What Is Bio Research?
Bio Research is an effort to develop new technologies and products by applying the knowledge gained from biology, the study of diverse organisms (including bacteria, viruses, etc.) and cells.
The Field of Biotechnology
Bio-related technology is applied in a variety of fields.
1. Pharmaceuticals
Traditionally, it was chemical compounds created through chemical reactions that treated the human body. However, since these compounds are foreign substances, they are actively decomposed and eliminated by the body, so the effective period of the ingredients is short. On the other hand, antibody drugs, a product of biotechnology, utilize proteins that also exist in the body, so their effectiveness is said to be long-lasting.
2. Agriculture
In the field of agriculture, chemically synthesized pesticides have long been utilized. However, these pesticides have adverse effects not only on pests but also on humans. It has been discovered that a compound produced by certain microorganisms is effective only against pests. Since it is derived from microorganisms, it is naturally decomposed and therefore gentle to the human body, and is called bio pesticide.
3. Construction
In the field of architecture, self-healing concrete has been developed in which special microorganisms are sealed inside. This concrete has the function of repairing cracks in the concrete by forming calcium carbonate crystals with bacteria mixed in beforehand.
4. Energy
As petroleum resources are being depleted, mankind is seeking new sources of energy. Efforts are underway to use the power of microorganisms to issue thinned wood and other materials that are scheduled to be discarded to produce combustible gas, which can be used to generate electricity.
Main Types of Equipment Used in Bio Research
1. Culture Equipment (CO2 Incubator)
In bio research, microorganisms such as yeast and E. coli, as well as human and animal cells, are grown and used. In order to culture cells, it is necessary to grow them at a temperature and pH close to the environment in which they originally existed.
For example, for human cells, 37 °C and pH 7.0 (about neutral), which is close to that of the body, are desirable. Many culture devices are called CO2 incubators because they use CO2 concentration to adjust the pH of the culture medium.
2. Culture Vessel
A culture vessel is necessary to hold the liquid containing cells because direct placement of the liquid containing cells in the above culture device leads to bacterial growth called contamination. There are various types of culture vessels, such as glass petri dishes, shakers that supply oxygen by rotating the petri dishes or flasks containing the culture medium.
3. Micromanipulator
Culturing cells requires detailed work, so we work with micromanipulators that can suck out small amounts of liquid with high precision. They come in a variety of sizes ranging from 1 μL to 5,000 μL.
4. Pipette Tips
Since it is necessary to keep the micromanipulators clean in order to culture cells, the pipette tips attached to the micromanipulators are disposed of each time. The disposable aspirator is called a pipette tip.
5. PCR
In bio research, it is necessary to analyze the genes of cells and increase the number of genes to be incorporated into cells. The PCR method is a method to amplify such genes by applying the replication function of naturally occurring genes. 6.
6. Ultrasonic Homogenizer
In order to analyze the contents of a cell, it is necessary to crush the cell once. The equipment used to crush the cells is an ultrasonic homogenizer. Since the contents of the cells cannot be destroyed even if the cells are crushed, this method is commonly used to crush the cells without heating water.
7. ELISA Kit
ELISA is a technique to analyze what kind of proteins cells are secreting. ELISA kits contain plates with antibodies and antibodies with fluorescent substances necessary for this technique.