"Human life is finite. Everyone is born, grows old, falls ill, and dies, but does anyone know why we do?"
At the podium, Professor Xu Xu, who was nearly seventy, explained as his voice echoed through the spacious lecture hall.
"As everyone knows, the basic unit of life is the cell. Every one of us here developed from a tiny fertilized egg cell that divided."
"One became two, two became four, four became eight..."
Below the podium, Chen Chen propped his chin on one hand and spun a gel pen with the other, staring listlessly at the projection screen.
"Cells also age and undergo apoptosis. Newly divided cells continuously replace cells that have undergone apoptosis. That is the secret behind our continued growth."
"However, this division is not limitless."
"In 1965, Professor Hayflick of Stanford University discovered that human cells could not replicate themselves more than fifty-seven times. Every cell would die after replicating fifty-six times."
"It was as if there were a counter inside the cell that determined when it would stop dividing and when a person would grow old..."
"In theory, human cells can divide at most fifty-six times. Based on the cell division cycle, the human maximum lifespan should be around 120 years. This theory is known as..."
"Clatter!"
Just as he was listening with rapt attention, Chen Chen suddenly slipped his finger and sent his gel pen flying. It fell beneath the desk.
Chen Chen immediately bent down and reached toward the floor.
"Hm?"
Just as his head dipped below the desk compartment, a streak of pitch-black light inadvertently entered his field of vision.
Don't ask why light could be black. In that instant when he bent down, Chen Chen had indeed seen a streak of black light.
He instinctively looked over.
It was a long, slender object, pitch-black all over. It was wedged beneath the desk compartment, embedded in a concealed groove.
Thus, after picking up his pen, Chen Chen stretched out his arm again and scraped at that spot.
With a little force, there was a sharp crack, and the black object was successfully pried loose.
"You there, the student crawling under the desk. You answer—"
But just then, the professor's voice suddenly came from the podium.
"Pfft!"
A muffled snicker came from his dormmate and close friend behind him.
Chen Chen hurriedly crawled out from under the desk, his face flushed with embarrassment.
He glanced at the professor, who was still smiling, then lowered his head and looked at the textbook before stammering, "The, the Hayflick Limit?"
"Sit down."
The professor pressed down with one hand, signaling Chen Chen to sit.
The lecture continued.
"At the two ends of DNA is an entity called the Telomere. This structure plays a crucial role in cell division."
"It is responsible for maintaining chromosome integrity. Every time a cell divides, the Telomere becomes slightly shorter. When the Telomere becomes too short to protect the genetic structure, the cell suppresses growth, stops replicating, and enters senescence."
"This is the Hayflick Limit."
As he spoke, the professor turned around and quickly wrote the six characters for "Hayflick Limit" on the blackboard.
After sitting down again, Chen Chen breathed a sigh of relief. While the professor had his back turned to write, he quickly picked up the object in his hand and took a look.
Emmmmm...
That single glance completely extinguished Chen Chen's interest.
The black thing turned out to be nothing more than a USB Drive.
Unlike the USB Drives on the market, this one was far longer than an ordinary USB Drive, measuring a full twelve or thirteen centimeters. It looked like a carbon rod.
Only the USB interface exposed the fact that it was a USB Drive.
Aside from that, the entire USB Drive was seamless and pitch-black. It did not even have a logo or a memory indicator.
Still, since its design was fairly cool, Chen Chen ultimately stuffed the USB Drive into his trouser pocket, planning to study it after returning to the dorm.
At that moment, the professor continued, "With our current level of technology, cells cannot break through the Hayflick Limit. However, we can also bypass this problem through other means..."
As he spoke, the professor once again wrote five characters on the blackboard:
Eternal Hela.
"Everyone will surely wonder: If there were a way to prevent Telomeres from wearing down, could our cells achieve immortality?"
"The answer is yes!"
The professor excitedly added the words "Hela Cell Line" beneath "Eternal Hela."
"The Hela Cell Line is a strain of cells isolated from human cervical cancer tissue in 1951. Its contributor was Henrietta Lacks."
"Researchers discovered that the cells collected from Lacks had not died. Instead, they had begun to grow. Every twenty-four hours, the number of cells doubled."
"They later discovered that the reason these cells did not die was the RT Tumor Virus that caused cervical cancer. The genes of this virus could alter the 'switch' controlling the lifespan of normal cells, allowing them to live forever and proliferate without limit."
"In the years that followed, Hela cells were provided to research institutions throughout the Federation. They helped scientists achieve cell cloning, were used to investigate the effects of nuclear radiation on the human body, and were even sent aboard rockets into space to study cell proliferation under weightlessness..."
"According to medical and biological databases, as of this year, there have been more than 65,000 papers related to Hela cells, while the Hela cells cultivated have exceeded fifty million tons..."
"And that is how the common knowledge known to everyone in later generations came to be: cancer cell lines are 'immortal.' As long as they have a suitable cultivation environment, they can continue dividing indefinitely."
At this point, many of the students below the podium began applauding spontaneously. It was a tribute to that contributor.
"Of course, if we humans were to use this 'switch,' it would be a path to our own destruction!"
The professor abruptly changed the subject and suppressed the applause.
"After all, if the division cycle of the cells in our bodies were disrupted and they failed to age on schedule, they would transform into malignant tumors and threaten our lives!"
"We humans have continued advancing along the road to truth. As early as the clan society period, the average human lifespan was less than twenty years. By the Middle Ages, the average human lifespan had risen to forty years..."
"With the emergence of science, human civilization entered a period of rapid development. In just a few decades, the average lifespan of the people of the Earth Federation had approached eighty years!"
"But is that enough?"
"Even if humanity developed to its utmost potential, we could only reach the 120 years described by the Hayflick Limit—still far from immortality. What should we do?"
After pausing, the professor continued.
"And then, a turning point came..."
"In 2002, this 'switch' was finally discovered. Professor John Sulston of Cambridge University and two others identified a genetic regulatory mechanism called Programmed Cell Death."
The professor once again wrote the words "Programmed Cell Death" on the blackboard and drew a heavy circle around them.
Crack!
Because he had used too much force with his fingers, the chalk snapped in two.
"This discovery shocked the entire medical community, because it established that cell death was a physiological, active form of 'suicide,' like a program mysteriously written in advance!"
The professor spread his arms. "In other words, we believe aging is a natural process, but in reality, it may be a genetic defect! If we can repair this defect, we may be able to defeat aging and achieve immortality!"
A wave of hushed exclamations immediately swept through the lecture hall.
It was as if a brand-new door had opened. Chen Chen's pupils contracted as he repeatedly whispered the two magical words in a voice only he could hear.
"Immortality?"
"Immortality..."
"Therefore, as students specializing in biological sciences, you are the generation with the greatest hope of repairing genetic defects."
The professor's face revealed an expectant smile. "Or perhaps I should put it this way: you are the generation in human history closest to immortality!"
By then, the lecture was also nearing its end.
The silver-haired professor took out a handkerchief, wiped away his sweat, and summarized with both anticipation and a sigh:
"I must say, before the vast sea of truth, we humans still know nothing. Perhaps even the distant dream of immortality is merely the first step in our pursuit of truth..."
"However, no matter what, the future belongs to you..."
"All right, class dismissed!"
Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap...
Thunderous applause immediately rang out below the podium.
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