Huairou Laboratory Completes First-Ever Deep-Sea CO₂ Hydrate Sequestration Field Test

Huairou Laboratory, in partnership with China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), has successfully carried out the world’s first exploratory deep-sea field test of CO₂ hydrate solidification and sequestration. The operation took place 102 nautical miles southeast of Sanya, Hainan Province, in the Qiongdongnan waters at a depth of 1,695 m. Over 20 days that included two typhoons, the team injected liquid CO₂ into the seabed and shallow sediments using self-developed tools and protocols, achieving real-time monitoring of the entire chain—from injection, migration, phase transition, to final immobilization. The milestone positions China at the forefront of offshore carbon-sequestration technology.
Source: Huairou Laboratory

UCAS-Led ISO/DIS 8228 “Risk Assessment and Classification for Land Application of Sludge” Becomes New Global Standard
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has released the final ballot results for ISO/DIS 8228 “Sludge/biosolids ecotoxicological evaluation and classification for land application.” The draft passed with 90 % approval, marking China’s first lead authorship of a sludge-related international standard. The standard resolves the dual “resource vs. pollutant” dilemma by introducing a classification system based on contaminant content and toxicity, offering a full-chain solution that covers ecological risk assessment and safe, graded resource utilization.
Source: University of Chinese Academy of Sciences

Stem Cell Institute Develops 3D In-Chip Uterine Embryo-Implantation Model
Researchers from the Beijing Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine (Institute of Zoology, CAS), led by Researchers YU Leqian and WANG Hongmei, have developed a microfluidics-based 3D in-chip implantation model—the 3D uterine embryo-implantation-simulating chip. For the first time, the entire dynamic course of early human implantation has been recapitulated in vitro, clarifying the core etiology of recurrent implantation failure (RIF), enabling personalized drug screening and simplifying diagnostic workflows. The platform provides researchers with a standardized “in-vitro laboratory” for decoding embryo–endometrium crosstalk and offers clinicians a practical diagnostic and therapeutic tool, seamlessly bridging basic research and clinical application. The findings were published online in Cell.
Source: Beijing Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine

PKU Team Unveils Direct Imaging of Mitochondrial Membrane Potential and Metabolic Heterogeneity
Dr. Chen Zhixing’s group at Peking University has combined a self-developed, low-phototoxic far-red probe (PKMDR) with fluorescence-lifetime imaging (FLIM) to create the PKMDR-FLIM system. Fluorescence-lifetime shifts of PKMDR sensitively report mitochondrial membrane potential, enabling high spatiotemporal visualization of respiratory status in single cells, organoids, and tissues. The approach revealed regional metabolic differences and dynamic mitochondrial transport, pushing mitochondrial metabolism studies into a quantitative era. The findings were published in Nature Communications.
Source: Peking University

IBP & Partners Elucidate Architecture and Energy Transfer of Photosynthetic Cyanobacterial PSI-IsiA Supercomplex
Researcher Li Mei’s team at the Institute of Biophysics, CAS, together with collaborators, determined two distinct 3D structures of PSI-IsiA supercomplexes isolated from thermophilic cyanobacteria under iron-deficient conditions using single-particle cryo-EM. The studies uncover the precise arrangement of double-layer IsiA rings around trimeric or monomeric PSI cores and map the organization of >1,000 pigments. Atomic-force microscopy further revealed the native membrane distribution, providing molecular insight into how photosynthetic bacteria optimize energy use and photoprotection under iron starvation. Data acquisition was supported by the Center for Biological Imaging (CBI), IBP. The findings were published in Nature Communications.
Source: Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences