How Synthetic Biology Data Is Created | Fast FAQts with Tiffany Callahan Part 1/3

[00:00:09]Hi, I'm Tiffany Callahan. [music] I'm a staff machine learning researcher at Sandbox AQ, and today I'm going [music] to explain how synthetic data is created. Inside every cell are genes, which are recipes [music] stored in DNA.

[00:00:22]When a cell wants to use a gene, it makes copies [music] of the recipe called mRNA messages. These messages guide the cell to build proteins, which are the working parts. So, when we say gene expression, we mean how many of those mRNA messages [music] for a gene are present in the cell right now. A lot of messages means the gene is on high.

[00:00:42]Few messages mean it's low or off.

[00:00:45]Measuring gene expression gives us a snapshot [music] of which genes are turned up or down, and therefore, what the cell is doing at that moment.

[00:00:53]>> [music] >> But, real lab experiments to measure this are slow, expensive, and sometimes impossible.

[00:00:59]That's why we make synthetic [music] data, or computer-made versions that imitate biology, so we can safely explore lots of what-if scenarios [music] quickly.

[00:01:08]If you liked this explanation, be sure to subscribe to Sandbox AQ's YouTube channel for more [music] videos like this.