Taiwan’s Biobank aims at 200,000 human genomes by 2024
According to the Biobank’s PI LEE Techang, the Taiwan Biobank, founded 2012 by the Academia Sinica, has collected gene samples from 120,000 generally healthy Taiwan residents aged from 30 to 70 and finished whole-genome genotyping of 100,000. The biobank also collected blood and urine samples and physical data of participants, such as weight, height, blood pressure and bone mass, as well as health information including lifestyle, living environment and family disease history. The Taiwan Biobank since 2015 has also obtained gene samples from about 4,000 patients with major chronic diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer’s disease and is expected to expand sample size to 100,000 of such patients.
Xinhua news release, December 16, 2019
CAS Hefei Institute of Physical Science develops novel research reactor for biomass conversion
ZHAO Huijun and colleagues at the Institute of Solid State Physics has developed an instrument, in which three kinds of reactors (fluidized bed reactor, fixed bed reactor, and slurry phase reactor) can be integrated and connected in a serial or in parallel manner. The...
Ningxia Environmental Protection Office admonishes 6 biomanufacturers for malodor.
The companies comprise pharmaceutical and fermentation companies, e. g., Ninxia Eppen Biotech Co., a major MSG producer. The authority reclaimed that malodorous gas pollution prevention and control facilities were imperfect, environmental management was lacking, and...
Chinese domestic antibody drug industry in 2017 counts 200 companies with 22 approved species and about 200 drug applications
Sina Publisher has published a detailed map on Chinese antibody producers. The authors come to the conclusion that a) the number of producers is consolidating, b) autoimmune diseases and cancer application accounts for 78% market share of antibody drugs, c) for the...
Blood glucose readers: Chinese startup VivaChek conquers sizeable share in POCT export market
Hangzhou VivaChek Co. was founded in 2013 by YANG Qinggang and WANG Chengchao and within two years succeeded to get certificates from US FDA, CE, Australia and other countries. In Germany, the company is certified by TÜV Rheinland. VivaChek at present sells 2 million...
China rolls out Mars landing program.
According to the China National Space Administration, China plans to send a robotic probe to Mars around 2020. It will conduct scientific research on the soil and atmosphere and search for signs of water, The probe will consist of three parts－an orbiter, lander and...
CAS Shenyang Institute of Automation develops remote-control space robot
In a human-computer interaction demonstration experiment, a woodpecker-like sampling robot equipped with convolution neural networks (CNNs) was able to communicate with an astronaut who directed the robot by hand gestures. CAS news release, August 24, 2017
China’s robot population is growing fast
Acording to Bloomberg, China bought 90,000 robots in 2016, nearly 1/3d of all robots sold that year. According tot he International Federation of Robotics, this number will nearly double to 160,000 in 2019. China still lags behind regarding robot density, with about...
China’s bullet trains will soon run at top speed of 350 km/h
China's most important train connection between Beijing and Shanghai will be served at a top speed of 350 km/h starting from Sept. 21, 2017, reducing the travel time to about four and a half hours for this 1300 km distance. The new Fuxing trains (“Renaissance”) have...
China Association of Precision Medicine and Cell Therapy formed in Beijing
The association has 86 members, of which 36 form a standing committee. The main task is to promote the clinical implementation of precision medicine. Within three years, 30 provincial and 300 urban stem cell laboratories will be built, in addition to a national cell...
CAS Shanghai SIBS and Max-Planck-Institute for Molecular Genetics reveal genetic origin of sweet potatos
China produces annually over 100 million tons of sweet potato, 80 % of the world's harvest. The plant’s genome is hexaploid. By phylogenetic tree analysis of homologous chromosomes, it was shown that about 500,000 years ago, a diploid and a tetraploid ancestor formed...
Shanghai team works on stem-cell based artificial liver, clinical tests with 5 Nanjing patients successful
Due to hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, fungal food poisoning and other factors, there is a relatively high level of liver failure in China leading to a high mortality rate. The group of Hui Lijian at CAS Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology...
Fire-stopping polyimide foam from graphene and phosphorous
Jianxing GENG from the CAS Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry and colleagues have developed a non-burning polyimide foam that is strong enough to support a beaker of liquid weighing 6kg, but light enough to balance on a rose. Its flame-retardant properties...