chief Bao had sworn to pay more attention to current research to avoid a similar incident from happening again.

“3D bioprinting? I’ve only heard of it being used in orthopedics to develop artificial joints. What did Su Yun do?” Department Chief Kong asked.

“Su Yun reached out to West China University for a collaboration. They used 3D printing to seed and culture cells to develop a heart for transplant.”

Department Chief Bao’s tone filled with reverence as he spoke.

He shook his head. “Even now, I still find it unbelievable.”

“He managed to make it work?” Department Chief Kong was equally skeptical.

“In a way. They cloned and cultured mice cells, then 3D-printed a model heart. The artificial heart was then used for transplant by Su Yun. You know how small a mouse is. We don’t have a microscope for surgery here in our department so the boy went to the trauma department for three months. At the end of his tenure, the trauma chief wanted to keep him there. They even sent someone to his house to beg him to stay.”

“Huh.” Department Chief Kong could empathize.

“Su Yun performed the transplant and watched over the mouse for 107 days.”

“And?”

“Well… According to stories, the mouse made a full recovery. One night, the cage was open and the mouse escaped. They had to terminate the study.”

It was the opposite of what Department Chief Kong had guessed. He expected to hear that the mouse had died on the ventilator after 107 days of care.

Who would have expected the mouse to escape!

Clearly, the surgery was a huge success.

No wonder Su Yun could have published in The Lancet.

“Amazing!”

Department Chief Bao continued his story. “It’s what I heard. Yunlong’s group made their own attempts on it as well but their postsurgical case was inadequate. They only managed to keep their mice alive for 3 days at best.”

“Hm.” Department Chief Kong felt his heart tremble.

“I knew this boy wouldn’t lay low for long. I already predicted it when he left Imperial Capital. But who knew…”

“Who knew what? That he would come back with a young boss?”

“Truthfully, back then… No, even now, if Su Yun wanted to do research under my group, I would definitely have made the institute waive all fees and give him a scholarship. I’d be willing to let him manage my research funds. But Old Kong, how did he even find that young boss of his?” Department Chief Bao said regretfully.

On the topic of Zheng Ren, Department Chief Kong’s expression became serious. “The boss? A lifetime of surgeries, and in the end, you’re still just a surgeon. Liver cancer often starts from Hepatitis B, worsens into liver fibrosis and cirrhosis, then finally ends in carcinoma. Patient compliance for Hepatitis B drugs remains low, so deterioration occurs quickly. As the nodules become cancerous, it is difficult to differentiate them using radiological methods, making early detection improbable. The traditional method is to flood the liver with Lipiodol and allow any remnants of the contrast agent to point to carcinoma. But this method…”

“No need to lecture me about liver cancer. Was the surgery he performed that important?” Department Chief Bao frowned. His old friend seemed a bit perturbed at the mention of Dr. Zheng and the surgery. Perhaps it was a passion rekindled?

“In my opinion, Dr. Zheng’s surgery was more important than Su Yun’s heart transplant. Do you know how prevalent cirrhosis is? If we can detect the early signs of malignancy, we can extend the lifespan of the patient by at least a year, even without stopping the disease’s progression.”

His words rendered the cardiothoracic surgeon speechless.

Those numbers were a big deal.

The two men became silent and the conversation was over.

They could not get the image of the seated Zheng Ren with Su Yun behind him out of their minds.

Heroes often arose from within the younger generation, but the speed of their progress was unbelievable.

‘Let’s hope this doesn’t end up like the genetic engineering scandal,’ both department chiefs thought.

They parted ways in silence.

Department Chief Kong waved goodbye and headed for the interventional radiology department.

“Chief, you’re back,” Chief Resident Shen said at the sight of his superior.

“Em,” Department Chief Kong mumbled absentmindedly, heading straight to his office.

In the office, he pondered the genetic engineering scandal.

That article had been published in Nature Biotechnology by leading scientists in the field of bioengineering. The study had garnered strong reactions from the public and the group had been touted as the next Nobel Prize winner.

Sadly, the experiment had not been replicable by other groups, which suggested possible data fabrication.

The authors then requested that Nature Biotechnology take down the article.

Although quick action had been taken, experts in the field agreed that the results were not repeatable. Hence, the experiment was trashed.

Cases like this had also happened in other countries.

Every year, there were two to three major scandals in the global scientific community.

Department Chief Kong wondered if the doctor from Sea City had lied about his method. The likelihood of such a scenario gradually increased as he continued thinking.

Zheng Ren was just a chief resident from Sea City. How could this leap in diagnostic methodology have fallen into his lap? The possibility of such a thing happening was just too small for Department Chief Kong to accept without question.

Su Yun’s adamance at Zheng Ren being the lead surgeon in the trial surgery also raised his suspicion.

This was clearly a coverup!

Perhaps Su Yun’s previous 3D-printed heart transplant had also been based on fabricated data? After all, it had not been replicable by other surgeons.