Chen Xinjie pushed the door open and walked in gracefully, bringing with her a fragrant breeze.
She placed the teacup in front of Luo Yuan and whispered into his ear, "Mayor, there are still 10 minutes left before the meeting starts."
In the past two years, not only had technology developed, but there had also been some changes in the personnel in the city government. Some of them were removed from their positions due to corruption or they could not keep up with the times. At the same time, some of them were promoted.
His former secretary, Cheng Guanghui, was transferred to a new position as the director of the Industry Bureau. The position of secretary was taken up by Chen Xinjie.
Of course, to Cheng Guanghui, such a promotion might not be a happy thing. While he could take charge of an area, it also meant that he would be removed from the core.
In fact, Luo Yuan did not have anything against Cheng Guanghui, nor did he have any inhumane thoughts. It was just a normal organizational transfer.
Usually, the secretaries of the leaders would not stay in the office for more than three years before they would be transferred. On one hand, it was to not hinder the future of the subordinates. On the other hand, it was to prevent the power of the leaders from being stolen.
After all, as his secretary, she was his spokesperson and mouthpiece. Every action of hers represented his will, or at least in the eyes of others. Especially in this era where power was concentrated, the power and influence of the secretary was even greater than the other members of the standing committee.
Undoubtedly, it was not normal!
The main reason why he chose Chen Xinjie as his secretary was that he knew her very well. She did not have a strong desire for power and she was very principled. Moreover, compared to the people that Luo Yuan was not familiar with, he trusted the people around him more.
Luo Yuan was no exception in this aspect.
Luo Yuan looked at the time and said, "It's still early. Let me finish this pile of documents first."
Chen Xinjie did not disturb him and left very soon. Luo Yuan finished the documents in front of him, straightened his clothes and walked out of the office. Chen Xinjie from the secretariat picked up the documents and followed him.
While they were walking, Chen Xinjie whispered, "Is the fertility rate of humans so low now?"
"It has been like this since the apocalypse. Although the antidote virus did not cause most of the humans to mutate, there were some minor changes. The difference between humans now is more than 10 times that of humans before the apocalypse. This has seriously affected the fertility rate." Luo Yuan said in a serious tone.
In order to spread the word about the Glassians' evil deeds, the antidote virus that caused the mutation of living things on earth had been made known to the public. Chen Xinjie had heard of it before and was not unfamiliar with it.
The two of them chatted for a while and soon arrived at the conference room. When the guard at the door saw the two of them enter, he immediately opened the door to the conference room.
This meeting was not a high-level meeting, but a policy seminar. Other than the high-level leaders, the participants were mostly well-known scientists and professors.
Without wasting any time, the meeting started as soon as Luo Yuan came in.
"This is the latest statistics on the newborns in all the major hospitals over the past two years. Up until now, only 3,320 people have been born. This birth rate is terrifyingly low, and it is completely unsustainable for the race. If we don't take any measures, at most 500 years, the human race will eventually go extinct! I believe the detailed information has already been sent to all of you. You should have already read through it. If you have any countermeasures, feel free to voice out. Also, please share your thoughts on human cloning, "Luo Yuan said.
Chen Xinjie, who was sitting at the corner, quickly recorded the minutes of the meeting and looked at Luo Yuan from time to time. To her, Luo Yuan was at his most charming at this moment.
"Dear mayor and all the leaders, I am against cloning. With our current technology, it is not difficult to achieve cloning. However, simply increasing the population will not improve the birth rate. Unless humans give up on natural reproduction and rely on cloning to maintain the survival of the race. However, this will have a huge impact on the current human society. The social model of the previous family unit will collapse, and the society will be in chaos. I think that in order to solve this low birth rate phenomenon, we should research on specialized drugs and plan for it slowly. This is the long-term solution. "A social science professor from the university with a head full of white hair stood up and said in a serious tone.
Luo Yuan frowned as he did not expect the first person to speak would be against cloning.
"I think this old professor is too conservative. Every time society advances, there will be an impact on the society. The matriarchal society, the feudal society, and the small family era before the apocalypse are proof of this.
The development of productivity will naturally impact the original society. This is inevitable and unavoidable. Now that there are not many humans left, and space is not a safe place. I think it is inappropriate to consider the impact of cloning on society before the crisis is completely resolved. "A scientist stood up and objected.
