Two weeks later, at the magical research institute, Andrew Tuck had prepared the transgenic adenovirus.
"We've completed preliminary experiments. Elderly mice injected with the transgenic adenovirus showed improvement in various functions and a reduction in aging by about 9%."
"9%? That low?"
"Due to immune reactions, non-replicating viruses have a high attrition rate, but excessive dosing can cause severe inflammation. Multiple doses also face immune issues, and the results have not been very promising."
The 30% anti-aging effect observed in vitro dropped to 9% in animal trials, raising doubts about its efficacy in human bodies.
However, this is a common scenario in the medical field. Clinical environments and in vitro experiments are entirely different; every medicine seems miraculous in vitro, but the complexity of the in-body environment is many orders of magnitude higher, often reducing the drug's effectiveness.
"Have you prepared replicating viruses?" Murphy asked next.
Transgenic viruses are viruses nonetheless. Allowing them to replicate uncontrolled in the body might cause unpredictable consequences. Thus, gene therapy typically uses viruses with replication defects, serving as one-time tools with high safety and minimal side effects.
Given the limited efficacy of non-replicating viruses, Murphy considered using replicating viruses for the Seed of Mind experiment.
"They are ready."
Soon, Murphy arrived at the lab.
Since the Seed of Mind was required, the subjects couldn't be mice this time.
They found 40 goblins who had undergone chronic injections of a growth hormone promoter, accelerating their aging with consistent levels of degeneration.
The 40 goblins were divided into four groups, three of which, each containing 12 goblins, were injected with different doses of the virus as experimental groups. The remaining four goblins, not receiving the virus, served as a non-viral control group.
In the three experimental groups, each was further divided into four sub-groups: A, B, C, and D. Murphy cast different Seed of Mind spells on three goblins from sub-groups A, B, and C, while sub-group D received no Seed of Mind, acting as a non-spell control group.
Murphy cast the same Seed of Mind on sub-group A's nine goblins: "Treat aging and then disintegrate."
For sub-group B, the Seed of Mind was: "Maintain the host's healthy state."
For sub-group C, Murphy had a sudden idea and used a communication-enabled Seed of Mind similar to the one used for the werewolf mercenaries, without setting specific content.
Over the next two days, Murphy and his team continuously observed the goblins' condition.
Goblins in the high-dose group all exhibited inflammation, but sub-group A was relatively stable, sub-group B had highly varied effects, and sub-groups C and D were near death, with one in each group already dead.
Low-dose group goblins showed milder symptoms, but no significant reduction in aging levels.
Results in the medium-dose group were better. Sub-group A showed slightly higher inflammation than the low-dose group but remained controlled, with noticeable aging reduction. Sub-group B's effects were similar to the low-dose group, while sub-groups C and D showed higher inflammation and minimal aging reduction.
From sub-group A's condition, the Seed of Mind seemed to aid the virus's therapeutic effect.
However, the extent of the treatment and potential side effects required further observation.
Murphy guessed sub-group B's varied effects might be due to his vague command.
To further verify, Murphy focused on sub-group C.
He used a Seed of Mind without built-in commands for this group, but it could be overwritten through the connection with the caster, theoretically offering high flexibility. However, he hadn't tried this method before and wasn't sure of its feasibility.
Murphy immediately issued a command to one of the sub-group C goblins: "Treat the host's aging."
This command could be compared with sub-group A to test whether the virus's treatment effect was influenced by post-hoc commands, but results would likely take time.
Murphy then issued another command to a different sub-group C goblin: "Escape the cage or die."
Initially, the goblin showed little reaction, but soon it became agitated, shaking the cage frequently. After a few more minutes, the goblin went berserk, desperately trying to escape, even using human language to beg.
Watching this scene, Murphy, though somewhat anticipated, was still shocked.
Undoubtedly, the virus controlled the goblin's behavior. The virus itself couldn't understand his command, but perhaps through the goblin's brain, they comprehended and executed the command through the goblin.
Minutes later, the goblin visibly deteriorated, blood oozing from its nose and mouth. A few minutes later, it died.
Murphy waited a while and then extracted some tissue samples from the goblin's body. Observing its infectivity on animal cells in a culture medium with a tiny amount of growth hormone promoter, he confirmed the virus in the goblin's body had also become inactive.
Under the influence of the Seed of Mind, the viruses not only killed their host, the goblin, but also themselves!
Murphy breathed a sigh of relief. Obedient viruses that can self-destruct are good viruses.
Since the viruses could be assured to self-destruct, their side effects, as long as not too severe or fatal, could be used for trial.
His anxiety since the battle with the shamans eased slightly. Although the maximum 30% anti-aging rate suggested this method might only extend his life temporarily, at least he wouldn't suddenly die.
His mood relaxed considerably, and he became curious about the mechanism of how the Seed of Mind controlled the virus. How did it understand the command to "leave the cage"?
If it could understand this instruction, could it comprehend more complex ones?
"Write a number."
The goblin had no reaction.
Murphy thought for a moment, "Write the number 2."
After a while, the goblin twitched as if struck by madness, shaking uncontrollably, yet managed to draw a crooked "2" on the ground.
Murphy understood, "It's not that the virus understood the command, but that my command was translated into a state it could execute. If my command is too vague and the virus itself lacks the necessary capacity to fulfill it, the command is likely to fail."
In this case, "treating the host's aging" meant the transgenic virus replicated wildly, releasing metabolic products to repair the host's DNA.
Without the vampire genes, the adenovirus wouldn't have anti-aging capabilities, making the command ineffective.
"Write the number 2" was translated into stimulating the goblin's nervous system to perform a specific ground drawing action.
Murphy had an epiphany. Furness Bachman and Omid Abbott once speculated that the Seed of Mind could grant viruses or bacteria intelligence through the host's brain, but this might be a misunderstanding.
These viruses might only become a "hardware" or tool under the control of the Seed of Mind.
They may exhibit seemingly intelligent behavior, but this is merely the Seed of Mind releasing signals they can understand.
If this is true, then aren't these viruses essentially biological nanomachines?
Could they be used to locate and precisely kill cancer cells in the body?
If possible, it could replace CAR-T therapy, suppressing his cancer to a manageable level.
Thus, both his major symptoms: aging and cancer, could be alleviated.
At least, he wouldn't have to worry about dying before getting the Philosopher's Stone.
But how to make viruses recognize and target cancer cells?
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