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
Father’s Day, as celebrated around the world, has its roots in the early 20th century US. In 1910, the state of Washington marked the world’s first official Father’s Day. Later, in 1972, then-US president Richard Nixon signed a proclamation establishing the third Sunday of June as a national holiday honoring fathers. Many countries have since followed suit, adopting the same date. In Taiwan, the celebration takes a different form — both in timing and meaning. Taiwan’s Father’s Day falls on Aug. 8, a date chosen not for historical events, but for the beauty of language. In Mandarin, “eight eight” is pronounced
In a recent essay, “How Taiwan Lost Trump,” a former adviser to US President Donald Trump, Christian Whiton, accuses Taiwan of diplomatic incompetence — claiming Taipei failed to reach out to Trump, botched trade negotiations and mishandled its defense posture. Whiton’s narrative overlooks a fundamental truth: Taiwan was never in a position to “win” Trump’s favor in the first place. The playing field was asymmetrical from the outset, dominated by a transactional US president on one side and the looming threat of Chinese coercion on the other. From the outset of his second term, which began in January, Trump reaffirmed his
Having lived through former British prime minister Boris Johnson’s tumultuous and scandal-ridden administration, the last place I had expected to come face-to-face with “Mr Brexit” was in a hotel ballroom in Taipei. Should I have been so surprised? Over the past few years, Taiwan has unfortunately become the destination of choice for washed-up Western politicians to turn up long after their political careers have ended, making grandiose speeches in exchange for extraordinarily large paychecks far exceeding the annual salary of all but the wealthiest of Taiwan’s business tycoons. Taiwan’s pursuit of bygone politicians with little to no influence in their home
Despite calls to the contrary from their respective powerful neighbors, Taiwan and Somaliland continue to expand their relationship, endowing it with important new prospects. Fitting into this bigger picture is the historic Coast Guard Cooperation Agreement signed last month. The common goal is to move the already strong bilateral relationship toward operational cooperation, with significant and tangible mutual benefits to be observed. Essentially, the new agreement commits the parties to a course of conduct that is expressed in three fundamental activities: cooperation, intelligence sharing and technology transfer. This reflects the desire — shared by both nations — to achieve strategic results within
RSS