Academia Sinica's plans to develop a biological database have been given serious consideration by the public. This is a good thing for those of us involved in research, particularly since it gives us the opportunity to hold a rational debate at the beginning of the project.
We hope to introduce it to the public and look forward to receiving comments and ideas.
The study design used in developing this biological database is called a prospective cohort study. This method follows a sample of disease-free individuals -- a cohort -- for a long period of time.
At the beginning of the study, risk factor information is collected, and the cohort is then observed to see whether those who are exposed to these risk factors have a higher risk of developing a disease.
This design provides us with an understanding of the effects on disease of many risk factors in our daily lives.
Taiwan's internationally renowned study on the cause-and-effect relationship between hepatitis B and liver cancer is a successful example of the use of prospective cohort studies.
In the era of genetic medicine, scientists are gradually gaining an understanding of the effect of genes or heredity on disease prevalence, and this has explained why the disease incidence will not be consistent when different people are exposed to the same risk factors.
As a result, scientists want to conduct research directed towards finding the effect of gene and risk factor interaction on disease development. This means that at the beginning of a prospective cohort study, researchers not only measure risk factors relevant to the study, they also collect blood samples.
Based on every person's genetic makeup, which can be examined through his or her biological specimens using bioassay, the researchers can further establish the cause-and-effect relationship between genes/risk factors and disease. Throughout the world, this is the most fundamental theoretical structure adopted when conducting biological database research.
The genetic inheritance of the Taiwanese people is unique, and lifestyles and disease-causing risk factors differ from country to country.
Therefore, we hope to build Taiwan's biological database in order to look into the factors causing common chronic diseases in Taiwan and to understand the impact of the interaction between genetic and environmental factors on such diseases in order to establish effective treatments and preventive strategies to safeguard the health of people in Taiwan.
Because Taiwan's social environment is unique, this major research project will be relevant to the nation's biomedical development and the well-being of all citizens several decades from now.
Colleagues from other fields at Academia Sinica who are participating in the project are therefore undertaking careful planning and implementing the principle of transparency when explaining the project to the public.
Currently, we are on the one hand evaluating the feasibility of different methodologies. On the other hand, because some scholars have raised concerns, we are temporarily postponing the collection of blood plasma samples in the hope of taking a step-by-step approach to build a public consensus.
We hope that every sector in society will be able to discuss the matter in a rational manner, based on facts.
Chen Yuan-tsong is the head of the Institute of Biomedical Sciences at Academia Sinica. Shen Chen-yang is an associate research fellow at the institute.
Translated by Lin Ya-ti
The White House’s decision to take a 9.9 percent stake in Intel Corp is looking like very shrewd business indeed. Since the government bought in at US$20.47 a share last August, the US chipmaker’s surging stock price has delivered the US a US$43 billion return. One of the reasons the investment has so far proved so sound is that the White House has made sure of it. According to The Wall Street Journal, Howard personally pushed deals on Intel’s behalf with some of the most lucrative clients imaginable. They include Nvidia Corp, the company at the heart of the AI
A single photograph can cut through a lot of noise, but it can also be used to misrepresent the truth. At the very least, it can concentrate the mind on something that requires further investigation. On Monday last week, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation CEO Tai Hsia-ling (戴遐齡) and former National Security Council secretary-general King Pu-tsung (金溥聰) held a news conference in which they showed a photograph of former foundation CEO Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑), now Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) deputy chairman. In the image Hsiao is seated next to Xiamen Taiwan Businessmen Association chairman Han Ying-huan (韓螢煥). The two men were holding
I first met Professor Ray Jiing (井迎瑞) as a film and documentary student at Shih Hsin University’s (SHU) Department of Radio Television and Film in 1988. The following year, he went on to become the director of the Chinese Taipei Film Archive — forerunner of the Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute (TFAI). Over his eight-year tenure, Jiing rescued and restored over 200 classic Taiwanese films. In 1997, he established the Graduate Institute of Studies in Documentary and Film Archiving at Tainan National University of the Arts (TNNUA), and I joined the program in his third cohort of students. Beyond a
A recent report concerning a student who is suing his teacher posed the question in its headline: Does failing a student in two subjects constitute bullying? The college student in Chiayi County apparently sought NT$2 million (US$63,603) in state compensation, but a court dismissed the case. The first reaction of many might have been to ask: What has happened to students nowadays? Some say that teachers have lost their authority, while others say students are overindulged. Some even start reminiscing over the days when “whatever the teacher says goes.” However, the real issue might be overlooked if emotional reactions like that are the
RSS