Chapter 2
Stanford had produced quite a few Nobel laureates. There are two people at this school who are going to win one, even now, so that says it all.
My second year as an undergraduate. 1972.
I went to see a professor who would soon become a world-renowned scholar. The Academy... No, Stanford had plenty of professors like that.
“Hello, Professor.”
This was Paul Berg.
A future Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry and a professor at Stanford Medical School. He would win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his contributions to research on genetic recombination.
He wasn't internationally famous yet, though. The professor furrowed his brow.
“Who are you?”
“Professor, I came here after seeing the future in which you win a Nobel Prize.”
Professor Berg looked incredulous.
“Are you a Mormon? I'm not buying it. A Jew isn't likely to fall for missionary work.”
Apparently, he suspected I was a missionary for some cult.
For reference, Mormons believe America is the Promised Land mentioned in the Bible, and that an American prophet of the Second Coming appeared in the nineteenth century.
Anyway.
I scratched my head. Americans didn't seem to believe facts, even when you told them.
Even if you told someone who was going to win a Nobel Prize that he would.
Scientists are a pessimistic bunch. Jews are even more so, and a Jewish biochemist like this professor was all the more so.
I cleared my throat.
“Oh. I'm not a missionary. I'm a Stanford medical student. I want to do research with you on genetic recombination.”
Professor Berg chuckled.
“You don't have much research experience yet, do you?”
What could I say to persuade him right away? Something that might change his mind in a short time.
If I needed to get the chance to take part in research that would win a Nobel Prize, all in one sentence...
What should I say?
I thought for a moment.
“Einstein once said that anyone who hadn't made a great scientific discovery before turning thirty would never make one in their lifetime.”
“That's harsh. I'm over thirty myself.”
Einstein himself had made a discovery that changed the history of science at twenty-six.
It was only natural he'd say something like that.
I shrugged.
“Anyway, I don't think anyone can be too young to do research.”
“I see.”
Let's get to the point.
“I've read your papers, Professor. I think we could edit the genome of SV40, a tumor-causing virus, using restriction enzymes from Haemophilus bacteria.”
If we could pull this off, we'd advance genetic recombination and cancer research by ten years.
The color drained from the professor's face.
“How do you know that?”
“To explain my thought process, it's something you can figure out by thinking about levels.”
“Levels?”
The professor looked at me seriously now, as if asking what I meant.
“It requires a shift in perspective. In the human genome, DNA-degrading enzymes are used to repair information, but in bacteria, DNA itself functions as a kind of organ and is subject to deliberate variation through the organism's biochemistry...”
Professor Berg stood up.
It was an idea decades ahead of its time. But...
Any scientist discovering this for the first time would understand what I meant right away.
Naturally.
To put it simply, it went like this.
Human genes are too complex to cut with scissors, so humans don't have restriction (制限) enzymes, but bacteria are simple enough to have them.
In other words, bacterial restriction enzymes could be used to edit genes.
The professor changed his attitude in an instant.
“Top of the class for a reason. Come with me.”
“Yes.”
He thought for a moment.
“Using bacterial restriction enzymes in an experiment. I've never seen a student like this. I've seen plenty of geniuses, but that doesn't do you justice.”
“Thank you.”
“So, multicellular organisms have information at a higher level, so their DNA has to be kept as close to the original as possible, whereas in bacteria, DNA itself functions like an organ?”
That's why bacteria could cut or edit their own viruses.
“Yes. I think the key to genetic engineering lies in finding a way to directly manipulate DNA through phenomena at lower levels of information.”
Common examples include reverse transcriptase, used by retroviruses, and CRISPR enzymes, part of the bacterial immune system.
The future Nobel Prize winner looked at me.
“Good... The medical school has an undergraduate research internship program, right? Let's write a paper together.”
Just as I'd hoped.
Doing research with a scientist who would win a Nobel Prize before I graduated! My first step had gone fairly smoothly.
