-Talking about the role of mathematics and computers in modern life science research.
The 20th century is the century of physical science, and 2 1 century is the century of life science. The rapid development of life science, especially biotechnology, is not only closely related to human health, agricultural development and living environment, but also will promote the development of other disciplines. The so-called "science today, technology tomorrow, production the day after tomorrow". The basic research of life science is the source of modern biotechnology and the key to scientific and technological innovation.
Modern biotechnology is a leading science and technology discipline. To this end, I really want to know how it is organically related to mathematics, my professional courses, computers and other theories or technologies. Based on this, I have consulted many websites and books in my spare time and gained something. Now on the "gene chip" technology, talk about the following points.
1. Introduction of Gene Chip
Gene chip, also called DNA chip, is a high-tech product developed in the mid-1990s. Gene chips are the size of fingernails, and their substrates are usually processed glass sheets. The substrate surface of each chip can be divided into tens of thousands to millions of cells. A large number of nucleic acid molecules (also called molecular probes) with specific functions and a length of about 20 base sequences can be immobilized in designated cells.
Because the immobilized molecular probes form different probe arrays on the substrate, using the principles of molecular hybridization and parallel processing, gene chips can be used for molecular detection of genetic materials, so they can be used for gene research, forensic identification, disease detection and drug screening. Gene chip technology has incomparable characteristics such as high efficiency, rapidity and multi-parameters, and it is a major innovation and leap in traditional biotechnology such as detection, hybridization, typing and DNA sequencing.
Second, gene chip technology.
Biochip technology was born with the smooth progress of the human genome project in the early 1990s. It integrates many discontinuous and discrete analysis processes in life science research, such as sample preparation, chemical reaction, qualitative and quantitative detection, on a fingernail-sized silicon wafer or glass sheet through miniaturization technologies such as semiconductor lithography in the manufacturing process of integrated circuits, so that these analysis processes are continuous and miniaturized. That is to say, the technology that needs several laboratories and inspection rooms can be made into portable biochemical analyzers with different purposes, so that the biological analysis process is fully automated, the analysis speed is increased by thousands of times, and the required samples and chemical reagents are reduced by thousands of times. It can be predicted that in the near future, the micro analyzer made of it will be widely used in molecular biology, basic medical research, clinical diagnosis and treatment, new drug development, judicial expertise, food hygiene supervision, biological weapons war and other fields.
Biochip technology is one of the most promising DNA analysis technologies at present, and the analysis objects can be nucleic acids, protein, cells and tissues. At present, the diagnosis of diseases by biochip is still in the research stage in the world, and it has been used abroad to observe the expression and mutation of some genetic diseases such as oncogenes and muscular atrophy.
Biochip technology can also be used for treatment. For example, a 4-square-millimeter chip with 400 needles filled with drugs has been developed, which can inject drugs into patients regularly and quantitatively. In addition, scientists are also considering making biochip micropumps that regularly release insulin to treat diabetes and chip pacemakers that can be implanted in the heart. The combination of biochip technology and combinatorial chemistry will open up another valuable application direction, that is, providing super-Qualcomm screening platform technology for new drug research and development, which will surely make a major breakthrough in new drug research and development and evaluation of traditional Chinese medicine.
3. Examples of gene chip application technology
1, gene decoding
At present, the "Human Genome Project" involving scientists from many countries is trying to draw a complete map of human chromosome arrangement at the beginning of 2 1 century. As we all know, chromosome is the carrier of DNA, gene is a fragment that has genetic effect on DNA, and the basic unit of DNA is four bases. Since everyone has 3 billion base pairs, it is undoubtedly a huge project to decipher the base sequence of all DNA. Compared with traditional gene sequencing technology, gene chip can decipher human genome and detect gene mutation thousands of times faster.
The detection speed of gene chip is so fast, mainly because there are thousands of microgels on the gene chip, which can be detected in parallel; At the same time, because the microgel is three-dimensional, it provides a three-dimensional detection platform, which can fix protein and DNA and analyze them.
The United States is studying gene chips, and has developed a "gene chip" that can quickly interpret the genetic code, which makes the speed of interpreting human genes 1000 times higher than the original goal. Fig. 1 shows a gene detection device with an embedded gene chip.
