The group around ZHAO Guang has engineered E. coli to produce a range of value-added chemicals starting from D-xylose, a sugar which makes up about 25 % of biomass. The researchers introduced the xylose metabolism pathway of Caulobacter crescentus into E. coli, thereby establishing a new biosynthetic pathway to glycolic acid and ethylene glycol. The […]
President Xi Xinping: China must strive for high-tech self-reliance
During a visit at Optical Valley in Wuhan, president Xi stressed that core technologies that are important to the country should always be fully mastered by the country itself. When visiting FiberHome Telecommunication Technologies Co, a pioneer in the optical communications sector, Xi said the industry is of great importance, as the country strives for […]
CAS QIBEBT researchers synthesize thiazole isoindigo polymers, a promising material for logic circuits
The excellent bipolar conjugated polymer material can both conduct electrons and holes and thus is an interesting base material for organic FETs. WAN Xiaobo and colleagues at QIBEBT used a large hindered base to successfully synthesize the thiazole isoindigo precursor, thiazole bismuth, and transformed it to thiazole Isoindigo. They further optimized the synthesis and polymerization […]
CAS Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics has new green process for cyclohexane-based oxygenated chemicals
LI Ning and colleagues have developed a biomimetic route to synthesize pyromellitic acid from lignocellulose. Based on this reagent, a three-component cycloaddition reaction catalyzed by proline using formaldehyde, crotonaldehyde or acrylate/fumarate as raw materials led to 1,4-cyclohexanedimethanol (CHDM), 1,4-cyclohexanedicarboxylic acid (CHDA) or 1,2-cyclohexanedicarboxylate in yields of more than 70%. CAS news release, April 28, 2018
China implement zero tariff on imported anticancer drugs from May 1st
China has over 3.5 million new cases of cancer every year, and the anti-tumor drug market has exceeded 100 billion yuan, about half of which is imported. In order to meet urgent needs, in recent years, China has introduced a number of policies to encourage and accelerate the listing of anti-cancer and other innovative drugs. […]
Group at CAS Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology finds mechanism how C. gluatmicum resists saline-alkali stress
The group of JIN Gongsheng identified four potential Na+/H+ antiporters (Mrp1-2, NhaP and ChaA), and systematically described the physiological adaptation strategies of Corynebacterium glutamicum under saline and alkali stress conditions. They found that the Mrp1 protein of C. glutamicum has the most significant Na+/H+ ion transport activity, and this protein mainly plays a role under […]
CAS Institute of Subtropical Agriculture: straw pretreated with urea and nitrate is better digested
The group of ZHANG Xiumin has found that urea+nitrate pretreatment of straw could destroy its physical structure and increase the neutral-detergent soluble content that degrades easily and fast in the rumen. Using wheat and rice straw, such pretreatment increased in vitro degradation by ruminant cultures. Also, CH4 production was decreased because the population of methanogens […]
China to launch Chang’e-5 lunar probe in 2019
According to PEI Zhaoyu, deputy director of the Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center of the China National Space Administration (CNSA), the Chang’e-5 lunar probe will contain four parts: an orbiter, a returner, an ascender and a lander. The lander will put moon samples into a vessel in the ascender after the moon landing. Then […]
BGI: a major initiator of the Earth BioGenome Project
The program, launched on April 23, 2018, by an US consortium, https://www.earthbiogenome.org/organization/, plans to decipher the genomes of all known eukaryotic species in the next 10 years, and use genomics techniques to help discover the remaining 80% to 90% of species unknown in the scientific community. It will include major contributions from BGI in Shenzhen. […]
CAS Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biology selected a COMSATS Center for International Technology Excellence
CAS TIB was elected the 22nd International Centre of Excellence in Science and Technology at COMSATS, and will host COMSATS Coordination Committee meeting in 2019. CAS TIB is actively preparing for the establishment of a National Synthetic Biotechnology Innovation Center. COMSATS is an intergovernmental organization with its permanent Secretariat based in Islamabad, Pakistan. Established in […]