***
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
There was a lot I needed to do to win the Nobel Prize.
The second time around, studying was much easier than I'd expected. There were plenty of things that hadn't been discovered yet, so I didn't have to memorize them.
I was sitting in Stanford's library with a pile of books stacked in front of me. First, I needed to understand the state of academia in the 1970s.
And I had to study for exams, too.
“Hi.”
I looked up from the book I was reading.
My classmate, who had entered the Academy ranked second.
Ellis Harrington. At first glance, she was a stereotypical upper-class white woman. The quintessential face of the West Coast American elite.
“What did you do over break? I didn't travel this time. You can see dolphins if you take a yacht out around this time of year in California, you know? So I went to the family vacation home to take the yacht out, but...”
They just assumed everyone had a yacht at home. I chuckled to myself.
The Imperial Academy was that kind of place.
“I went home too.”
Ellis went on talking about dolphins.
She'd wanted to swim with them, but the weather hadn't been great, so she hadn't really swum—she'd only watched them up close.
Ellis wasn't malicious or strange... I think she was just fascinated by me.
I saw her in the library now and then.
She sat down across from me, twirling her brown hair, then took a book out of her bag.
“What are you studying?”
“Bacterial molecular genetics.”
Ellis furrowed her brow.
“That's complicated stuff...”
I nodded. It was incredibly difficult material, but it was also the subject of research that would soon win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
That's why I had no choice but to study it.
The American medical community was conservative.
Some people looked at me like I was a zoo animal, even if they meant no harm.
Stanford society still thought I was strange. Which was only natural.
I was the only Asian in the department, and I was years younger than my classmates. Most of them came from California's upper class, and our family backgrounds were very different. We differed in many ways.
It wasn't just about race.
An adopted Asian student ranking first in the class was bound to draw everyone's attention...
Some people even resented it.
The only thing I could do was prove myself.
I was unquestionably the top student in the class.
Ellis sat across from me, chattering away. At least, she seemed to be saying nice things.
“Are the classes manageable? I can't understand Professor Berg's class at all...”
“It does give you a headache.”
Paul Berg.
He was a professor who would win a Nobel Prize in a few years. Of course it was hard to understand his class.
The most cutting-edge research. Molecular biology was still a relatively new field at the time.
Stanford's library was noisy.
The sounds of discussion, murmuring, and pages turning filled the library.
Ellis sighed and looked down at her own book. A massive internal medicine textbook.
“Who do you think will be top of the class this semester?”
“Me.”
I answered without hesitation.
“Well, I suppose you'd think that.”
Still, Ellis seemed nowhere near catching up with me yet. She smiled, looking a little bemused.
***
I sipped my coffee and looked at the test tube filled with immunofluorescent dye.
Now that I am admitted to the profession of medicine, I solemnly pledge to dedicate my life to the service of humanity...
Those were the very words I'd sworn in my previous life.
And now.
The most effective way for me in the 1970s to fulfill that oath was to advance medicine itself.
I couldn't see patients until I got my license, after all. I'd need a little patience.
The lab was bustling.
I stared at the test tube containing bacterial DNA-synthesizing enzymes. How many hours had it been?
As I dozed over an open book, one of the research building's custodians looked at me with pity.
“What are you doing? I was about to lock up.”
“I'm serving humanity.”
“You've lost it.”
The research building custodian ran off as soon as he heard me, as if he'd just seen a weirdo.
I was only telling the truth.
Research wasn't easy.
Future knowledge or not, I still had to do the research myself and write papers.
Besides, even though Stanford was a top research institution, it was shabby compared to modern standards. They didn't even have a PCR machine.
Which meant there was plenty to research.
Thanks to Professor Berg's good opinion of me, I was able to participate in major research while keeping up with my studies.
It went both ways, didn't it?
The professor wouldn't have gotten results this quickly without me, either, right? At least, that's what I thought. Time to get moving.