China in Africa

Scientists from Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica (SIMM) of Chinese Academy of Sciences discovered a role of the metabolic enzyme phosphoglycerate mutase 1 (PGAM1) in maintaining genomic stability, and found that PGAM1 inhibitors have the potential to expand the therapeutic benefits of Olaparib (Lynparza), an FDA-approved drug for treatment ovarian cancer, to a wider range of cancer types such as triple-negative breast cancer.

CAS news release, February 22, 2017

The ordered arrangement in antifreeze-proteins of the hydrophobic and hydrophilic functional groups protruding in the ice-binding phase facilitates the formation of ice like water, which provides the driving force for binding to the ice surface and inhibits the growth of ice crystal. Researchers from CAS Institute of Chemistry and CAS Institute of Applied Physics in Shanghai showed that the unique structure of graphene oxide (GO) also inhibited the growth and recrystallization of ice crystal, and shaped them into a hexagon. When 0.01% of GO was used for the cryopreservation of horse sperm, the motility of sperm increased from 24.3% to 71.3%. 

CAS news release, February 22, 2017

The IODP program will involve 33 scientists, 26 from China, others from the US, France and other nations. The scientists will explore the lithosphere extension during the continental breakup, by drilling four sites to a depth of 3,000 to 4,000 meters in the northern area of the South China Sea.

CAS news release, February 22, 2017

The jury consisting of the “973” Program Advisory Group selected the following out of 278 research programs:
• Tumor immunotherapy based on cholesterol mechanism
• Elucidating the key molecular mechanism of RNA splicing (Tsinghua U., Yigong SHI)
• Sperm RNA as a memory carrier for intergenerational inheritance, e. g., obesity (CAS Institute of Animal Research, Qi ZHOU)
• A non-human primate autism model
• Embryonic development of signal pathway epigenetic regulation
• Co-based electrocatalyst for reduction of CO2 under ambient pressure (CAS University of Science and Technology of China, Yi XIE and Yongfu SUN)
• New catalyst for improved production of olefins from coal (CAS DICP, Yadong LI)
• A stable and controllable single-molecule electronic switch (Peking U., Xuefeng GUO)
• Molecular genetic mechanism of heterosis of rice traits related to yield (CAS SIBS, Bin HAN and Xuehui HUANG)
• Nuclear quantum effect of water (Peking University, Enge WANG and Ying JIANG)

CAS Bio news release, February 21, 2017

According to the NOVA institute, 45 % of the 2,4 million tons of biopolymers globally produced were manufactured in China, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Thailand and Taiwan. PLA and PA polyamide will show the strongest future growth, but remain at 25 % of global share, whereas for PET, Asia’s share will stay around 59 %.

China Bio news release, February 21, 2016

Phase I of the new incubation park has a total area of ​​600,000 square meters and is expected to be completed before the end of 2017. It will contain appropriate energy facilities, animal housing, cold chains, sewage plants and other supporting facilities. At present, 208 projects are negotiated and 43 have been signed. The perspective for 2035 is to achieve an output value of more than 500 billion Yuan, have settled more than 30,000 enterprises, gathered 200,000 people and have constructed an international bio-industry transfer hub.

China Bio news release, February 21, 2016

The NNSF, China’s agency for funding fundamental research, has selected the 10 major achievements in 2016, out of 41,184 funded projects with a financial volume of about 25 billion Yuan.
• Single molecule NMR (CAS China University of Science and Technology, Jiangfeng DU)
• Steady-state magnetic confinement for fusion research (CAS Hefei Institute of Physical Science)
• Coal gasification directly to olefins (CAS DICP)
• Syngas directly to olefins (CAS Shanghai Institute of High Technology)
• 3D structure of splicing body (Tsinghua U.)
• Local plasma phase control theory, “breaking the diffraction limit” (CAS Institute of Optoelectronics, Xiangang LUO)
• Digital coding and field programmable metamaterials (Southeast University, Tiejun CUI)
• Artificial control of virus replication technology, “virus into a vaccine” (Peking University, Demin ZHOU, Lihe ZHANG)
• Efficient transformation of deep and ultra-deep oil and gas reservoirs by fracturing and acidification (Southwest Petroleum University, Jianchun GUO)
• Unconventional emergency response management theory and technology

China’s scientific publications now share 15 % of global publications, and 55 % of them are funded by the NNSF.

