Surgery Godfather
Chapter 868 - 771: An Old Friend’s Steak

Chapter 868: Chapter 771: An Old Friend’s Steak

Although Jeff did not understand what the paper was actually about, the strong recommendation from Manstein convinced him that these articles must be groundbreaking.

He didn’t want to share the honor with Manstein, and moreover, Manstein already had plenty of accolades and wouldn’t care about missing just a little more.

Back then, Brin Bull had a discerning eye. A short paper of only two pages—about the DNA double helix structure model—became the most famous article in the history of "Nature", and Brin Bull’s name was etched in history because of it.

At that time, Brin Bull did not eschew peer review, but his way of doing it was unique; he had his own method of judgement.

The paper on the DNA double helix structure model, recommended by Bragg, the director of the Cavendish Physics Laboratory and Nobel Prize laureate, was proof enough of the paper’s value. Brin Bull immediately decided that while the paper’s content might be hypothetical, it would mark the beginning of an era, and thus he did not hesitate to expedite the publication of this "hypothesis".

Now, Manstein flew across the English Channel from Germany for just these four papers, and though Dr. Jeff only vaguely understood the concept of "microscopic dissection" mentioned in them, it did not prevent him from using his editorial power to expedite their publication.

That’s how it was with "Nature": the editor’s brain decided everything!

With a history spanning over 150 years, "Nature’s" review process had never failed.

----

Having dealt with "Nature", Manstein did not linger, immediately setting off for Massachusetts in the United States—he was determined not to let a single paper by Yang Ping go unpublished.

By then, Manstein didn’t know the specifics of the five papers Yang Ping had submitted to the "Cell" Journal, only that he had sent five to them.

Manstein was full of energy and, with his leather document bag, he slept a bit on the plane, and upon arrival in Massachusetts, Ruben Kyle, the editor-in-chief of "Cell", personally picked him up from the airport.

Ruben Kyle was a geneticist, a Doctor from Harvard University, and a member of the United States Academy of Sciences; he was an outstanding editor.

Manstein had won the Nobel Prize twice. He was a scholar who commanded respect from everyone in academia, and there was hardly any top medical journal editor who did not know him. Both times his Nobel-winning work was published in "Cell".

When it came to personal relationships, Ruben Kyle of "Cell" had the deepest connection with Manstein.

The plane was delayed, and by the time it landed, it was late night; Ruben Kyle had been waiting at the airport for a full two hours.

Over the phone, Ruben Kyle only knew Manstein was rushing over for urgent matters, not the specifics. Perhaps it was a breakthrough in head transplants involving some ethical issues, making it inappropriate to discuss over the phone, lest it give rise to problems, which is why he hurried to meet.

If that was indeed the case, it implied Manstein had made a breakthrough in nerve repair, and thus, he might make history by winning the Nobel Prize in Medicine for the third time—a historic miracle.

"My old friend, you should take it easy; there’s no need to rush like this," said Ruben Kyle as he warmly embraced Manstein.

"No, some things can wait until next year, but some can’t wait until tomorrow. No need to go back to your headquarters; let’s find a place to sit down, I need something to eat and a cup of coffee," Manstein’s stomach was already growling.

"The usual place? You know it’s very quiet there, convenient for talking."

Ruben Kyle could almost conclude that Manstein had indeed made a breakthrough in nerve repair.

Two old friends got in the car, Ruben Kyle’s vehicle entered a rather secluded part of the suburbs and arrived at a cafe owned by his old friend. He parked the car and led Manstein straight to a private room on the second floor—whenever Manstein visited the United States, he and Ruben Kyle would catch up here.

The two settled down, and steaming coffee was served, followed by steak, sausages, and bread.

"Old friend, your expression has betrayed you. Has your experiment made progress? Have you achieved a breakthrough in nerve repair? If that’s the case, then the experiments with monkeys must have succeeded as well. Using monkeys for experiments surely faces substantial ethical pressure," said Ruben Kyle excitedly.

