Qiu Sheng.

Height 186, weight 70 kilograms, thick hair, handsome as hell.

USTC biology PhD, scholarship awardee, nearly every boy's dream ultimate template.

But such a seemingly perfect person has an unspeakable hidden drawback:

He has halitosis.

According to Uptodate's statistics.

The prevalence of halitosis domestically is about 30%, meaning nearly 1 in every 3 people suffers from it.

In most cases, we have become accustomed to our own bad breath and therefore don't notice it much.

The causes of bad breath are actually quite simple, essentially stemming from two common factors:

20% attributed to Helicobacter pylori, 80% to microbial metabolism in the oral cavity.

The latter includes a large number of bacteria like Neisseria and Anaerobic Streptococcus as previously mentioned.

In fact.

The types and quantities of bacteria in the human oral cavity are numerous, with commonly known types amounting to about 500-600.

These include pathogenic bacteria, non-pathogenic bacteria, and opportunistic pathogens, among others.

Under normal circumstances.

In every gram of dental plaque from a healthy person, about 10 billion bacteria can be found.

These bacteria, along with saliva secretion, decompose food residues in teeth gaps into organic amines, ammonia, sulfides, etc.

After long-term accumulation, the smell is indeed quite something...

Of course.

There is also a rarer situation:

Where a person's rectum has an issue, causing excremental odors to reflux directly into the mouth.

This situation does exist, but it is classified as a complication of intestinal disease, not the regular concept of halitosis.

"Old Xu, 30% prevalence rate of halitosis!"

In the laboratory.

Qiu Sheng leaned forward with both hands on the table, expression excited and even a bit ferocious:

"Imagine how many people there are nationwide... no, worldwide? If this new microbial species can be used clinically, your company can walk on two legs!"

As a halitosis patient, Qiu Sheng has tried many kinds of treatment methods available on the market.

But whether it's teeth cleaning, mouthwash, or toothpaste costing dozens or even up to a hundred bucks a tube, the effects have been less than ideal.

Not that these are completely ineffective, the key is that their duration is simply too short.

Take Listerine mouthwash for example.

This is perhaps one of the more representative brands in oral disinfection, and objectively speaking, the mouth feels decent after rinsing.

But over time, that familiar odor reappears in the mouth.

So when seeing the experiment report, Qiu Sheng realized the value of this strain:

Like Ci Insect Forest, the discovery of this strain may not win high-level awards.

But it holds unimaginable commercial value!

Compared to Qiu Sheng's excitement, Xu Yun's mood was much calmer, given his experiences from a past life:

"Calm down first, Old Qiu, we're not even halfway there yet."

"You also do scientific research, you should know how difficult it is to go from the lab to a public product."

"Not to mention the challenges in cultivating the strain, then there's the issue of product direction—whether it's toothpaste, medicine, or mouthwash?"

"Different directions mean different positioning and varying difficulties."

"So it's something that requires careful planning, as the saying goes, you can't rush things."

Listening to Xu Yun, Qiu Sheng gradually calmed down.

In fact.

He usually isn't the type to get easily agitated; researchers generally have steady temperaments.

Nevertheless, being a part of the new microbial species' potential audience, he has been plagued by bad breath for far too long, leading to his temporary loss of composure.

After a silent moment, he asked Xu Yun:

"Old Xu, what do you plan to do?"

Xu Yun lifted his gaze slightly, placed his campus card on the table, and pointed to the USTC on it:

"Of course, call in reinforcements!"

........

Half an hour later.

Life Science Building.

Dean's office.

"What? A new type of microorganism?"

Looking at the earnest faces of Xu Yun and Qiu Sheng, Tian Zhigang puzzledly adjusted his black-framed glasses:

"If it's a new eukaryotic species, just submit it to 'Fungal Diversity', why come to me?"

Friends from the past life familiar with microbiology should know.

In the biology community, there are certain protocols for submitting papers on new microbial species.

For instance, papers on bacteria should go to 'IJSEM', short for 'International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology', not to other journals.

Eukaryotic new species go to 'Fungal Diversity', an international journal hosted by the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Kunming Institute of Botany.

It's ranked second among global mycology journals and third among all 188 SCI journals hosted by domestic related academic institutions.

Of course.

If the microorganism is of exceptional value, it could make an appearance in 'PNAS', but such cases are rare and seen only every few years.

USTC and the Kunming Institute are under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, so Xu Yun can directly contact them for submission.

At least in terms of the procedure, there's no need for such a high-profile visit to Tian Zhigang's office for notification.

Seeing Tian Zhigang's puzzled face, Xu Yun couldn't help but turn to look at Qiu Sheng.

Then, he pulled out a report from his body and handed it to Tian Zhigang:

"Professor, please take a look at this first."

Tian Zhigang said nothing, took the report, and started reading:

"New species in the genus Schizosaccharomyces... Width 1.5μm... Oval-shaped...."

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