Insulin (Replication 2)

April 2030, Rocket City, Liang Nation

Daphne Braun had been pregnant for several months. Her previous physical discomfort had gradually subsided, and her belly was slightly rounded. Like most first-time mothers, she longed for the happiness of holding her own child.

Michael was busy with work, often flying around the world. But whenever he had time, he would return to Daphne's side, chat with her, and even carefully select light music for her to listen to. Michael said that prenatal education should start early, and listening to music was beneficial for the child.

Among the pieces Michael recommended, Daphne's favorite was the violin concerto, especially the works of composer Kreisler, "Love's Joy" and "Love's Sorrow."

This year was a solar minimum. April in South State was colder than in previous years. In the afternoon, the sun still shone brightly, and the temperature was moderate.

The couple sat on an outdoor bench, the humid, warm air mingling with the dappled sunlight filtering through the palm trees. Cornflowers, unique to South State, were scattered among the grass, emitting a faint fragrance.

Daphne leaned into Michael's arm, stroking her belly, and softly asked him, "Do you hope I have a boy or a girl?"

"Either is fine. If it's a boy, he'll be as smart as me. If it's a girl, she'll be as beautiful as you," Michael said.

Daphne feigned anger and asked Michael, "Are you saying I'm not smart enough?"

"Oh, my dear princess, can't I even chat? I'm just sending blessings to our child. Who dares say you're not smart?" Michael hastily explained.

Daphne was clearly not truly angry. She said as if to herself, "Smart? Where do you think human intelligence comes from? Why are humans spiritual and smarter than other animals?"

"It's truly miraculous. I can't figure out why the human brain, with only about ten watts of bioelectrical energy, can perform such complex calculations and storage so efficiently," Michael continued. "One of my current focuses is replicating the human brain."

Michael Max had been researching artificial intelligence for over a decade. While others piled on mathematical formulas and extended layers of logical judgment, he chose a different path.

Michael firmly believed that the most powerful artificial intelligence was a replication of the human brain. The network of hundreds of millions of neurons in the human brain did not rely on mathematical logic to function. In many cases, the human brain made judgments by recalling situational experiences.

The connection and fusion of computers and the human brain were Michael's main focus and ultimate goal for artificial intelligence.

At the same time, he aimed to use superluminal waves to terraform Mars, heat its core, restart its magnetic field, create new oceans, and an atmosphere with a suitable oxygen content, turning Mars into a second Earth.

Not only that, but Michael also hoped to completely unlock the secrets of the human brain through artificial intelligence technology, allowing human consciousness to break free from the limitations of the physical body and be freely copied and stored in silicon-based hard drives and networks.

Michael's imagination and courage were unparalleled. He "opened up" the skulls of patient volunteers and implanted chips, successfully curing their related illnesses. Later, he upgraded the contact chips to the safer and more universal non-contact Brain-Computer Fusion.

The VESSEL Michael designed for himself was his most successful case. He could already upload some of his memories and experiential scenes to a supercomputer through the VESSEL. When he engaged in Brain-Computer Fusion thinking, his external brain provided him with faster and more accurate "thinking power."

The problem that troubled Michael was that human consciousness was like a vast ocean, and Michael's technology seemed to be able to extract and utilize only a few drops of water. Could human consciousness be fully or nearly fully replicated and uploaded to the cloud?

Michael's team included experts in computer science and artificial intelligence, as well as experts in life sciences and brain science. The latter informed Michael that the human brain's high efficiency and extremely low power consumption were due to its ability to instantly switch between dormant and high-speed operating states for each module.

Biologists told Michael that uploading the human brain's memory functions, computational processing functions, and input-output signal conversion functions to the cloud was almost impossible unless all of the brain's functional modules could be simultaneously activated in an excited state.

There were drugs that could stimulate the brain into an excited state, but most of them were hallucinogens, classified as drugs. Using them on volunteers was not only a serious illegal act but also caused direct harm to their bodies, making it clearly unfeasible.

