Center for Biophotonics Science and Technology

生物光子学是一门产生和利用光和其他形式的辐射能量的科学，其量子单位是光子，用于可视化、测量、分析和操纵生物材料。该学科致力于利用光子学的高空间分辨率、敏感性和光谱专一性来理解和影响生物结构和/或功能。生物光子学科学与技术中心(CBST)是美国国家科学基金会的科学和技术中心，是一项多学科、多机构的活动，旨在支持以目标为导向的持续努力，以广泛推进生物光子学科学。中心的活动分布在加州大学戴维斯分校、加州大学旧金山分校、加州大学伯克利分校、斯坦福大学和劳伦斯·利弗莫尔国家实验室四所大学校园内。CBST强调跨越智力版图的知识和应用的垂直整合，从创造新的仪器和技术到帮助理解分子机制，再到提供能够创造和开发重要的新生物医学工具的技术。该中心的研究分为四个战略重点领域：1)生物分子机制；2)成像和诊断；3)计算生物光子学；4)生物医学应用。生物分子机制领域集中于与新兴的单分子成像和检测领域相关的实验和工具，这些方法被用于单个项目，以研究与DNA-蛋白质相互作用相关的亚细胞水平的分子机制。成像和诊断学领域的重点是为许多成像方法开发新的仪器，包括超高分辨率光学显微镜、成像组织的非线性光学性质、通过其他不透明组织的光学干涉成像以及通过近红外成像对组织氧合进行成像。计算生物光子学的重点是应用新的模拟代码和超级计算机来支持领域一和领域二的项目，并在总体上增加对组织中的光子传输和与组织的相互作用的理解。生物医学应用领域专注于优化和应用现有技术来解决重大医学问题，包括用于搜索疾病新的光学特征的高光谱显微镜、用于外科应用的新型光激活材料的开发以及用于蛋白质结晶学和活细胞成像的X射线源的利用。教育活动的中心是开发一系列的六个教学模块，或“垫脚石”，将光、生物学和生物光子学的概念带给从幼儿园(第一步，K-3)到研究生和博士后研究(第六步)的学生。“垫脚石”方法的核心概念是，这些单元强调促进科学探究和概念发展的实践科学活动。“垫脚石单元”通过各种机制向社区学校广泛传播，其中包括MESA和4-H青年发展方案。该中心有一个强大的合作计划，以促进与非中心研究人员的接触和参与研究活动。行业合作伙伴联盟(IPC)用于将来自行业的感兴趣的成员与CBST参与者聚集在一起，以进行知识交流、合作研究，并将知识产权和技术诀窍直接转让给商业部门。

Biophotonics is the science of generating and using light and other forms of radiant energy whose quantum unit is the photon for visualization, measurements, analysis, and manipulation of biological materials. The discipline strives to exploit the high spatial resolution, sensitivity, and spectral specificity of photonics to understand and affect biological structure and/or function. The Center for Biophotonics Science and Technology (CBST), an NSF Science and Technology Center, is a multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional activity designed to support a goal-directed, sustained effort to broadly advance the science of biophotonics. Center activities are spread over four university campuses, UC Davis, UC San Francisco, UC Berkeley, and Stanford University, and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The CBST emphasizes vertical integration of knowledge and applications that span the intellectual landscape, from creating new instrumentation and techniques to helping understand molecular mechanisms to providing technology that will enable the creation and development of important new biomedical tools. Research at the Center is divided among four strategic thrust areas: 1) biomolecular mechanisms; 2) imaging and diagnostics; 3) computational biophotonics; and 4) biomedical applications. The area of biomolecular mechanisms concentrates on experiments and tools related to the newly emerging field of single molecule imaging and detection, methodologies that are used in individual projects to investigate on a sub-cellular level molecular mechanisms related to DNA-protein interactions. The area of imaging and diagnostics focuses on the development of new instruments for a number of imaging methodologies, including ultra-high resolution optical microscopy, imaging non-linear optical properties of tissues, optical interference imaging through otherwise opaque tissue, and imaging tissue oxygenation by NIR imaging. Computational biophotonics focuses on the application of new simulation codes and supercomputers to support the projects in areas one and two and, in general, increase the understanding of photonic transport in and interaction with tissue. The area of biomedical applications focuses on optimizing and applying existing technologies to significant medical problems, including hyperspectral microscopy for searching for new optical signatures of disease, development of new, light-activated materials for surgical applications, and the utilization of x-ray sources for protein crystallography and live cell imaging. The centerpiece of the educational activity is the development of a series of six teaching modules, or "stepping stones," that bring the concepts of light, biology, and biophotonics to students from kindergarten (Step One, K-3) through graduate and post-doctoral research (Step Six). Central to the concept of the "stepping stones" approach is that the modules emphasize hands-on science activities promoting scientific inquiry and concept development. The "stepping stones modules" are disseminated widely to schools in the community through various mechanisms, among them the MESA and 4-H Youth Development Program. The Center has a strong, collaborative program for fostering outreach to and participation by non-center researchers in research activities. An Industry Partners Consortium (IPC) is used to bring interested members from industry together with CBST participants for the purpose of knowledge exchange, collaborative research, and the direct transfer of intellectual property and technology know-how to the commercial sector.