Genes are still a mystery

• The doctoral student's work involves analysing data on a large scale, as it is collected in various units around the world.
• Bartosz Czech: - When I delved into the study programme and the opportunities that bioinformatics offers, I decided to take a risk. After all, both biology and computer science have accompanied me in life so far.

Bartosz Czech, a fourth-year PhD student at the UPWr Doctoral School and a bioinformatics graduate, is professionally involved in analysing data from cancer patients derived, among other things, from whole-genome and transcriptome sequencing using next-generation sequencing techniques. The company 7N, for which he works, is an IT consulting company and Bartosz, as a bioinformatician and computational biologist, works for clients in the pharmaceutical industry.

– I mainly deal with the analysis of next-generation sequencing data, which comes mostly from cancer patients. Both DNA mutation analysis and gene expression studies in patients are involved. This is, let's say, the bio side of my work, but there is also an IT side. It also involves software engineering. For example, right now we are writing an application that will be used for automated analysis of biomedical data – says Bartosz Czech, emphasising that the data analysis is aimed at enabling gene therapy for patients – so it's basically all about personalised medicine.

Gene therapy uses genetic material to treat or prevent certain diseases. Although it’s not yet widely available, it’s seen as one of the future developments in medicine. Gene therapy is an experimental treatment method involving the introduction of genetic material (DNA or RNA) into cells to produce a specific therapeutic effect – compensating for a gene deficiency or gene malfunction.

Gene therapy is used to combat or prevent inherited diseases such as spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), refractory cancers, and viral infections for which no other cure has yet been invented.

The concept of gene therapy is to fix a genetic problem at its source. Scientists try to correct the abnormality by introducing a new gene into the body to help fight the disease, replacing the mutated gene that causes the disease with a healthy copy, or deactivating the gene that is malfunctioning.

Remotely, yet internationally

Although Bartosz works from home, as his company is international, he has access to a variety of data sources, not just from Poland. He is therefore able to analyse data on a larger scale, as it is collected in various units around the world.

– What I love about my job is that I can work from anywhere. All I need is a computer and the internet, and I'm just a few clicks away from a huge database. This flexibility is very important to me. At the same time, I think the best and most interesting feature of my job is the lack of monotony. Every day brings new challenges and chances to discover something amazing - there are still a lot of secrets that genes hide – says the doctoral student, emphasising that he is currently working hard to complete his PhD while also working in his profession. – I have to admit that it is not the easiest thing to do. It requires a lot of dedication, but now that I'm on the last leg of the journey, I can see that it was worth it. In my field, work and science go hand in hand.

Bioinformatics? I'll give it a go

– I've liked computer science since I was a kid. I always thought I would choose a profession related to it in the future, because I was interested in computers and new technologies. Admittedly, I didn't know much about programming at the time, but computers and new technologies were my hobby. I didn't like biology until middle school. Thanks to my brilliant biology teacher, I fell in love with genetics. That was the first moment I thought I could tie my future with biology. So I chose a biochemistry profile at secondary school – says Bartosz Czech, adding that at the same time computer science was somewhat on the back burner. However, when it came time to choose his studies, bioinformatics caught his eye, although he had previously thought about chemical technology or biotechnology.

– At the time, I didn't know what bioinformatics actually was. It was a new course at UPWr and there weren't many reviews or information available online, so I could only guess. When I delved into the study programme and the opportunities this major offered, I decided to take a chance. After all, both biology and computer science had accompanied me in life so far. Although at the time I didn't know of any company that specialised in bioinformatics but I thought I’d risk it anyway – I figured it would pay off for me in the future, since it had to be something new, a gap in the job market. Today, I don't regret that choice – I can't imagine doing any other job – concludes the doctoral student.

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