Experts talk about "primary students' awards for cancer research"
Surging News reporter Zhu Xuan Liao Yan
Recently, a primary school student who won a prize for studying cancer-related genes in a primary school in Panlong District, Kunming City, Yunnan Province, got angry. His research "C10orf67 in the function and mechanism of colorectal cancer development and development" won the third prize of the National Youth Science and Technology Innovation Competition.
In response, some netizens commented that primary school students have reached such a high level of research that Chen Moumou should be a child prodigy. Some netizens questioned that the project may have academic fraud, "all parents are paving the way for their children."
On July 13, the official website of the Kunming Institute of Zoology, the Chinese Academy of Sciences issued a statement saying that after preliminary verification, the National Youth Science and Technology Innovation Contest "C10orf67 in the Function and Mechanism of Colorectal Cancer Development and Development" is the son of the researcher of the winning project. The institute has established an investigation team to conduct an in-depth investigation into the matter. Chen Moumou's mother Yang Cuiping is the project leader of "C10orf67 in hypoxic adaptation and the development and function of non-small cell lung cancer." Map of the official website of the National Natural Science Foundation of China
Researchers in related fields told Peng Pao News (www.thepaper.cn) that the research is inconsistent with the ability of elementary school students. Parents doing this actually "devote their children". An oncologist told Peng Mei News, "It's not obvious that such a project can be completed by elementary school students, and high school students may not be able to do it. How is this project awarded? It's amazing!"
Some professors in a college in Beijing believe that primary school students can complete relevant experimental operations according to guidance after training, and students should be encouraged to participate in scientific research. But he pointed out that the key point is "Why should he do this experiment? How to design the experiment? How to group and how to reflect the research goals?" I am afraid that these cannot be answered by elementary school students.
Parents suspected of using research results to "pave the way" for children to participate
The aforementioned work entitled "C10orf67 in the Function and Mechanism of Colorectal Cancer Development" won the third prize of the National Youth Science and Technology Innovation Competition hosted by the Chinese Association of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Science and Technology. Public information shows that part of the project work was carried out at the Kunming Institute of Zoology, the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Some netizens questioned that Mrs. Chen and Mrs. Yang who mentioned “discussing to participate in research work” in the experiment logbook were Chen Yongbin and Yang Cuiping, researchers at the Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the two researchers and the students or relatives involved relationship.
In the early morning of July 13, staff from the relevant departments of the Kunming Institute of Zoology, the Chinese Academy of Sciences once told Peng Mei News that they have paid attention to the aforementioned situation and are checking whether the pupils involved are related to the two researchers of the institute.
According to the Beijing News, several researchers from the Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences confirmed that the award-winning primary school student Chen Moumou is the son of the researcher Chen Yongbin and Yang Cuiping. A researcher said, "They are a family and they must be related to this subject."
Surging News found that Chen Moumou and her parents had similar research directions, and the research once claimed to discover the new gene C10orf67.
According to the official website of the National Youth Science and Technology Innovation Contest, Chen Moumou's project brief claimed that through genetic analysis, a key mutant gene C10orf67 was found in the current period, and its knockout mice were constructed; follow-up through analysis of clinical samples and other follow-up The study found that high expression of this gene in colorectal cancer, knocking down its expression, can significantly inhibit cell proliferation; further research found that this gene can regulate the sensitivity of colorectal cancer cells to chemotherapy drugs.
According to the official website of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, on December 23, 2019, the Kunming Institute of Zoology, the Chinese Academy of Sciences released news that researchers from multiple domestic animals (including Tibetan mastiff, Tibetan pig, Tibetan sheep, Tibetan goat, Tibetan horse, Tibetan cattle, etc.) Among the rapidly evolving genes adapted to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, a new hypoxia pathway gene C10orf67 was identified. Related papers were published online in National Science Review. Researchers Zhang Yaping, Chen Yongbin, and Professor Gou Xiao of Yunnan Agricultural University, and Ma Yuehui, a researcher of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, are co-corresponding authors of the article.
In addition, according to the official website of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, Chen Moumou's mother Yang Cuiping is the project leader of "C10orf67 in hypoxic adaptation and the development of non-small cell lung cancer." The project is supported by the Chinese Academy of Sciences Kunming Institute of Zoology, the approved amount is 550,000 yuan. The project starts and ends from January 2017 to December 2020.