2. Gene diagnosis
By analyzing the human genome with gene chip, we can find out the pathogenic genes. Cancer and diabetes are both diseases caused by genetic defects. Medical and biological researchers will be able to identify mutant genes that eventually lead to cancer and so on in a few seconds. With the help of a small drop of test solution, doctors can predict the curative effect of drugs on patients, diagnose the adverse reactions of drugs during treatment, and identify which bacteria, viruses or other microorganisms patients are infected with on the spot. The diagnosis rate of diabetes will reach more than 50% after 10 years by analyzing genetic genes with gene chip.
In the future, when people have a physical examination, the diagnostic robot with gene chip will draw blood from the subjects, and the results of the physical examination can be displayed on the computer screen in an instant. Using gene diagnosis, medical care will progress from the era of "mass medical care" to the era of "customized medical care" which varies according to individual genes.
3. Gene environmental protection
Gene chips are also promising in environmental protection. Gene chip can effectively detect the pollution caused by microorganisms or organic matter, and can also help researchers find and synthesize natural enzyme genes with detoxification and digestion functions. Once this environmental gene is discovered, researchers will transfer it to ordinary bacteria, and then use this transgenic bacteria to clean up polluted rivers or soil.
4, gene computing
DNA molecules are similar to "computer disks" and have the functions of saving, copying and rewriting information. Straightening spiral DNA molecules will exceed human height, but if folded, it can be reduced to a ball with a diameter of only a few microns. Therefore, DNA molecules are regarded as ultra-high density and large capacity molecular memories.
Gene chip has been improved to express different numbers in different biological States, and can also be used to make biological computers. Bioinformatics enterprises based on gene chips and genetic algorithms will emerge in the future, which can compete with today's computer hardware giants-Intel Corporation and software giants-Microsoft Corporation.
Fourthly, the practical application of gene chip.
Gene chip has extremely important application value in life science, medical research, environmental protection and agriculture. Driven by gene chip, human beings are entering a brand-new era of biological information.
1. In the United States, scientists implanted a computer chip they called biochip into human cells for the first time, thus connecting human cells with computers. This was disclosed by American scientist Boris Rubinski and his colleague Huang Yong in the journal Biomedical Micro Devices in March.
2. The extracellular bread of human body has a layer of cell membrane, which has the function of making specific substances pass through in one direction. For many years, scientists have been looking for ways to get the required substances into the cell membrane by electric shock, but so far, the methods used have sometimes succeeded and sometimes failed. Using the new method developed by Rubinski and Huang Yong, the cell membrane gets signals from the computer, thus allowing some substances to enter the cell. Depending on the specific circumstances, these substances may be, for example, genetic substances used to alter genes, drugs or protein. In this way, these substances can become more effective.
Rubinski and other scientists plan to develop biochips that can send instructions to human tissues such as nerve cells and muscles, which will at least make the drugs people take more effective. Moriro Flary, director of the Center for Biomedical Engineering at Ohio State University, called Rubinski's invention a potential tool for early development of laboratories.
American scientists say they have found a bioengineering chip that can pair human cells with circuits, which can play a key role in medicine and genetic engineering.
This tiny device, thinner than hair, combines healthy human cells with electronic chips and is controlled by a computer. Scientists think they can control the activity of cells.
The computer sends electric pulses to the cell chip, which stimulates the cell membrane pores to open and activates the cells. Scientists hope to mass-produce this kind of cell chip and implant it into human body to replace or correct diseased tissues.
Boris Rubinski, a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of California who led the research, said: "Cell chips also enable scientists to control more accurately during complex gene therapy because they can open cell holes more accurately."
Rubinski also said, "We have introduced the essence of engineering into the field of biology. We can completely introduce DNA, extract protein and inject drugs without affecting other cells around us. "
The appearance of cell chip is related to a long-standing theory that a certain amount of voltage can penetrate the cell membrane.
For many years, scientists have been conducting genetic research on the experiment of bombarding cells with electricity, hoping to introduce new therapies and genetic materials. Researchers hope to eventually produce a cell chip that is compatible with the precise amount of voltage required to activate different body tissues, from muscles to bones to the brain. In that case, thousands of cell chips will be used to treat various diseases.
3. China's first self-developed gene chip with original technology was officially born in the First Military Medical University recently.