After wolfing down his food, Manstein shook his head, "Not that fast. I have other business in the United States. This Chinese name has submitted five papers to your journal. I want you to publish them as quickly as possible—by any means necessary, and quickly! You know what I mean."

In academia, sometimes every second counts. If someone else is researching the same topic and making the same progress, the one to publish first will go down in history, and the later publications will naturally be obscured—such is the harsh reality.

After speaking, Manstein took out a card with Yang Ping’s name in Pinyin and the English name of Sanbo Hospital on it.

Ruben Kyle took the card, furrowing his brow slightly. He vaguely remembered the articles and was unsure whether they could be published. After several rounds of discussion, the articles were temporarily withheld.

Because the topic of the articles was very novel, one could say it opened up a brand-new field and proposed a line of thought that had never been suggested before. However, this topic was merely a hypothesis at this point, lacking experimental data for support.

"I’ve seen these five papers at the editorial board’s discussion meeting. They are about different levels and aspects of the same theme. The general idea is that human cells contain certain three-dimensional guiding gene fragments. These fragments can direct the precise spatial construction of cells, ultimately forming a complete organ. From a fertilized egg to a human body, the dividing cells rely on this type of gene as the architect to build the three-dimensional structure of the human body. Currently, this is just a hypothesis, but the author says that experimental data supporting it will be available soon. This hypothesis is imaginative, but it lacks experimental support," Ruben Kyle remembered the articles quite vividly.

"What about the opinions of the expert reviewers?" Manstein continued to ask as he ordered two more steaks.

Ruben Kyle shook his head, "The expert reviewers unanimously considered it baseless speculation and recommended against publishing it. Our editorial board’s opinion aligned with theirs. Moreover, the author had no prior achievements in this field, and the laboratory he worked at was not famed either. After several discussions, we still felt publishing was inappropriate, but I haven’t rejected the paper outright—I need to think about it."

"The fact that you’re hesitating and haven’t directly rejected it shows you’re a smart man, fitting the honors you’ve received," Manstein remarked, having finished off two more steaks before taking a break.

He paused and continued:

"Actually, I think these papers are more suitable for ’Nature.’ The structure of the DNA double helix back in the day was a similar hypothesis, where the author confidently stated it would match with experimental data. Brin Bull didn’t overlook it because it was just a hypothesis—he decided on his own to publish it directly. After a tiresome journey, crossing the ocean, I’m merely here to tell you a little secret—that young Chinese Professor Yang Ping has already published four papers in ’Science,’ and ’Nature’ is about to publish four more. If your ’Cell’ doesn’t publish these five papers in time, they might well be scooped up by ’Nature’ and ’Science,’ who are eagerly waiting for the meat to fall from your mouth. The number of Nobel Prize-worthy papers published by the big three journals has been dwindling. Of course, the existence of a journal has nothing to do with the Nobel Prize, but one can’t ignore the possibility that some unseen index may have started to decline," Manstein said, sipping his hot coffee to dispel the dampness he had caught from London.

"Is this the purpose of your trip?" Ruben Kyle asked incredulously, finding it hard to believe that this genius professor had come to the United States for this reason alone.

Manstein nodded in affirmation, "Exactly, old friend. Your steak is excellent; I like it! For this steak, the effort is never in vain for me."

"There’s truly nothing else?" Ruben Kyle asked, suspicious.

Manstein packed up his leather document bag and said lazily:

"I’ve finished what I came to do. I think I should buy the next flight back to Germany. I’m very busy. Give it some thought—I hope you seize this opportunity. Not necessarily to get ahead but at least not to fall behind."

"Are you leaving now?"

Ruben Kyle knew his old friend was eccentric, but he didn’t expect him to leave just after sitting down for a while.

"Take me to the airport. I need to buy the next flight. I can sleep at the airport while waiting for the plane. My advice to you—better start soon. Lewis and Jeff are waiting for me to add more to their plate, but this is what I’m leaving for you. No one else should think of extending their neck to snatch it away, and not for anything else—just because your steak suits my taste perfectly."

Ruben Kyle thought his old friend was joking and didn’t expect him to actually be leaving now.

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