MTL - Into Unscientific-Chapter 1 The 21st century is the century of biology!

  Chapter 1 The 21st century is the century of creatures!

  2022.

  University of Science and Technology of China.

   Westside AED.

  Outside the building, the three words "library" mentioned by Mr. Qi Gong are shining in the sun, and the tenacity and vigor that are integrated into the blood of every HKUST staff are exuded between the lines.

   Meanwhile, in the library.

  A young man is sitting alone in a corner where no one is around, and is writing furiously:

   "It's well known."

  “The 21st century is the century of biology.”

"Probably around 2000, this slogan became popular without knowing it. Computers were actually very popular before, but everyone knows that Nasdaq collapsed at that time, the Internet bubble burst, and biology was even more responsible. important historical mission."

   "These are reflected in a group of high school students, that is, biology has become the major with the highest scores in each school at that time, basically it is either the first or the second."

   "Even in the hot list of major transfers in my sophomore year, biology ranked first."

   "At that time, our major classmates joked that we had given up the opportunity to enter Qingbei to embrace the future of the 21st century."

   "As a result, who would have thought that over the past decade or so, 'the 21st century is the century of biology' has become a common joke among us professionals—not the sentence itself, but our group of biology majors."

   “In today’s words, ‘This is a sad story.’”

  Then the young man paused, as if sensing something, he picked up his phone and pressed the screen.

   As a result, no messages came from the phone.

  The corner of the young man's mouth twitched, he lowered his head and continued writing:

  “Actually, in my opinion, the phrase ‘the 21st century is the century of biology’ is now more and more visible and will become a reality.

  Now the development trend of the biological industry has gradually become clear. With the development of science and technology, many biological fields may make breakthroughs in the future. "

"Of course, excellent talents in the industry can also obtain a double harvest of reputation and economics - there is a good example around me, a senior Teng Xiao graduated with a Ph. If the company can go public, it will be worth over 100 million yuan."

  “In the past ten years, the application of computer, physics, automation and other technologies in biological sciences has not only advanced by leaps and bounds?

   Among other things, look at the diagnostic equipment in the hospital. Compared with ten years ago, how much has it improved? "

  “Ten years ago, biological sequencing was an extremely expensive project that could produce large papers.

now what?

  A decent hospital can do it. "

   "For example, ten years ago, gene mapping was a big project, which was time-consuming and labor-intensive, but now its price is so low that even authors can afford it."

  “Ten years ago, there was a saying in the field of biology:

  Biologists do experiments and analyze data all day long, and computers and mathematicians analyze and interpret data.

   But now?

  If a Ph.D. graduate from the Department of Biology can only do experiments, but doesn’t know a few languages ​​or R, he will be ashamed to say hello to people. "

  “Now 30 years have passed, laymen’s understanding of life sciences is still limited to flowers and plants, farming and fertilizing, chicken, duck and fish meat, watching, smelling, asking and cutting, surgery and injections, guns and PCR... It is still difficult to find a job, and when no one wants it.

  “As everyone knows, the life sciences are not what they used to be.”

   “For example, the big data that became popular around 2012 was driven by the leap in sequencing technology that began in life sciences in 2008.

  In addition, AI, machine learning, genetic algorithm, which one is not brought by life science?

  I started to learn big data analysis from the junior class of HKUST, and I started to get in touch with AI and machine learning in 2011, all of which I learned in the professional courses of the life science major.

  And when did these concepts become popular? — At least three years in the future! "

   Write here.

  The young man's emotions were gradually mobilized, and the handwriting he wrote couldn't help but deepen a bit:

   "Currently, the biggest problem in the entire biosphere is volume."

   "It's like a lottery. The lottery does not require intelligence. Anyone can win. It only needs money and labor, so let's roll."

  “Everyone knows that there are only a few groups of numbers that are likely to win the lottery, so there are often situations where multiple research groups try to draw the same number.”

   "The first one drawn will be the first to take the lead, and then the speed will start. The students will work until 11 o'clock, and they will not rest on weekends;

  Students send the results to the tutor, and the tutor gets up in the middle of the night to review the submission. "

   "I would rather send my hard-earned lottery numbers to junk journals for publication, and be one step faster than my opponent."

   "As a result, professors from prestigious schools and researchers with works of high quality lost all respect because of the dispute over the order of the lottery draw."

  Writing and writing, the young man suddenly came back to his senses:

  This is the material for my doctoral defense, and the second half obviously cannot appear on that occasion.

  So he shook his head, and drew a long horizontal line from the center of the font in this part of the manuscript.

  At the same time, the sound of chairs bumping suddenly came from the desk not far from the young man.

  The young man had lost his train of thought at this time, so he looked up subconsciously.

   It turns out that it is a pair of dogs who have completed their studies. Keke, the sound came when the young couple left their seats.

  The young man suddenly thought of his paper man wife, should he go to see Tifa or Alice tonight?

   Then he came back to his senses, shook his head slightly, and continued to write:

   "Of course, for now, the field of biology may still be a certain distance away from the standard outbreak."

   "What are the conditions for a subject that explodes like a computer?"

   "I think there are three premises:

  1. Low-cost development.

  2. High fault tolerance allows developers to quickly set up projects and iterate.

  3.2C business model. "

  ” Unfortunately, the current bio-related industries do not have this condition.

   “For example, genetically modified crops require extremely high research and development costs—a giant screening machine similar to Monsanto, and the error tolerance rate is low, and it will be a disaster if a single pollen floats out.”

   "For example, the cost of new drug development is high, and the error tolerance rate is also ridiculously low. The FDA has strict requirements due to various internal and external reasons."

  “This has led to the high dependence of biological entrepreneurship on resources and the slow progress, making it difficult to produce outbreaks.”

  After writing this, the young man took a deep breath and concluded:

   "But I think these difficulties will be overcome one day!"

   "I am sure that the 21st century will still be the century of biology!"

   "This is the pursuit of countless pioneers in the field of biological sciences, and it is also my lifelong dream!"

   "Respondent: Xu Yun."

  After writing these contents, the young man stretched his waist slowly.

  Carefully cap the pen and gather the document.

   One last look around.

   After finding that nothing was left behind, the young man walked out of the West End Library with his own things.

  After returning to the small house he rented off-campus, the young man took off his glasses and lay on his back on the bed in the shape of a "too".

  He just stared at the ceiling aimlessly.

   After a while, he shook his head helplessly, with a wry smile on his lips:

   "Zhuo, if it wasn't for cheats, who the **** would know how to learn biology?"

   Seek support for the new book set sail! !

  (end of this chapter)