The "sharp weapon" that captures the code of life can also measure whether the kebab is authentic

Nobel Laureate and American biochemist Kelly Mullis, who invented PCR amplification technology, divided biology into two eras: the pre-PCR era and the post-PCR era, where
was a voice that was deafening.
THE PCR technology, invented by Nobel Laureate and American biochemist Kelly Mullis, is a way to "replicate millions of times" the life code carried by DNA to make a deafening sound and help people capture it one by one.
Not long ago, Mullis's death brought back memories of the difficult years of chasing DNA passwords, and the invention of PCR technology gave people the power to decrypt it, which is why
evaluates the birth of this technology as dividing biology into two eras: the pre-PCR era and the post-PCR era."When I walked up to my silver Domain, I felt very weak. Fred (Mullis's assistant), the empty test bottle, and the dawn of the PCR era can't replace Jenny (Mullis's girlfriend). I feel lonely. Mullis is recorded saying in a speech at the Nobel Prize-winning site.
's innovative spirit flashed in the middle of the night while driving his girlfriend, the artist-like scientist must have found inspiration in his lover. He realized that after deconsocing the DNA double-stranded high temperature into a single chain, the required target fragments could be exponentially multiplied by a quotation, mimicking the complementary amplification process in the body in vitro. After N cycles, 2n times the DNA fragments can be obtained for further analysis.
pcR reaction system in the early
is simple, inefficient, and there are many areas that need to be perfected. Peng Yiancai, a professor at Xi'an Jiaotong University and founder of Tianlong Technology, said that other scientists later isolated the heat-thyroid strains in a hot spring in Yellowstone and discovered heat-resistant DNA polymerases, which greatly improved the experimental efficiency of PCR and further promoted the application and commercial value of PCR technology.
stopwatches, water bath pots, baskets... The PCR operating system that formed the original period is very different from the modern high-end PCR instrument. "It wasn't automatic at all at the time, and manual labor would take a long time to operate." Peng Yen-cai said that the initial PCR reaction did not have an instrument, with a basket equipped with PCR specimen test tube, with hand in different temperatures in the water bath tank in turn, because a set of reactions required reaction system and temperature is not the same, such as high temperature When the chain needs 95 degrees C, the lead "stick" on the DNA chain is 58 degrees C, and the new chain extension needs 72 degrees C, so each stage needs to be replaced with a water bath to maintain the chemical reaction.
the time of the specimen's constant temperature in each water bath is timed with a stopwatch, then moved, plus the specimen open-cover exposure point sample for electrophoresis, so it is difficult to control liquid contamination, movement.
In any case crude and inaccurate, in December 1983, Mullis saw the first PCR fragment of 49bp length after 10 cycles using isotope marking, a "0-1" breakthrough that made the PCR era.this year, the national key research and development program "fluorescent digital gene amplification single molecule detector" project held a launch meeting. In order to solve the current situation that China's high-end scientific instruments are still subject to foreign restrictions, the national key research and development plan has set up a major scientific instruments and equipment development key special projects, from the top level of design to do a good job of China's instruments, to reach a new level, to achieve market competitiveness.
"The first-generation PCR, based on Mullis's findings, can only answer the 'yes or no' question, whether there is a certain piece of DNA, but how many more people want to answer. Peng Ying is the project leader of the national key research and development program, he said, the development of PCR instrument has now experienced 3 generations.
The 1st generation PCR instrument because of the thermostat, the elimination of water bath pot and artificial transfer and other steps, greatly improve efficiency, only need to add enzymes, citients, templates, buffer solutions, etc. can be PCR reaction; Fluorophores and photoreceptors are analyzed in real time and quantitatively according to the intensity of light, and the third generation of digital PCR, the reaction system is then slightly divided, theoretically allowing only a single DNA molecule in each microreactive unit as a template to carry out amplification reaction, to achieve absolute quantitative detection of nucleic acids with ultra-high sensitivity, and to accurately explore the situation of DNA molecules in life.
