Month: August 2016

In a review on gene sequencing patents issued in China, the authors have identified 448 gene sequencing patent portfolios of which US-based companies have generated 249, followed by Japan (48), the Netherlands (28), UK (22), Switzerland (18) and Germany (13). The leading Chinese companies are Shenzen’s BGI, followed by Guangdong’s Surexam Biotechnology Co. and Beijing’s […]

According to People’s Daily, China’s first driverless subway line, the Yanfang line in southwest Beijing, is expected to start operations at the end of 2017. Operations on the line will be fully automatic, including train departures, door opening and closing, and cleaning. The trains will only use domestic technology. Beijing subway lines 3, 12, 17, […]

The group of WU Zhengyan has developed a KMnO4 /graphite composite catalyst using high energy electron beam irradiation which reduced MnO4- to MnO2 in graphite nanospheres. The resulting MnO2/C composite possessed high catalytic degradation efficiency for glyphosate under sunlight due to its high porosity, large specific surface area, and its large number of active sites […]

The Long March-5 has a payload capacity of 25 tonnes in low Earth orbit and 14 tonnes in geostationary orbit. The liquid-fuel rocket uses liquid oxygen, liquid hydrogen and lox kerosene as fuel and will improve China’s space entering capabilities by 2.5 times. The rocket is planned to carry the Chang’e-5 lunar probe in 2017 […]

Lincosamides are clinically important glycoside antibiotics for the treatment of infections from Gram-positive pathogens. The group of Wen LIU has clarified the mechanism by which lincomycin A can be transformed into a number of active derivatives which, by the use of synthetic biology, might lead to improved manufacturing processes. CAS news release, August 26, 2016

The company has mastered the whole industrial chain of preparing human insulin in pathogen-free transgenic pigs and achieving large-scale extraction of the porcine islets. Clinical studies on diabetic patients will be completed in January 2017. The company works also on xenotransplantation of porcine islets, and it is expected that 5 patients will undergo surgery in […]

The Society, established in 2008 and by now comprising 13 countries and regions including Taiwan, Japan and Korea, has elected Mr Fu GAO (“George Fu Gao”). Mr Gao is Director of the CAS Key Laboratory of Pathogenic Microbiology and Immunology at the CAS Institute of Microbiology, and President of Chinese Society for Virology. CAS news […]

The procedure is based on micro air bubbles generated by graphite electrodes through electrolysis of water. Diameter of the highly uniform air bubbles is just 1-3 μm, leading to recovery of, e. g., Chlorella up to 95% by flotation. For 1 kg of harvested algae (dry weight), electrolytic flotation consumed only 0.03kWh. At present, QIBEBT’s […]

The Henan Center follows the National Gene Bank in Shenzhen and the National Ocean Gene Bank in Qingdao. It will focus on crop germplasm. Shenzhen’s BGI plays a key role in all three gene banks. China Bio news release, August 24, 2016

The group of Jian XU and colleagues at the Single Cell Center of QIBEBT has established a CRISPR/Cas9-based precise genome editing approach for the oleaginous microalga Nannochloropsis oceanica, using the deletion of nitrate reductase (NR; g7988) as example. Mutants where screened by the institute’s Raman-based FACS sorter. CAS news release, August 23, 2016