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What is the origin of life?
What secrets are hidden behind it?
As the basic unit of life, genes contain the code of the evolution of life, and the key to interpreting this code, the gene sequencer, has been monopolized by foreign oligopolies for many years. As a representative of a hard technology enterprise located in Haidian District, Beijing Qi Carbon Technology Co., Ltd. has a world-class interdisciplinary R&D team, and in only five years, it has conquered the most cutting-edge and latest nanopore gene sequencing technology in the field of global gene sequencing, becoming the first enterprise in China to successfully develop a nanopore gene sequencer and launch commercial products. A few days ago, the reporter walked into Beijing Qi Carbon Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Qi Carbon Technology") to understand its uniqueness.
Founded in 2017, Beijing Qi Carbon is a national high-tech enterprise, the company is committed to the independent research and development, manufacturing and application development of nanopore gene sequencers and supporting chips and reagents, and the R&D team covers biochips, protein biochemistry, integrated circuits, artificial intelligence, bioinformatics and other disciplines.
Crack the gene "book of heaven" Master the core technology
"Every living organism has a set of genetic 'heavenly books' in its cells, hiding the secrets of birth, old age, illness and death, and our job is to develop and manufacture a gene sequencer that can crack this life-based book, so that the information of life is within reach." Dr. Hu Geng, co-founder & CEO of Qi Carbon Technology, told reporters.
As the core technology of gene sequencer, the basic principle of nanopore sequencing technology is that under the dual action of electric field force drive and speed control protein, single-stranded nucleic acid molecules pass through nano-sized protein pores, and identify their base arrangement information in real time by capturing the current signal that changes with time during base perforation, so as to realize the sequencing of single-stranded nucleic acid molecules.
"Nanopore gene sequencing technology is the latest sequencing technology to achieve commercialization, compared with other technologies, the main features of nanopore sequencing technology are long read, small and portable, real-time sequencing, etc., with a wide range of application prospects, and is considered to be the most promising technology to achieve the gold standard in the sequencing industry, and will become the mainstream sequencing technology in the future." Dr. Du Pengcheng, a senior application expert of Qi Carbon Technology, told reporters.
At present, gene sequencing technology and related products have been widely used in the field of medical and health, such as non-invasive prenatal screening, genetic disease diagnosis, tumor medication accompanying diagnosis, etc., and also play a vital role in agricultural breeding, judicial criminal investigation, public safety, and even space exploration, and have become the core basic tools for life science research.
Break the overseas monopoly and open the era of localization
Reading the code of life is not a simple matter. The development and manufacturing of gene sequencers involves the integration of multiple high-precision disciplines, and this market has long been monopolized by overseas giants, and the latest generation of sequencing technology is dominated by overseas companies. Gene sequencer is the most critical link in the sequencing industry, and it is also the part with the highest technical barriers in the entire gene sequencing industry. As the most core tool in the field of life sciences, the nanopore gene sequencer has a high degree of sophistication, involving a variety of disciplines, long R&D cycle, and difficult R&D. Globally, the only countries that can mass-produce nanopore gene sequencers are currently the United Kingdom and China.
Now, with the release of QNome-3841, the first self-developed commercial nanopore gene sequencer in China, the gap in the field of new generation gene sequencing technology in mainland China has been filled. As the first commercial nanopore gene sequencer model in mainland China, this instrument adopts the world's most advanced and cutting-edge nanopore sequencing technology, with small and portable, simple operation, direct sequencing and other characteristics, and is more suitable for rich application scenarios, which is very suitable for small laboratories, outdoor and application scenarios with high timeliness, and can achieve immediate sample measurement, without sample preparation, greatly shortening the sequencing time.
Du Pengcheng told reporters: "Taking pathogen detection as an example, the metagenomic pathogen detection solution developed by QNome sequencing platform based on Qi Carbon Technology can quickly and stably detect pathogens, and the time from testing samples to reports can be shortened from more than 12 hours to 6-8 hours, seizing the golden time of saving lives." ”
Standing at the key node of bioinformation security, gene sequencer can be said to be the gateway to ensure national bioinformation security, and Qi Carbon Technology has firmly embarked on the road of independent research and development from the beginning. At present, Qi Carbon Technology has completely independent intellectual property rights in core technologies such as proteins, speed-controlled enzymes, fluid chips, electronic circuits, algorithms, etc., forming a perfect domestic and foreign patent layout, and has formed more than 260 intellectual property achievements, including more than 120 invention patents, comprehensively breaking through the patent blocking of international oligarchs.
Going abroad to lead a new era of gene sequencing
Thanks to the small and portable nanopore sequencer, scientists can take the instrument to space and the community, greatly expanding the application scenarios.
Globally, the golden age of gene sequencing has arrived, and gene technology is becoming the most prominent technology in the field of human science and medical health. "Haidian District has always been a highland of domestic high-tech and a highland of talents, and we also hope to work with partners from all walks of life in Haidian District and all walks of life across the country to jointly promote the rapid development of China's gene sequencing industry from the upstream, and contribute our own strength to 'Healthy China 2025', the development of China's precision medicine and biological industry." Hu Geng told reporters.
In the future, Qi Carbon Technology, a hard technology enterprise growing in and developing in Haidian, will continue to write a new chapter in the corporate mission of "making life information accessible", continue to improve its own technical strength, and constantly overcome the key technologies of the upstream "stuck neck" of gene sequencing, so as to promote the high-quality development of the life science industry and escort the healthy life of mankind.
Haidian enterprise come on!
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Guiding unit: Beijing Haidian District People's Government
Produced by: Beijing Haidian District Rong Media Center
This issue of the video "Qi Carbon Technology: Leading the New Era of Gene Sequencing"
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