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sheffan and his student
reporter Chen Zhuo Chen Yinan "China Youth Daily" (December 30, 2015 11 Edition)
1.5 billions of years ago on this pale blue planet The architect is born. But when someone tries to interfere with the magnet, the honeycomb that they build is turned into a beehive bean curd.
the ugly naked mole rat lives all year round in the dark, without eyesight, but can't escape the control of the earth's magnetic field, and the underground passage is always toward the north and south.
even the bacteria with simple structure will move back and forth under the action of magnetic field.
recently, European scientists also found that when the earth's magnetic field is stable, dogs tend to defecate on the north-south orientation, and even try to avoid pointing to the head and tail.
unfortunately, all those who tried to find out before had become "Lu Chi" in the magnetic field network.
recently, someone has finally found the direction.
Xie Can, a young professor at the school of life sciences at Peking University, announced that a new magnetic receptor protein named MagR was found, and the research was published in nature material.
some people have commented that this is a discovery of "Nobel prize level". This protein "or will reveal the mystery of magnetic magnetism called" biological sixth sense ".
more than a month ago, the celebrated "nature" magazine also sent congratulations.
for scientists, poetry is not enough.
under a magnified 50 thousand times microscope, black or pale yellow MagR is a small stick. Putting a magnet in glassware will turn like a spinning top.
in the field of magnetic field, which is invisible and invisible, the sign with a stick is the first coordinate of Xie Chan. According to his inference, this protein is the compass of biological genes, and it will indicate the direction of organisms according to the change of the earth's magnetic field.
looks simple, but in many cases, the accuracy of the "protein compass" signal is unthinkable.
every spring, when the first rays of sunlight come down, the butterflies of the Gulf of Mexico Valley begin to fly north. The first generation of butterflies flew to the south of the United States to lay eggs, to have children and to die. The second generation that hatched, inherited the predecessor's ambition and continued to fly north to the central part of the United States to lay eggs, bear sons and die. So copied, until the fourth generation, flew directly back to the same Valley in the Gulf of Mexico, and even returned to the same tree that the ancestor had been waiting for.
"this process can be written into poetry, but for scientists, poetry is not enough." In a more than 10 square meter office in Peking University, Xie tsan sipped a cup of coffee and said, "break the sense of beauty and understand the scientific principles." The specimen of the splendid emperor butterfly is placed in a pile of white print materials, which is his favorite decoration.
Xie Cen's hometown is in the Dongting Lake. There is a swallow nest under the eaves of the family. Every year the swallow returns and "never gets lost." He often looks up in his head and writes a composition.
he does not understand why human beings seem to be brilliant, and why they often lose their sense of direction to animals. In the first 3 years of teaching in Peking University, Xie can often distinguish between the southeast and the northwest in the campus. He grabbed the students and asked where the building of the University of science and technology was.
explore the invisible magnetic field. In the
18 century, Franz Masma, a psychiatrist in Austria, suggested that "magnetic fluid in organism" has been regarded as absurd. Later, from the nose of the fish to the beak of the bird, scientists explored one after another animal organ with the help of powerful equipment. Some people used giant LCD screens instead of starry sky to see if birds could identify stars.
sheffan remembered that a group of scientists had published several heavy papers and had to prove that the beak was a magnetic organ, but was refuted by more powerful evidence in a few months, and found it just a misunderstanding.
"whenever an organism with an unknown function is found, people will guess in the magnetic field." Xie Can said, "magnetic induction is of interest to all, and at the same time, it is the most difficult. At the beginning of
research career, Xie can not dabble in this labyrinth. The American advisor woke him up, why didn't he do something else? He simply started looking for the area he was interested in. "Besides, I've been crazy for so many years, and I want to know if I have lost my strength."
no one, no money, no reference, this study means "nine death" means
shican, a cramped office, stacked with layers of material. For 6 years, he spent most of his time here, and the sketches of magnetic receptor protein were also completed here.
the most conspicuous display in the house is the coffee cup in the corner, which is full of 6 layers. Xie Can once took a picture of his cup and sent it to a friend circle: "an article from submission to accept the coffee that needs to be consumed."
the slim scientist remembered that when he first started looking for the legendary magnetic receptor protein in organism, some people thought he was crazy. Because in the biological field at that time, there was no evidence that there was a protein that could directly induce magnetic field.
about why animals can induce magnetic fields, there are two kinds of arguments in the academic world. One thinks that there is a protein known as coloring in animals, which can induce changes in light and form active free radicals. These radicals can sense the changes in the magnetic field and rapidly change the formation into biological navigation. Another theory is that there are magnetite particles in the cell.
in Xie can look, they all have unreasonable place. Can proteins be mysteriously linked to magnetic fields only through light exposure? How do inorganic magnetite particles in the cell send navigation signals to organic organisms?
he couldn't understand it, so he decided to step out a new road.