According to the relevant person in charge of the First Military Medical University, the gene chip successfully developed by this military medical university is the first application of innovative gene chip amplification technology in China, which took the lead in overcoming the problem of collecting tens of thousands of gene probes quickly and economically faced by mainland counterparts in gene chip research, and skillfully used new technical means to significantly reduce the cost.
At present, the chip has completed the laboratory work and is about to enter the clinical verification stage. If it goes well, the gene chip for clinical diagnosis is expected to be put into mass production soon. But so far, there is no gene chip production for clinical diagnosis in the world.
In the laboratory, these gene chips, which are slightly larger than the thumb cover, are placed on the detector, and immediately criss-crossing red, green and green fluorescent spots appear on the computer screen connected with them, and each fluorescent spot presents a lattice of gene fragments. As long as a drop of blood of the patient is placed on the chip detection card, after molecular hybridization, it is connected to the computer, and the gene changes can be displayed immediately, and the computer can translate the gene language into information that doctors can understand, thus making an accurate diagnosis of the disease.
The successful birth of this chip indicates that the diagnosis of diseases has been upgraded from the level of cells and tissues to the level of genes. Their development and application will show broad prospects in environmental pollution control, animal and plant quarantine, organ transplantation, prenatal diagnosis, drug screening, drug development and so on.
5. Life science has gradually become the focus of IT companies.
The news that the human genome sketch has been completed has opened the door to Alibaba's treasure, and the life science market with gene technology as the core is attracting more and more gold diggers. Recently, the positive actions of information technology (IT) companies that produce shovels for these gold diggers have attracted considerable attention.
1, it takes a lot of data to solve the mystery of genes.
The sketch of the human genome only reads the book of life, but to truly understand it and reveal all the information represented by the genetic code, we must decipher a huge amount of data.
In the famous Sanger Center in Britain, the data about the human genome has reached 22 trillion bytes, which is more than twice the content of the world-leading Library of Congress. According to the center's estimation, in the next two to three years, the amount of data related to the human genome will rise to 50 trillion to 100 trillion bytes.
2. Life Science Company 10% invested in the development of information technology.
In order to solve the huge computing power required for data processing, nearly 10% of the research budget of the world's largest 12 life science companies is currently used for information technology, and this proportion may increase.
According to IBM's estimation, the information technology market related to life sciences will reach 3.5 billion dollars this year and 9 billion dollars in 2003.
3. The market potential is huge.
Some well-known IT companies have turned their attention to this huge potential market. For example, IBM has decided to invest $654.38 billion to develop a supercomputer called "Blue Gene" within five years.
The computing power of "Blue Gene" will be 40 times that of the fastest 40 supercomputers in America. It is mainly used to simulate the process of protein folding into a special shape. Compaq, the world's largest personal computer manufacturer, also covets this "fat meat".
Compaq should cultivate future customers as soon as possible.
Compaq, which has become a major supplier of computer servers in the field of life sciences, recently announced that it will continue to invest 654.38 billion dollars to support emerging biotechnology companies in order to cultivate future customer base.
In fact, IT companies are far more than just staring at these short-term interests. People have realized that bio-economy based on genetic research may become an important part of new economy in the new century.
5. Industry standard setters can enjoy huge economic benefits.
According to past experience, most companies that take the lead in entering the market can become the makers of industry standards, which often means huge economic benefits.
In August this year, German Lion Life Science Company went public. As investors fancy that the company's gene sequence retrieval system (SRS) may become a new industry standard, its share price rose rapidly by 50% in a short time.
6. The government supports genetic research.
IT companies can't enter the field of life sciences without the support of governments in various countries for genetic research. In order to stay ahead of the international competition in the next stage of genome research-analyzing the structure of protein, many countries actively take measures to promote the combination of information industry and biological industry.
For example, not long ago, Japan organized a "Bio-industry Information Research Consortium", in which not only pharmaceutical, food, biological, chemical and other enterprises related to genetic science participated, but also many computer companies.
Abstract: It is recognized by the scientific community that biochip technology will bring a revolution to life science and medical research in the next century. At present, scientists in China are accelerating the development of this new technology, which may quickly and conveniently extract DNA and find genetic features. I believe that the marriage of modern biology and high technology will make great contributions to the development of 2 1 century!