On January 13th, students from the 2023 Strong Foundation Class and 2023 Class 1 of the School of Life Sciences at Wuhan University, led by Dean Li Guohong, carried out a series of activities called "Walking Classroom" - visiting Polyseq Biotechnology to learn about nanopore sequencing technology and platforms, standing at the peak of domestic nanopore sequencing, and "talking to genes" together.
Dr. Song Guangtao, Director of Polyseq Biotechnology, introduced the development history of sequencing technology from the "first generation" to the "fourth generation" to the students. Dr. Song stated that gene sequencing is the cornerstone technology of life science research, and every transformation of sequencing technology is accompanied by a change in the direction of life science research. The emergence of nanopore sequencing is disrupting traditional sequencing models with its ultra fast, ultra long, and ultra user-friendly performance. Subsequently, Dr. Song explained to the students the principles of nanopore sequencing, including protein modification, library design, decoding algorithms, chip technology, and other aspects.
After the theoretical explanation, Dr. Lou Jizhong, Chief Scientist of Polyseq Biotechnology, led the students to exchange ideas with Polyseq's frontline R&D team, allowing everyone to truly experience the R&D team's industry university research integration thinking, and introduced the R&D process of Polyseq Biotechnology's nanopore sequencing technology one by one.
The nanopore protein team of Polyseq Biotechnology is built on the years of research accumulation of membrane protein structure biologist and founder researcher Huang Yihua. It has internationally top-notch protein structure analysis, design, functional research, and engineering modification technologies. The nanopore protein team introduced the core role, design, and principles of Polyseq's latest generation of 98% accurate pore proteins to students, and answered the question "What is nanopore.
The enzyme engineering team of Polyseq Biotechnology, founded by biophysicist and founder researcher Lou Jizhong, combines molecular dynamics and protein modification methods to design and prepare various engineered enzymes required for nanopore sequencing, including rate control proteins. The enzyme engineering team introduced Polyseq's 400 nt/s rate control proteins and the functions and properties of various enzymes used for library construction to students, demonstrating the clever process of sequencing "ultra high speed".
The library building reagent team of Polyseq Biotechnology has launched 6 library building sequencing kits in the past year, which is a powerful team dedicated to solving the problem of "how to use". The library building reagent team showed students multiple solutions such as Polyseq's 15 minute rapid library building and rapid barcode library building, allowing them to understand the principles, designs, and functions of nanopore sequencing library building.
The chip technology team of Polyseq Biotechnology comprehensively controls the processing, production, testing, and reuse processes of sequencing chips, and is the "enabler" of all biochemical reaction systems, paving the way for a "more stable" sequencing process. The chip technology team introduced to the students the design principles, usage methods, and reasons for the high throughput and long lifespan of the PolyseqCell chip.
After zero distance contact with the Polyseq nanopore sequencing platform, students have gained an understanding of the basic principles and current development status of nanopore sequencing. They have evaluated nanopore sequencing as an interesting, promising, and potential emerging technology, but it is also a difficult technology that needs to be overcome, applied, and popularized. They expressed their commitment to consolidating their knowledge foundation, keeping up with the forefront of technology, paying attention to application innovation, and helping to build a strong scientific country, closely combining their personal ideals with the destiny of the country.
This "Walking Classroom" series of activities is the first step of Polyseq Biotechnology in the path of scientific research and education. Polyseq will carry out various exchange activities. We would like to thank the teachers and students of the School of Life Sciences at Wuhan University for their trust and support, and welcome all scientific researchers to visit Polyseq!