"if I were God, in order to give animals the ability to sense magnetism, how would I design this protein making machine?" As Xie Can said, he sketches out the sketches designed before the experiment.
a hollow cylinder appeared in his pen. In his original idea, the possible protein should be a rod like structure and magnetic to induce magnetic field change. Since previous studies have confirmed that the latent pigment is related to magnetic induction, the protein can also bind or interact with the latent pigment.
"before 2012, everything was just imagination." This matter is a narrow escape. It is very likely that nothing can be done. " Xie can paused and said, "but I have a deep impression. Imagination is more important than correctness."
project has been started since 2010, but in the first year, Xie can only read, think and spin around. In addition to Rao Yi, who was the dean of the Academy of life sciences at the time of his launch, he had to go to the capital to get a sum of money. It was not until the first draft in 2011 that the first PhD student joined.
carpet search starts at the top. Through computer screening of Drosophila DNA, 14 suspicious genes emerged from 12536 genes. Next, we need to identify "the candidate" with the latent pigment of the known protein structure.
"there is almost no reference. We don't know what results we will get. Even if we have results, we don't know what to mean and do not know how to go next." Xie Can thought back.
to this day, the scientist still remember that day, the lab's gel clearly showed two light and magnetic strips, and his imaginary magnetic receptor, MagR, combined with a photosensitive coloring, was finally verified in reality.
this tiny protein, causing a severe shock to the academic world,
in order to get the protein of this tiny dust, Xie can, 41, feel "old 20 years old".
"the equipment is not ready-made, many are Taobao raw materials and accessories." To test the magnetism of the first discovered MagR protein, even the stone is not touched. The students built a two layer glassware with wooden shelves to let the protein start dancing under the direction of the magnet.
laboratory next door, in the documents and books submerged in the office, Shinan into various ornaments, green ball orchid, Pearl scellfish from the south of the south, and a glass box with a champagne wood skin on the inner wall, which is an unfinished amphibious animal Aquarius.
2012 years ago, Xie can rarely mention this research with anyone, because there are always people who ask, "where is your research outlet, and where is it applied?"
"if you can't use it, what you do is meaningless." Xie Can spoke quickly. "From the student to the tutor, no one has taken curiosity seriously." It's the most useful thing to understand. "
finally, people saw the little dot protein discovered by Xie Chan, causing great shock in academic circles. "When I saw this article, I almost suffocated. It is indeed a creative study." Steven Repot, a professor of Neurobiology at University of Massachusetts, said with appreciation, "the conclusion is inspiring and groundbreaking."
published less than one hour, it has attracted more than 20 international media reports. So far, more than 200 mainstream foreign media such as nature, BBC, Scientific American and British Guardian have been reported and tracked in various languages. It also includes technology websites focusing on electronic products.
"may feel that this biological compass structure can bring some innovations in the field of electronics." Xie Can said with pride.
just a few days ago, he also forwarded a magnet news in a circle of friends and jokingly indicated that the laboratory was ready to open a shop to ease the industry crisis that was not enough for magnets. "How many grams of magnets do you need, sir? There are solid, liquid, and many flavors for you to choose. Do you like butterfly flavors?"
not everyone favors the way that Xie can step out. David Keith, a neuroscientist at the Vienna Institute of molecular pathology, said in an interview with the journal Nature: "it is either a very important paper or a complete mistake. I strongly suspect the latter. "
Keith does not believe that only the ultramicro iron MagR will have magnetic properties. If MagR is a magnetic induction receptor, "I will eat my hat."
"this is normal, not a contradiction between scientists. This time of debate is particularly important in promoting a certain field. " Xie Can doesn't mind at all.
according to the plan, in 2016, Xie tsan will attend the meeting of chairman of the "fierce opposition" Keith, and give a report. In early 2017, Keith would visit the laboratory of Xie can in Peking University.
their betting does not change. Like the master of confrontation, the two men agreed to 10 years. If Xie proved to be right, Keith really ate his hat.
"it's good to make a bet." Xie can smile. "At least people don't think scientists are so boring."