Researcher: The research involved does not match the child's ability
On July 13, an expert engaged in related scientific research told Peng Pai News that he also noticed this incident and thought it was "outrageous." He believes that it is understandable for elementary school students to participate in summer camps or some simple scientific research activities, but it is inconsistent with their ability to participate in complex research similar to the above, and it is also unlikely to be completed. "As far as the topic itself is concerned, this is an innovative topic. It has a certain degree of difficulty in implementation, and it has greatly exceeded the intellectual level of primary school students. At least people who have received professional training can complete relevant research." He said.
He said that elementary school, junior high school and high school are all in the stage of basic education, and there is no professor with professional knowledge. Primary school students have not received relevant professional training, they can carry out amateur innovative research, but this is completely two concepts with professional operation. "Parents can take part in guiding scientific research and take their children. This is normal. But taking the complete results to the competition is too high." He said, "The above-mentioned parents' practices are definitely more harmful than good, and are not honest. , Instilling in the child an incorrect research idea and biasing the child." He believes that if the child wants to enter the research field, he must first teach him to be practical and to be a man before learning. , You can't over-push your child when it's immature. He said that if the mentor has related topics, it is possible for graduate students and researchers to do it together, but the research results cannot be applied to people who do not have the corresponding research capabilities.
A professor at a university in Beijing told Peng Mei News that from the article published in the project, it can be called a domestic mainstream topic, similar to the national natural science fund or the natural fund of provinces and cities. To some extent, the research difficulty of the project belongs to the level of a graduate student; from the perspective of the difficulty of project implementation, he believes that it will not be too difficult. The two experimental methods in it are very conventional methods, as long as there are relevant instruments, After a period of training, it can be mastered.
The professor told Peng Mei News that he believes that pupils can reach the level of doing this experiment after a period of training, because this operation has a corresponding operation manual program.
At the same time, he also said that the key problem is that primary school students cannot have the idea of doing this experiment. "Even if there is no technical problem, why did he do this experiment? How to design the experiment when doing it? How to group and reflect the research goals? How to interpret the experiment results? I am afraid the primary school students cannot answer."
The professor believes that the knowledge background of primary school students may be difficult to support his academic research, so there should be a tutor to guide him, tell him how to do it, and even help him to group. The students only need to match the reagents and put them in the instrument. Just operate. "As long as he is a man with strong hands-on ability and can follow the steps carefully, he can complete the experiment. But as a research, he may have difficulty completing it by himself, because his accumulation of knowledge cannot reach."
For primary school students to participate in scientific research projects, he believes that it should be treated in two. On the one hand, taking this experiment as an example, in terms of professional knowledge and background, elementary school students cannot reach the corresponding level; but on the other hand, the person performing the operation can be elementary school students. In this experiment, there must be an element of parental influence among students, but such a form of primary school students participating in scientific research should not be denied. "Blindingly saying that it is impossible for elementary school students to complete experiments independently, it actually negates the enthusiasm of elementary school students to participate in experimental research, and may return to the teaching path of book dogma. He believes that elementary school students should be encouraged to participate in scientific research.
On the afternoon of the 13th, Zhou Chenyan, a child hematological oncologist and deputy chief physician of the Pediatrics Department of the Sichuan Academy of Medical Sciences and the Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, told Peng Mei News that because we cannot see the entire award process, we can only make inferences based on public information and common sense. As far as the subject itself is concerned, research projects such as "C10orf67's function and mechanism in the development of colorectal cancer" are innovative. But what is doubtful is the age of the researcher on this subject. Such subjects exceed the cognitive level of sixth grade students in elementary school.
Zhou Chenyan believes that primary school student Chen Moushi is not a professional researcher in related fields. Without relevant basic knowledge and a lot of reading literature, how could he inexplicably study the gene C10orf67? A more likely situation is that this is someone else's subject, and someone else did research in this area and took him by the way. During the experiment, he may have completed some experimental operations. But the idea (creative, experimental design) of the whole experiment is not necessarily his. This subject is probably not his research results. How can these be called innovations?
Zhou Chenyan said that in the case of clear experimental steps, some children with strong hands-on ability, as long as someone guides, may complete a specific experimental operation process. The scientific and technological innovation of adolescents, on the one hand, refers to the younger age of researchers; more importantly, on the basis of their accumulation of knowledge, they have innovative performance in some experimental research and technology.