China Bio news release, February 20, 2017

The cooperation is between Renji Hospital, associated to Shanghai Jiaotong University, and Heidelberg University, is supported by China’s National Natural Science Foundation and DFG.

China Bio news release, February 18, 2016

It will be entirely constructed from parts made in China. A prototype is expected for early 2018, and Tianhe-3 will be fully operational in 2020. It will be able to analyze smog distribution on a national level, simulate earthquakes and epidemic outbreaks.

CAS news release, February 20, 2017

According to project leader Yongsheng HU, the design is based on copper and iron-based oxide as anode, anthracite-based soft carbon as cathode, and presently reaches an energy density of 100 Wh/kg. This is less than a lithium-ion battery, but twice the energy density of lead-acid batteries. Cycle numbers have reached more than 500 times, better than lead-acid batteries, with an energy conversion efficiency of up to 90% and good low temperature performance (-20 ℃ discharge capacity is 86% of room discharge capacity). Material cost is about 40% lower than for lithium-ion batteries. The project group aims at 5000 cycle numbers, following the existing lithium-ion battery production processes and equipment, without a separate stove. It is expected that in future sodium-ion batteries can gradually replace lead-acid batteries and be used in low-speed electric vehicles, as a complementary solution to lithium-ion batteries.

CAS news release, February 17, 2017

A group around Zhengyan WU from CAS Hebei Institute of Physics has shown that antibiotic residues in infusion bottles at concentrations of 50 mg L-1 were functionally destroyed with an irradiation dose of 30 kGy at pH 9.0. FTIR and HPLC-MS analyses illustrated that the degradation products mainly consisted of inorganic ions and alkanes.

CAS news release, February 16, 2017

As a core, Shijian 13 will be lifted on a Long March 3B carrier rocket from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan province in April, 2017. The satellite weighs 4.6 metric tons and will stay for 15 years in a geostationary orbit about 36,000 kilometers above Earth. It features a Ka-band broadband communications system capable of transmitting 20 gigabytes of data per second, making it China’s most powerful communications satellite. According to plans, a constellation of advanced communications satellites will be established by 2025, allowing people to use high-quality Wi-Fi service anywhere and anytime, including on bullet trains and planes.

CAS news release, February 16, 2017

The group of Zongbao ZHAO at CAS Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics has engineered a nucleotide dehydrogenase to accept chemically synthesized nicotinamide cytosine dinucleotide (NCD) as preferred cofactor. An E. coli strain that overexpressed Pdh*, NCD-linked malic enzyme (Mae*) and nucleotide transporter (Ndt) could use phosphite as the electron source to generate NCDH that drove reductive carboxylation of pyruvate for improved malate production from glucose.

CAS news release, February 16, 2017

According to a MOST announcement on February 8, the following five venture capital funds will be guided by MOST to promote the capitalization of a modern pharmaceutical industry:
• Beijing Guoli Ruihua Strategic Emerging Industry Investment Fund
• SDIC (Shanghai) Venture Capital Management Limited
• SDIC (Beijing – Tianjin – Hebei) Venture Capital Management Limited
• Shanghai Gao Tejia Investment Management Co., Ltd
• Jiangsu Ruihua Venture Capital Management Co., Ltd
The objective is to transform social capital investment into scientific and technological achievements, to promote public entrepreneurship, and to innovate national science and technology.

China Bio newss release, February 14, 2017

According to an article in China Daily, an analysis by Japan’s National Institute for Science and Technology Policy comes to the following conclusions: 1. China’s economic situation is quite stable and its GDP will inevitably exceed that of the US. However, there are risks in China’s economic expansion such as corruption, tax evasion, lack of norms and legal protection, and inefficient, wasteful approaches with a certain lack of moral. 2. China has surpassed Japan in the total number of published papers. In addition, in the number of top 10 highly cited papers China has also reached or surpassed those published from Japan.

China Daily, February 13, 2017