"Damn, this worked too? The simulation matched reality?" Lan Ke could hardly believe his eyes. His first reaction was even to wonder whether they had fabricated the results.
They had gone back and altered the data after the virus was detected in July.
But then he reconsidered. The simulation algorithm and conclusions had already been laid out, and the virus would continue evolving. If its future evolution failed to match the mutation sites predicted by the simulation, they would end up utterly disgraced instead.
Levitt was a Nobel Prize winner, and one who had won it years ago. He would not take such a risk just to chase publicity.
The data was updated every month. If academic fraud might not be exposed for ten or twenty years, then some people really would dare to pull it off.
But if the fraud could be verified within two or three months, no matter how bold and unscrupulous someone was, they would not dare do something like that.
"This model can roughly predict COVID mutations and viral mutation sites over the next three years. Experts from pharmaceutical companies can use the mutation sites identified through it to design a Broad-spectrum Vaccine.
"If the vaccine is administered on a large scale—globally and simultaneously—the virus will be eliminated quickly. If only certain regions vaccinate, the virus will still mutate according to my predictions.
"Three years from now, we can update the model with new data and design a new Broad-spectrum Vaccine. With more data after three years, the period for which we can predict mutations will increase to five years or even longer.
"At that point, the effective duration of Broad-spectrum Vaccines designed from the new model and new data will likewise be extended, allowing us to gradually eliminate it."
After reading that, Lan Ke's suspicions of academic fraud diminished even further.
They had given a clear time limit: this method would work for three years, then it would be updated after three years. They had not made sweeping claims that it would remain effective forever.
When the open discussion session began, Lan Ke saw a dense flood of conversation requests. Out of two thousand attendees, fifteen hundred wanted to speak directly with Chen Yuanguang and learn more details.
In all the remote conferences Lan Ke had attended, this was the first time he had seen such a spectacular scene. Conversation requests kept pouring in until ninety-five percent of the participants had submitted one.
"The paper should be published in Science this month. It has already been accepted."
"You can't wait to see the paper itself? No problem. I'll upload it to arXiv after the meeting. My name there is light Chen."
"How did I come up with this technical route? My previous Nature papers involved a great deal of computational biology and simulated protein evolution. This time, I hoped to find a similar approach to solve this problem."
"Would I consider taking a position at Harvard? Haha, I haven't even graduated yet. We can talk about that after I graduate. I still haven't decided where I want to go."
"How can the commonalities between mutation sites be identified precisely? I have some thoughts on that as well, but I'm not particularly skilled in this area. That is the pharmaceutical companies' job. They need to develop a Broad-spectrum Vaccine based on my findings.
"I don't know virology all that well."
"I'm Chinese, from China, and currently pursuing a PhD at MIT. Would I consider returning to China afterward? Of course I would. Would I consider coming to Jiang City University of Science and Technology? Sorry, I'm not considering that for now."
By the end of the meeting, Chen Yuanguang was drenched in sweat. He had talked for a full ten hours, with only a half-hour break in the middle to eat.
The participants displayed an unprecedented level of intense interest.
Lin Jia watched from behind as Chen Yuanguang answered questions one after another. She had the illusion that he was preaching, and pride welled up inside her.
"Did anyone attend MIT's latest COVID-19 seminar today?" Lan Ke asked in the big-name group chat.
"I did. It was incredible. Young people these days are amazing. I'm waiting for him to upload the paper to arXiv so I can take a closer look."
"Does anyone know him? How come I've never heard of someone like this before? He's Chinese too. Which university did he graduate from? Yanjing University? @Lao Cao"
"No. I'm in the School of Biology, and I've never heard of him. I should remember every Yanjing University student from the past few years who went to MIT for a PhD, unless he was the type who took a gap year after undergrad or graduate school."
Once everyone had more or less finished chatting, Dean Shu from Jiang City University slowly sent a message to the group. "He's one of our undergraduates who graduated last year. He only went to MIT for his PhD last year, and I never expected him to produce such major results so quickly. Before this, he had only published a few Nature papers."
"Holy shit, no wonder he said he wouldn't come to Jiang City University of Science and Technology. Did you instill some wrong ideas in him? @Uncle Jiang"
"Lao Wu, don't slander me! Jiang City University and Jiang City University of Science and Technology have been friendly for a hundred years. How could I possibly instill that kind of thinking in students? It's just that if he returns to China to teach, and it's still in Jiang City, then of course he'll consider Jiang City University first."
Dean Shu did not spell it out too clearly. The implication was that Jiang City University got first pick of the good talent, and only after they were done would Jiang City University of Science and Technology get a turn.
Lao Wu was the dean of the School of Biology at Jiang City University of Science and Technology. He was a little annoyed when he saw it, but could not find any grounds to refute it, so he simply vanished from the group chat.
After subtly showing off, Dean Shu was secretly delighted.
"@Uncle Jiang, can you send me his contact information? There are a few things I still don't understand." Lao Cao from Yanjing University tagged him.
"I'd like to get to know him too. Lao Shu, send me his WeChat."
"Me too."
"+1."
Dean Shu had not even been grinning for five minutes before his expression changed. He knew exactly what these old foxes were thinking. They all wanted to poach him. No, I have to play dead.
A few minutes passed. When the group saw that he still had not replied, they immediately ganged up on him.
"Lao Shu, stop playing dead! Just give us a straight answer—will you or won't you?"
"It's not a question of whether he will. Even if he won't, he has to! Going to Jiang City University would be a complete waste of someone this talented!"
"Exactly. Yanjing University's biology program ranks first in the country. When he returns to China after graduating, he should come to Yanjing University."
"Yanjing University? Maybe he doesn't like Yanjing. What if he wants to go to Shenhai instead?"
Seeing them argue over locations, Dean Shu breathed a sigh of relief. "Don't ask me. My answer is that I don't know. I still need to tell Lao Wang not to leak Chen Yuanguang's contact information.
"I need to speak with the university president. Once we've discussed it, I'll make a trip to Boston and get him to sign a contract first. When he graduates, we'll bring him back as a full professor. I'll give you his contact information after the contract is signed."
Before he could relax, however, these old foxes clearly had no intention of giving up just because he had not replied on WeChat. Lao Cao called him directly. Dean Shu's expression darkened and shifted, but in the end, he slid his finger over to answer.
"Hello, Lao Shu. That's not very sporting of you. I only want to have an academic exchange with Yuanguang, but you're guarding against me like I'm a thief. What do you take me for?
"That's really not fair."
Dean Shu's heart skipped a beat. It had only been a few minutes, and they had already found out Chen Yuanguang's name. Then came his disdain—disdain for the other man's claim of wanting an academic exchange. As if I don't know what you're thinking.
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