My Study Chat Group is Full of Real Big Shots

Chapter 66: Chapter 63: Untying Mendel’s Knot

That’s just how the academic world is.

So what if you’re a ”True God” of biology? This world is full of people eager to challenge a god.

Anything that can be questioned will be, and this person was even using statistical data to do it—a well-aimed attack. (This excludes the crank scientists, of course, since they’re the type to casually claim they’ve overthrown evolution or reconstructed the fundamental logic of genetics.)

Li Dong had expected the group chat to erupt into another ”Ragnarok,” just like the famous debates between Einstein and Bohr, with profound theories of biology and statistics flying everywhere.

He was all ready to watch, hoping to find an opportunity in the academic debate to fleece this ”True God” of biology for all he was worth.

But after waiting for a long time, there was no lengthy treatise from Mendel.

Li Dong didn’t know him well, but Mendel was a doer. He wasn’t going to explain how rigorous his experimental process was, nor was he going to refute Fisher’s probabilistic challenge.

Because he hated pointless arguments.

He just posted two sentences in the chat, merely to state his position.

[Gregor John Mendel]: I did not falsify my data.

[Gregor John Mendel]: To verify the universality of my findings, I have spent the last decade repeatedly conducting hybridization experiments on the Alpine Willow Chrysanthemum. It’s just...

His message trailed off there.

Faced with Fisher’s data-backed challenge, Mendel had no hard evidence to refute him.

His hybridization experiments with the Alpine Willow Chrysanthemum had consistently failed to reproduce the perfect 3:1 segregation ratio from his pea studies. He couldn’t even get basic trait segregation to occur!

He simply couldn’t obtain the perfect 3:1 segregation ratio from his pea experiments!

He was still struggling in a mire of self-doubt, so how could he possibly prove his findings to anyone else?

So he chose the path most in line with his character.

Shut up and get back to experimenting.

Li Dong sat at his desk, lost in thought.

’Alpine Willow Chrysanthemum, huh?’

’Mendel is clearly stumped by this Alpine Willow Chrysanthemum. He can’t produce the follow-up evidence he needs to prove his critics wrong!’

’If I can help Mendel figure out why the Alpine Willow Chrysanthemum doesn’t follow the 3:1 ratio and solve the greatest puzzle of his later years...’

Li Dong couldn’t help but gulp. He had a feeling that if he managed to pull this off, the reward would be...

’But... what’s the secret behind the Alpine Willow Chrysanthemum?’

Li Dong immediately opened his browser and searched for ”reason for Mendel’s Mountain Daisy failure.”

Amid a pile of popular science articles, one term immediately jumped out at Li Dong: apomixis!

’The ovules of the Alpine Willow Chrysanthemum can develop directly into a complete embryo and seed without meiosis or fertilization?’

’Isn’t that just a clone of the mother plant? The offspring would have the exact same genotype, so of course there wouldn’t be any trait segregation!’

Li Dong was about to copy and paste this conclusion into the chat to show off, but then he sensed something wasn’t quite right.

’No... if I just throw the term ”apomixis” at him, Mendel will never be fully convinced. He’ll definitely ask about the underlying mechanism. Is there experimental data to back it up...’

Li Dong started digging deeper, searching through international academic databases.

A few minutes later, he found a paper published in the top-tier international journal *Nature Genetics*.

’A team from the Netherlands cloned the HpPAR Gene, the key gene regulating parthenogenesis in the Hairy Mountain Willow Chrysanthemum...’

Li Dong stared at the paper, deep in thought.

’Something’s still not right!’

’The material the Dutch team studied was the medicinal Hairy Mountain Willow Chrysanthemum! In modern botanical classification, that plant was long ago reclassified into its own genus!’

’But the Alpine Willow Chrysanthemum that Mendel grew belongs to the True Mountain Chrysanthemum genus!’

The two aren’t even in the same genus. It’s like the difference between humans and chimpanzees.

Li Dong continued searching Chinese and international databases for ”Alpine Willow Chrysanthemum” and ”HpPAR Gene,” but the result...

...was nothing. A complete blank.

’Could it be...’ Li Dong gasped.

’So, everyone confirmed its apomixis on a cellular level ages ago, but to this day, no one has studied the specific Alpine Willow Chrysanthemum that Mendel himself used. No one has figured out the key gene that regulates its parthenogenesis. The core mechanism at the molecular level is a complete mystery.’

Li Dong kept thinking.

’If I just pass off the gene from the Hairy Mountain Willow Chrysanthemum studied by the Dutch team, it would not only be scientifically dishonest, but it wouldn’t truly resolve Mendel’s deep-seated doubts.’

’Looks like I’ll have to find that unknown gene in the Alpine Willow Chrysanthemum myself...’

This was a daunting task, but it was also Li Dong’s first step onto the path of scientific research.

Just then...

CLICK.

The sound of a key turning in the lock came from outside the door.

”Seriously, can’t your factory just spend the money and buy some software? Trying to remember several thousand different parts by heart is too much trouble and leaves way too much room for error!”

His mom’s complaining voice drifted from the living room, followed by a sigh from his uncle, Li Yang.

”Sigh...”

Li Qin said as she changed her shoes.

”Don’t refuse this time. Xiaodong earned some money from his physics competition, so he can pay for his own tutoring. I’ll withdraw my money tomorrow and lend it to you. You can pay me back when your cash flow improves.”

Li Dong, chopsticks in hand, poked his head out of his bedroom, his eyes meeting the brother and sister who had just walked in.

’So Mom wasn’t working overtime at the warehouse tonight. She went to Uncle’s hardware factory to help with the books again.’

Li Qin froze for a second when she saw Li Dong.

”Huh? Xiaodong? What are you doing home?”

Li Dong temporarily pushed all thoughts of gene sequencing the Alpine Willow Chrysanthemum to the back of his mind.

’Well, the man of the hour has arrived.’

Watching his mom and uncle bicker over a software fee of just over ten thousand yuan, he decided that today was the day he would finally, openly, and justifiably show off in this house!

He cleared his throat twice, drawing the attention of his uncle and mother.

”Mom, don’t worry about it.”

”I’ll help Uncle solve his factory’s software problem.”

Li Qin’s brow furrowed the moment she heard that.

”You’ll help?”

Li Qin, thinking her son was about to offer up his prize money from the competition, immediately cut in.

”I know you won twenty thousand yuan from that competition in Rongcheng, but after buying me a phone and then getting a computer, you’ve probably only got a little over ten thousand left, right?”

Li Qin slipped into her classic worried-mother lecture mode.

”And now you’re at Sixth Middle School.”

”Your physics and math grades are good, but what if you can’t keep up with the pace in your other classes at a place like Sixth Middle School?”

”You need to save that money for tutoring.”

Seeing his mother’s meticulous calculations, Li Dong decided to stop beating around the bush.

”Mom, who says I only have a little over ten thousand?”

He said, enunciating every word.

”I earned a million.”

”Honey, even a hundred isn’t enough... Wait, what did you say? How much?” Li Qin didn’t quite catch it at first.

”One million.”

Li Dong thought for a moment, then decided to be more precise.

”Well, not exactly a million. After taxes, it was only 800,000.”