Was there a substance that could stimulate the brain, make it excited, yet was not a drug and would not cause direct harm to the volunteers' bodies?

Sugar! The body's energy cycle through metabolism could be said to be the metabolism and circulation of various sugars. Michael shared this simple yet interesting conclusion with Daphne, sparking her curiosity.

Daphne asked, "If volunteers are given a large amount of sugar, their brains will become more easily excited. Will there be any side effects? For example, diabetes?"

"See, who dares say you're not smart? This is precisely the problem that troubles me, and that's why my Brain-Computer Fusion experiments are almost at a standstill," Michael replied.

"You could ask Irene for advice. She's both a polymer biologist and one of the world's leading diabetes experts. There's gossip that media mogul Andek married Irene, the diabetes expert, because he himself suffers from severe diabetes."

No sooner said than done, the couple arranged to meet Irene the next day to discuss.

Irene was indeed a top diabetes expert. Diabetes, as it's known, is a disease characterized by the chronic accumulation of glucose in the blood that cannot be properly metabolized.

This disease occurs due to a decrease in the secretion level of a natural hormone in the body, which is the only hormone that promotes the conversion and metabolism of glucose. This hormone is well-known as insulin.

Irene understood the topic that the couple was concerned about and said to Michael, "What a coincidence. After I retired from researching synthetic insulin, I've been exploring new avenues and conducting some interesting research."

"Interesting research? I love doing things like that," Michael said excitedly, his gaze eagerly awaiting Irene's explanation.

"One interesting direction is to start from ingested sugars, that is, to find healthy sugars, like the wild corn I told you about from the Maya village," Irene said.

Michael suddenly realized. He had found it strange when he met Irene in the Maya village a few days ago, wondering why a polymer biologist would go to southern Mexico to study ancient ten-meter-tall wild corn.

"Your research on corn is exactly what I need. I hope you can become a member of our Brain-Computer Fusion Project and share your findings," Michael said. "If we can extract healthy sugar from wild corn, it would be great to allow subjects to supplement a large amount of sugar, excite their brains, and not harm their bodies."

Irene was very interested in Brain-Computer Fusion. She admired and trusted Michael even more, so she happily accepted his invitation.

Daphne asked curiously, "Besides wild corn, are there any other interesting directions for diabetes research?"

"Insulin's function is to metabolize glucose, and glucose provides nutrients to the body in the blood. The more sugar, the more nutrients. When there's too much sugar, insulin cannot metabolize it, leading to diabetes," Irene continued. "Besides the type and amount of sugar intake and insulin levels, there is another factor that affects diabetes."

The intelligent Daphne counted on her fingers, guessing as she counted, "The blood contains glucose, which is metabolized by insulin. If we don't discuss sugar or insulin, the other factor affecting diabetes is the blood itself, right?"

Irene and Michael exchanged glances. Michael smiled mischievously, shrugging his shoulders as if showing off his girlfriend's intelligence.

The image of the Indian boy Bharat and his elderly grandmother Vanita appeared before Irene's eyes. She had analyzed blood samples from the villagers of this indigenous tribe.

Because, according to their customs, they refused to use modern synthetic chemical drugs, the blood flowing in their veins was both unique and magical.

The red blood cells in their blood could carry more glucose and had a higher metabolic efficiency than ordinary people, resulting in a very low incidence of diabetes in this tribe.

Michael greatly admired Irene's work, feeling that her research approach had a certain similarity to his own wild ideas. He exclaimed, "Ancient wild corn, ancient tribal villagers, magical blood. Have you named this type of blood?"

"Primal Blood," Irene replied.

&

Chapter Ending Poem:

Knowing your spirit is inherently unharmed, Song, Song Xiang After illness, I strive to walk, my strength not yet strong. Song, Han Qi Dedicating every inch of my being for a small contribution, Ming, Zhou Mengzhong Iced silk brewed with sugar cane tips. Qing, Bian Yuli