I See through Everything

He had discovered that no matter how he adjusted the genes, the rejection reaction between the transgenic kapok tree and the durian tree could not be completely eliminated. The only way to do so would be to sacrifice some of the transgenic kapok tree’s functions.

And sacrificing some of the transgenic kapok tree’s functions obviously ran counter to Jiang Miao’s purpose for researching it in the first place.

Besides, this minor rejection reaction wasn’t an unsolvable problem.

Take the transgenic kapok tree in his hand, for instance. The consequence of the rejection reaction was a roughly 32% decrease in photosynthesis at the point of contact between the kapok cells and the durian cells.

The thing was, the cells at the graft site rarely participate in photosynthesis, which meant there was essentially no side effect.

He named this strain of transgenic kapok tree "Sea King." The name implied it would accept all comers, was full of vigor, and could play multiple fields at once.

Jiang Miao had endowed the genetic sequence of the Sea King transgenic kapok tree with a wide variety of functions.

These functions could be summarized into four systems:

The Immune Grafting System.

The High-Efficiency Accumulation System.

The Self-Sterilization System.

The Component Filtration System.

The core function of the Immune Grafting System was to reduce post-grafting rejection and increase the success rate of the graft.

The genetic fragments of the High-Efficiency Accumulation System focused on several functions: enhancing the photosynthetic efficiency of the leaves, increasing energy and nutrient reserves, reducing water evaporation from the leaves, maintaining an evergreen state in winter, efficiently recovering nutrients from fallen leaves, and forming special nutrient-storing bulges on the trunk.

Jiang Miao had calculated the energy and nutrient accumulation efficiency of the "Sea King." Compared to a conventional durian tree, it was about twice as efficient.

This meant that durian scions grafted onto "Sea King" rootstock could bear fruit the very next year. Moreover, the fruit yield would increase significantly—while not quite double, a 1.5 to 1.7-fold increase was achievable.

The genes of the Self-Sterilization System were designed to prevent the unauthorized spread of saplings and also to maintain control over the durian growers.

Jiang Miao redesigned the genes of the Self-Sterilization System. Not only would the transgenic kapok tree be unable to bear fruit, but it would also enter a one-month period of suspended animation each year. This genetic component was derived from the "Nine Lives Resurrection Grass" and had been secondarily edited.

If it wasn’t irrigated with a special chemical solution during this period of suspended animation, the transgenic kapok tree would go from apparent death to actual death.

This method ensured that the transgenic kapok trees remained under control.

Furthermore, Jiang Miao had another trick up his sleeve: the transgenic kapok tree had a maximum lifespan of only about 10 years. Once that time was up, they would automatically die, necessitating the replacement of the transgenic kapok tree rootstock.

Finally, there was the Component Filtration System. The genetic fragments in this system were designed to prevent special compounds produced by the transgenic and beautiful kapok trees from "contaminating" the durians.

Therefore, the Component Filtration System was designed to have the transgenic kapok tree absorb any special compounds that might affect the quality of the durian.

These were the four genetic systems that constituted the "Sea King" transgenic kapok tree.

As Jiang Miao completed his final observations, he knew the Sea King transgenic kapok tree was ready for large-scale tissue culture propagation.

Because the transgenic kapok tree possessed rapid-growth genes, it only needed to be propagated from young shoots via tissue culture, with each generation of saplings taking only about a month.

Under optimal growing conditions, a transgenic kapok sapling could grow about two centimeters a day, reaching a height of around 1.8 meters in three months.

A 1.8-meter-tall Sea King transgenic kapok tree was ready for its first graft. Its trunk would be grafted onto a beautiful kapok tree rootstock, and the wound would heal in about a month, allowing the two to merge into one.

After just three more months, the Sea King transgenic kapok tree would grow to about 4 meters, stop growing upward, and begin to grow laterally. At this point, it could be used as a rootstock for grafting on durian scions.

The entire cycle involved two months for sapling cultivation, one month for healing, three months for growth, and another month for healing. Six months after that, it could flower and bear fruit.

In total, this initial preparation time was 13 months. Afterward, the trees would flower every January, and the fruit would ripen for harvest in July, August, and September.

While instructing Zhang Chengdong to lead a team to propagate the Sea King transgenic kapok saplings, Jiang Miao also took Ke Yong and Li Zixuan to the area behind the Yandun Mountain Feed Factory.

Behind the Yandun Mountain Feed Factory was a chain of barren mountains that Hailufeng Company had contracted.

Several excavators, bulldozers, and dump trucks were at work on the mountainside. Felled trees were piled at the foot of the mountain, and stones were stacked into earthen dams, forming four levels of terrace-like fields.

At the foot of the mountain ran an 8-meter-wide gravel road.

At the summit, a row of steel towers had been erected with concrete and rebar. This was a cable car system for transporting materials up and down the mountain.

Jiang Miao stood on the mountain. Below him, more than a hundred mu of mountain terraces had already been reshaped. The humus, shrubs, and weeds scraped from the mountain’s surface had been pulverized and spread back onto the terraces to enrich the soil.

Moreover, specific types of soil and minerals had been added to turn the earth of these terraces into the ideal environment for the beautiful kapok trees.

A dozen or so middle-aged farm workers were planting the beautiful kapok trees.

They were being planted at a standard density of 15 trees per mu.