First-ever Mammalian Space Experiment Aboard China’s Space Station
The recent launch of the Shenzhou-21 crewed spaceship from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center carried a project led by the Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics of CAS and the Institute of Zoology of CAS titled “Key Technology Verification for Strain Screening and Husbandry of Space-borne Animals.” A cohort of mice was delivered to the Tiangong Space Station, where multi-angle video imaging is being used to quantify how weightlessness and confinement alter rodent behavior. This marks China’s first in-orbit rodent experiment. The science protocol was devised and executed by a task-force led by Researcher Wang Hongmei, Researcher Huang Shiqiang, Researcher Li Wei and Associate Researcher Li Tianda (all from the Institute of Zoology and serve as postgraduate supervisors at UCAS).
Source: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Peking University Supplies First Cytochrome-c-based Mitochondrial Evidence for the FLASH Effect
A team from the Institute of Heavy Ion Physics & National Key Laboratory of Nuclear Physics and Nuclear Technology, Peking University, led by Yan Xueqing, Yang Gen, and Huang Senlin, used a DC-SRF photocathode electron gun to tune dose-rate over three orders of magnitude. Ultra-high dose-rate irradiation was shown to modulate mitochondrial damage and downstream signaling in cells, supplying the first direct evidence that FLASH radiotherapy can spare normal tissue while maintaining tumor control. The findings appear online in MedComm.
Source: Peking University
BIMSA Releases China Digital Economy Index for Third Consecutive Year
To support in-depth analysis of China’s overall digital economy trajectory as well as regional variations and distinctive features, the Digital Economy Laboratory at the Yanqi Lake Beijing Institute of Mathematical Sciences and Applications (BIMSA) has published the China Digital Economy Index for three consecutive years. The 2024 edition establishes a scientifically robust assessment framework built around four key pillars—infrastructure, industrial development, talent resources, and digital governance—offering a panoramic view of the country’s digital progress and capturing the unique characteristics of China’s evolving digital landscape. The report concludes that China’s digital economy is transitioning from high-speed expansion to high-quality growth, providing a valuable reference for understanding and anticipating future trends.
Source: Yanqi Lake Beijing Institute of Mathematical Sciences and Applications
Tsinghua University Pinpoints Atmospheric Chloramines as a New Source of Reactive Chlorine
A team led by Prof. Jiang Jingkun at the Institute of Atmospheric Pollution & Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, has worked with multiple partners to quantify the sources, sinks, and transformation of atmospheric chloramines by combining field observations, machine-learning algorithms, and box-model simulations. The study shows that chloramines already make a major contribution to chlorine-radical formation and that this contribution will grow as China tightens air-quality controls. Building a chloramine-emission inventory and incorporating the newly identified multiphase chemistry into air-quality and climate models will therefore be essential for accurately assessing the impacts of atmospheric chlorine chemistry on air pollution and climate change. The findings were published online in Science Advances.
Source: Air-to-Ground Integrated Environmental Sensing & Intelligent Response Platform
Institute of Biophysics Uncovers How A- and B-Tubules of Outer Doublet Microtubules Are Linked in Cilia/Flagella
Dr. Sun Feifei’s group at the Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, together with collaborators, has uncovered the mechanism that links the A- and B-tubules of outer-doublet microtubules in cilia and flagella. By integrating CRISPR mouse models with in-situ structural-biology techniques, the team identified CFAP77 as the core protein that bridges the two tubules. The work answers a long-standing question in ciliary/flagellar research—how the A- and B-tubules are stably joined—and demonstrates that the marriage of gene-edited rodents and in-situ structural biology is both feasible and powerful, setting a new direction for the field. The results appear in PLOS Biology.
Source: Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Institute of Biophysics and Hygon Information Technology Achieve Domestic-Compute Adaptation for Cryo-EM Data Processing
The Center for Biological Imaging (CBI) of the Core Facilities for Protein Science at the Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences—has teamed up with Hygon Information Technology, a leading Chinese processor developer, to port key cryo-EM algorithms and tools to home-grown compute infrastructure. For in-situ cryo-electron tomography, the DeepETPicker model co-developed by CBI and the Institute of Automation of CAS has already been fully adapted; training and inference benchmarks demonstrate the strong potential of domestic AI hardware in scientific applications.
Source: Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences