Chapter 57

Chapter 57. Soldiers in the Blood (2)

****

All eyes of the symposium turned to Istina.

“Istina-sensei, why are you here… oh, I see, Istina-sensei was here all along.”

“Hello.”

Istina greeted awkwardly.

“Now that I think about it, didn’t Istina-sensei co-author all these papers? The ones by Professor Asterix, right?”

“Eh, yeah…”

“What does Ms. Istina think about this?”

This is not an easy question. Rather, what exactly am I supposed to think about? Asking outright “what do you think?” – what’s the point?

“What do you mean?”

“This is what I mean. Istina-sensei, what similarities and differences do you see between the process of decay and infection?”

What is he talking about? Istina scratched her head. This was exactly what Professor Asterix demonstrated in front of everyone – the swan-neck flask experiment.

Through microscopic observation of mold and the swan-neck flask experiment, it was proven that microscopic particles cause plague.

Professor Croftler’s stance was clear – he would only believe what has been experimentally verified and published in papers.

Other hardliners in academia probably share similar views. Istina nodded.

“Eh, it’s definitely true that the process of decay and infectious disease are different. Fungal diseases are also rare. But…”

But what?

Istina scratched her head sheepishly.

“The professor said this – disease is like a war between bacteria and the components of the human body. That’s what causes fever and itching symptoms.”

“That makes some sense, but without knowing which specific components, it remains mere speculation-”

Suddenly, something flashed through Istina’s mind – something the professor mentioned briefly at some conference or another.

“White blood cells.”

“Huh?”

“One type of living cell in the blood responds to bacteria. You could say they’re the soldiers of the body, fighting off invaders.”

A brief silence, then laughter filled the lecture hall. Academia is not to be trifled with. Istina bowed her head and sat back down.

“Young lady, you have quite the imagination.”

Professor Croftler declared heartily.

Istina shrank back.

Using the information the professor gave, she thought she could sway the symposium like him.

Guess not. There must be something more important than just knowledge. Of course there is.

The arrogance to stand before dozens without flinching, charisma, the logical ability to not get caught up in others’ arguments…

It was Istina’s defeat.

****

While flipping through papers in the lab, Istina walked in looking dejected. What happened?

She looked like she got beaten up somewhere. Apparently, she got thoroughly crushed at the symposium earlier.

Academia is never an easy place.

One wrong step and you’re shattered beyond recognition. These are professors who’ve been in academia for decades, regardless of whether your claims are right or wrong.

There’s no way Istina’s logic and eloquence could compete. Neither could I probably. The difference being, everything I say is correct.

Anyway, let’s see.

“Why, what did the professors say?”

Istina shook her head gloomily.

“We were exchanging opinions about the microscope, and everyone just mocked me. When I described white blood cells as soldiers protecting the body…”

It’s technically correct, but I doubt people in this world have the concept of cells having life and performing specific functions.

So some professors probably found the soldier metaphor ridiculous.

That’s why you’re upset.

No, Istina.

Sorry to say, but if you haven’t even properly defended a thesis, how can you expect to go to a symposium and not get crushed? It’s laughable.

There’s an order to things in life.

“Hmm…”

-I didn’t actually say that.

Too old-man-like.

“Prove it with skill and that’s all there is to it.”

“Yes…”

We kept postponing it, but since Istina got laughed at because of white blood cells, we should hurry up and publish a paper to settle the controversy, right?

“Istina, do you know what white blood cells are?”

“No. I barely saw them once under the microscope. There aren’t many, so they’re hard to find.”

White blood cells appear white under the microscope. They’re hard to spot and fewer in number compared to red blood cells, which is true.

But there’s a way to find them.

“Istina, I thought deep analysis of blood wasn’t possible here? But someone brought a fan to the lab.”

She looked confused.

You’ll understand soon.

“Is that so?”

“When I spun the fan as fast as it would go, it reached up to 20 revolutions per second.”

The fan from Professor Klaus’ lab. Whatever its mechanism, it spins pretty fast. If we can get something similar…

“Do you know what I’m getting at?”

“No idea.”

“Istina, do you know what centrifugal force is?”

“No.”

What do you actually know?

“We’ll spin the blood. When spun, the components will separate into layers based on density. One of those layers should contain white blood cells.”

“Will that really work as you imagine?”

Of course it will. Why wouldn’t it?

Hospital-grade centrifuges spin at thousands of revolutions per minute, but this fan reaches four digits, so it should be fine.

“We can publish it together with the scurvy paper. One easy, one hard.”

“Okay.”

I looked at Istina again.

“So… all our tasks are set. Go to Professor Klaus and get the fan.”

“How should I ask?”

“Figure it out. Steal it or borrow it.”

Muttering something, Istina left the lab. Another problem solved today.

Ten minutes later.

Istina returned, dragging the fan while groaning. Looks like she succeeded.

“Good job.”

“It was tough to bring it here.”

“So, what do we do now?”

“First, lay the fan flat. Make the blades parallel to the floor.”

“I still don’t understand what we’re doing. Will spinning blood really make the cells line up by type?”

I nodded.

I’ve done this procedure multiple times in my past life. Used the resulting blood packs many times too.

Though I’ve never tried it with a fan.

Istina and I successfully laid the fan flat using books and blankets.

Now we just need to secure the blood sample properly to the fan and separate it. After centrifugation, we’ll place the layer of white blood cells above the red blood cells under the microscope and clearly see the white blood cells.

Maybe we’ll even see them eating bacteria.

“By the way, whose blood are we using?”

“Hmm…”

Isn’t asking graduate students for blood a bit much? We’re not crazy blood mages. I decided to use my own blood.

20 milliliters of my blood filled the vial. I applied a bandage to my arm.

Whirrrrrr-

And that’s that. Anyway, it worked. After some trouble, the fan started spinning with the blood vial secured to it.

Now we just need to wait about 30 minutes.

“Istina, want to grab coffee?”

“How long will it take?”

“About 30 minutes should do.”

****

I carefully detached the blood vial from the fan. Success indeed.

The blood separated into two major layers. Red at the bottom – red blood cells, yellow on top – plasma.

“Look!”

“Holy cow, this is amazing!”

Istina was amazed.

Four-tenths of the bottom layer were red blood cells. Six-tenths plasma. And a thin layer of white blood cells in between. That’s what it looked like to the naked eye.

“Give me the pipette.”

“Yes.”

Between the plasma and red blood cells.

The layer of white blood cells, making up about one percent of the blood, was separated using the pipette. I transferred the separated white blood cells to the microscope.

White blood cells are originally transparent but appear white under the microscope. Luckily, they’re visible enough even without staining.

“Ah, I see it! Come quick!”

“Yes.”

Well, obviously we’d see white blood cells after separating them with a centrifuge. Would staining make their movement more visible?

Still, it’s fortunate that the white blood cells are visible. I moved away from the microscope. Istina quickly adjusted her eye to the eyepiece.

“Wow, I really see them. So these weird-looking cells move and attack bacteria?”

“Yeah. The side effects of that war cause inflammatory responses. Pus, fever, redness, those kinds of things.”

“Whoa… so infections aren’t superficial phenomena either? This is all mechanical – a war between soldiers smaller than grains of sand.”

Exactly.

“I told you, structure and function. Macrophages have a shape that allows them to physically engulf bacteria, so they perform the function of killing bacteria.”

Istina nodded vigorously.

“By the way…”

“Yes?”

“These white blood cells will die soon, so we’ll need to draw blood on the day we want to show them at a symposium or lecture.”

Istina tilted her head. Well… we need to inform academia as soon as possible. Since Istina got laughed at because of me.

Let’s go for revenge.

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