Window-to-China

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CAS Institute of Industrial Biotechnology (TIB) promotes biobased plastic production using cell factories

According to a presentation by MA Yanhe, Director of TIB, at the 8th China Industrial Biotech Development Forum held in Tianjin on December 14, the institute and partners in the Tianjin Airport Economic Zone will produce 9.000 t of biobased polymers within a few years, using engineered cells which can produce succinic acid, adipic acid, pentamethylene diamine and other building blocks in high yields. A 3.000 t/y pilot plant for PBS based on an engineered E. coli strain was completed this year.

CAS news release, December 15, 2015

Baidu’s driverless car completes road test in Beijing

The test vehicle left Beijing Zhongguancun Science Park and drove to the Olympic Forest Park via the G7 Beijing-Urumqi highway and the Fifth Ring Road before returning via the same route. The vehicle reached a top speed of 100km/hr during the test. A driver in the car would have taken control of the vehicle in case of emergency.

CAS news release, December 15, 2015

Shanghai Jiaotong University opens „Synthetic Sciences Research Center“

The center will have a focus on synthetic biology and will be operated jointly with other groups already involved in synthetic biology research such as the CAS Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology, Fudan University and others. Director is Professor Yan FENG.

China Bio news release, December 4, 2015

Deep-sea bioresources laboratory inaugurated in Qingdao

The laboratory will be operated by the Shandong Institute of Oceanography and by Deep Sea Biological Technology Co. in Yantai city. An initial focus will be on biologically active peptides as base materials for drugs and vaccines.

China Bio news release, December 2, 2015

CAS maps urbanization of China

The CAS Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research has set up a China Land Use/Cover database (CLUD) in 1990. Analysis of the data shows that between 1990 and 2010, urban and industrial land use doubled from 48.500 to 90.800 square km. Lead author is Wenhui KUANG.

CAS news release, December 2, 2015

China sends Xueying 601 fixed-wing aircraft to South Pole

On a route from Canada via the British research station „Rothera“, the aircraft and 3 crew membeers arrived at the South Pole and continued to the Chinese research station „Zhongshan“ close to Princess Elisabeth land. So far, only the US, UK and Germany own multi-functional fixed-wing aircrafts in Antarctica.

CAS news release, December 3, 2015

DNA high-throughput sequencing industry in China comprises 157 locations.

According to a survey by Fortune Securities, the market size was 4,5 billion USD in 2013 and will reach 11,7 billion USD in 2018, an annual growth rate of over 20 %. , Chinese enterprises are mainly concentrated in the middle and lower sequencing services, but there is a tendency towards extending upstream. The 4 major market segments are genetic diagnosis, prenatal screening and diagnosis, preimplantation genetic diagnosis and tumor diagnosis and treatment.

China Bio news release, November 30, 2015

Shanghai’s COMAC delivers first Chinese-built regional jet

The Xiangfeng (Flying Phoenix) is a 90-passenger capacity twin-engine jet, with a standard range of 2,220 kilometers. Shanghai-based Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China (COMAC), which was bought by Chengdu Airlines, says it has received more than 300 orders from 19 airlines, including three from the Republic of Congo. China is the world’s largest civil aviation market, with its 21 largest airports seeing annual throughput exceeding 10 million passengers and a fleet of over 3,000 aircraft, which is dominated by Boeing and Airbus. The ARJ21 jet is the first Made in China aircraft to join the fleet.

CAS news release, November 30, 2015

China’s population ages rapidly and becomes more affluent

According to presentations and interviews at China’s Summit on Health, the number of elderly Chinese over 60 is now > 200 million and will compose 35 % of the Chinese population by 2050 or more than 500 million people (WHO forecast). As a consequence, the proportion of chronic diseases will increase. At the same time, it is expected that by 2022 China will have 630 million citizens with middle class income.

China Bio news release, November 27, 2015

Chinese research vessel Kexue heads to the West Pacific for El Nino Study

The aim of the expedition is to collect information and improve the ability to forecast El Nino in China. With 30 science experts in biology, chemistry, geology and physical geography, exploration of ocean gravity and magnetism will be conducted, and seismic data will be collected. The research vessel Kexue (Science”) weighs 4,711 tonnes, has a cruising capacity of 15,000 nautical miles and a top speed of 15 knots.”

CAS news release, November 26, 2015

Chinese team makes pigs produce human serum albumin after CRISPR-based gene modification

A team around ZHANG Pumin from Beijing Proteome Research Center and several universities and military universities modified porcine albumin into human albumin and used CRISPR technology to express this gene in pigs. Approximately 300 embryos were implanted in 10 female pigs, of which five pigs gave birth to 16 cubs. The cubs showed no signs of any unusual health problem. By genotypic analysis, researchers found that the 16 cubs carried the desired gene sequence human blood serum protein. The modified allele was successfully passed on to the offspring. It is expected that these results will facilitate the use of pigs and other large domestic animals for the production of biomedical products.

China Bio news release, November 24, 2015

CAS Suzhou Insitute of Nanotech and Nanobionics (SINANO) develops wearable electronic skin””

The group of CUI Zheng at SINANO has integrated a bluetooth chip and a signal amplification circuit in a skin-like flexible polymer using printed nanosilver ink for interconnection and sensors and a paper battery as actuators. The system can monitor phyiological parameters of the human body and connect wireless with smartphone devices or the internet.

CAS news release, November 25, 2015

Chinese group changes color of roses by electrical signals

After feeding a synthetic polymer PEDOT-S through the stem to roses, the polymer was absorbed by the vascular system and allowed to transmit electrical signals without interference in water and nutrient delivery. When the outside voltage was changed, the color of the rose could be changed.

CAS news release, November 23, 2015

Team at CAS SIBS creates mice from two eggs, without use of sperm

The group of LI Jinsong from CAS SIBS in Shanghai promoted cell division of a mature egg through chemical means and created a line of cells. After modifying one cell by removing two genes, they injected the cell into another egg as part of artificial fertilization process. More than 15 out of 100 embryos finally developed into mice which were healthy and showed no difference in development and fertility from the ones that were naturally conceived. Attempts to create embryos from two sperm cells failed.

CAS news release, November 20, 2015

China and Israel will deepen cooperation in agricultural science and technology

Israel is among the most productive agricultures in the world. China wants to cooperate on sustainable development, on agricultural science and technology, especially water resources management and seed development cooperation. Another aspect is to promote investment in new technologies in the field of agricultural investment in agriculture and in manpower development and training.

China Bio news release, November 18, 2015