He was quite young, looking less than thirty years old, but in today's era, scientists like him were almost everywhere. However, being young also meant that it was easy to accept new things. Compared to those conservative, old-school scholars, he was undoubtedly more radical.
Luo Yuan did not comment on that. Cloning was the best way to solve the population problem and the effect was immediate. However, there were always serious side effects. Even during the era of the Reconstruction Area, when humans were under great pressure to survive, cloning was still kept a secret and was not made public.
Now that the pressure to survive had temporarily disappeared, if the public found out about human cloning, there would be a huge uproar and a huge controversy. Although he could implement it forcefully, his reputation among the people would fall. Therefore, even though Luo Yuan had the idea of cloning, he had to be careful.
"I agree with part of the old professor's opinion. Of course, I am not against human cloning, but I am against cloning without a plan. I think it is time for humans to rewrite the human genetic plan!" Director Wu stood up. Due to the artificial synthesis of wisdom elixir, he was once the most authoritative person in the field of genetics. Unfortunately, there were no results even after two years and he was almost marginalized.
"Of course, this is not like the previous genetic sequencing. This is to understand the functions of different genomes and rewrite the complete functional map of the genomes. We need to redefine the genetic standard of humans and remove the genes that are affected by the antidote virus that hinders reproduction and some of the genetic defects that were left during the process of evolution. By then, we can achieve eugenics when the eggs are fertilized …"
The old man from before thought that Director Wu was supporting his opinion. However, he did not expect the more he listened to him, the more he thought about it. This opinion was even more radical than the previous one. He could not accept it at all. Before he could finish his sentence, he stood up and angrily interrupted, "Ridiculous! Is this still a human? This is an industrial product from a factory! This is ridiculous!"
"As a genetic researcher, in my eyes, there is not much difference between humans and industrial products." Director Wu immediately retorted, "Life is not that sacred. Evolution can also be interfered with. The development of technology is for the benefit of humans. Since we have better technology, why don't we use it to improve ourselves? Better humans, longer lifespans, this will be another driving force for the development of human civilization! "
The hall suddenly became noisy. Everyone was either whispering to each other or arguing softly. As time passed, the hall became more and more lively.
"Please maintain the discipline of the hall!" Luo Yuan had to remind them. If they continued to argue like this, the conservatives and the radicals might start fighting. Of course, as a young man, he was more inclined to the radicals' point of view. Compared to the pessimistic conservatives, the radicals undoubtedly represented the vitality of human civilization.
However, if it was too radical, most people would also not be able to accept it. Being in this position, he had to balance the views of both sides and come up with a safe plan.
Luo Yuan thought for a while and said, "The discussion is intense, but I think cloning and natural reproduction are not contradictory. We can't give up eating for fear of choking because of the negative effects of cloning. Many couples want to have a child now. Perhaps we can provide fertilized eggs to those who need it."
"I agree with the mayor!" Bi Jianping who was next to him immediately said, "As long as the publicity is done well, there will be a lot of demand in this area. For example, 'Give birth to a child for the future of mankind!' "
...
Of course, Luo Yuan's proposal was passed without a doubt. However, it did not mean that it could be implemented immediately. There were still many things to be done. First, the problem of the cloned and the cloned people looking alike was the biggest concern of mankind. If this problem was not solved, it would seriously affect the implementation of the plan.
However, this was not a problem. Nobody would have thought that he was the real authority in the field of human genetics. He had almost single-handedly compiled the functional map of the human genome which included tens of thousands of evolved human genes. His strong body and the clones of different genders at home were the best answer.
In addition to that, with the help of the Glassian's experimental equipment, mankind already had the ability to directly edit the genes on a microscopic level. It was estimated that in another year or two, all the conditions would be ripe.
Moreover, the proposal that Luo Yuan had proposed was only a temporary measure. When mankind began to produce cloned children and gradually accepted the existence of clones, the time for large-scale cloning would be ripe.
After the meeting ended, he asked the genetic scientists to stay and continued with the meeting.
In the afternoon, a large research institute named "Human Genome Optimization Project" was established. Over the next few days, through the administrative order, more and more researchers were transferred to this research institute.
With the reference of the functional map of the human genome that Luo Yuan had personally compiled and the allocation of the wisdom elixir, the Human Genome Optimization Project seemed to have grown a pair of wings and was developing at an unbelievable speed.
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