PCR was invented in 1983, and before Mullis won the Nobel Prize in 1993, Peng had only been involved in the development of China's own PCR instrument since about 1991, leading the team to this day. At the launch of the digital PCR project of the National Key Research and Development Program,
experts also commented that: In the current mainstream of 2 generations of PCR nucleic acid testing products, Peng Yingcai team independently developed products with diversified solutions and high-quality high-reliable data, to become disease diagnosis and detection control equipment, but also widely used in the field of food safety food-based pathogenic bacteria detection and biomedical scientific research. "There are many reasons why China's own molecular diagnostic instruments were once not accepted by the market, but changing people's impressions or prejudices that domestic instruments are not durable or accurate must rely on independent research and development and skill excellence." Peng said.
" during the Ebola outbreak in West Africa in 2014, with the help of the Ministry of Science and Technology, the State Administration of Medicine and the Chinese Foreign Aid Medical Team, we completed clinical studies of 348 suspected cases and detected 166 positive specimens in the affected areas of Sierra Leone. Peng said that China's molecular diagnostic instruments are increasingly emerging on the international battlefield.
in the competition for 3rd generation PCR, digital PCR still has a lot of high technology and difficulties to overcome, And China's innovation is catching up. The Ministry of Science and Technology's national key research and development plan, the project undertaker units put forward requirements, not only to break through the targeted core technology, the formation of key components and samples, but also with advanced, and to achieve a certain market share, to accept the market inspection., there is no mature new technology to replace PCR technology, which simulates the life process in the body in principle, derived from the truth is higher than the truth. "But modern PCR solutions, including reaction system construction and nucleic acid extraction PCR reagent systems, as well as PCR instrument systems that include optical electromechanical, automation, computer, thermal and other disciplines, have achieved continuous transcendence in accuracy, breadth and speed.
beyond the limits of the three dimensions, the application of PCR technology will be expanded. "For example, summer evening you want to eat some barbecue, but also doubt that this kebab is actually duck meat, this identification of the work PCR technology of course can be competent, PCR can detect lamb-related specific gene fragments, but I can't wait to eat kebabs, wait, can you make a breakthrough in speed?" Reducing the time of PCR experiments from hours to minutes opens up new areas of application more widely and, in turn, creates new challenges for scientists, thus deriving new areas of rapid PCR research. Mr Pang said.
accuracy, the application in the medical field "does not allow for the bottom half of the sand", so the pcR application of the initial false positive must be eliminated. With the progress of technology, through the optimization of the reaction system, laboratory design, PCR test before and after quality control, as well as the instrument in the precise and efficient closed tube operation, temperature control system, scientific and reasonable optical system, software system and other aspects of improvement and breakthrough, PCR instruments and related kits can reach the relevant departments of medical institutions access threshold.
according to the introduction, PCR testing means as the representative of molecular diagnosis has been widely used in medical testing, epidemic prevention and control, food safety, inspection and quarantine and forensic identification, the national "13th Five-Year Plan" has also introduced policies, in recent years, the Chinese market has grown at an annual rate of 20%. In the past two years, more and more molecular diagnostic products have been approved by the National Audit Center.
detection of pathogens, tumors, etc., PCR applications are also exploring new areas. Peng Ying-cai introduced, in the high blood pressure "look at the precise diagnosis of human medicine", PCR technology has a new application breakthrough. "Our independent research and development of individualized hypertension drug fluorescent PCR melting curve gene testing reagents, which have been registered and approved by the State Drug Administration, can be used to detect seven gene mutations related to hypertension drugs to guide five categories of hypertension drugs." Peng Yingcai explained that a high blood pressure drug may be different efficacy for different people, PCR testing costs are low, fast reporting, you can find the most appropriate drug for patients.
" PCR detection can now be reported in as little as 1 hour, but in many areas there is a need for a multi-pronged, faster diagnosis. Peng Yingcai said that for high-end equipment for molecular diagnostics, precision, breadth, speed of the limit breakthrough will be the eternal pursuit of independent innovation.