On December 11, the 2021 Greater Bay Area Science Forum with the theme of "Exploring the Future and Sharing Science" opened in Guangzhou. At the life science sub-forum, Zhong Nanshan, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and director of the Guangzhou Laboratory, and Gao Fu, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and director of the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention, made keynote speeches on "Science and Technology Defeating the Epidemic", talking about many topics such as the development trend and response to the epidemic.
Science must be explored, and science needs to be shared. In the post-epidemic era, exploration and sharing are not only the themes of scientific research, but also the common call of mankind as a community of destiny and the earth as a global village. The specific strategies for epidemic prevention and control may be different, but the basic consensus is generally the same: vaccine and drug research and development is the key to the world's return to normalcy. "Where does the virus come from, what is the intermediate host, and how to transmit it to humans" "The transmission law of the disease, the pathogenic mechanism, and the physiological development process of the early disease", Academician Zhong Nanshan's virus question, scientific research is the key to answering these questions and leading life back to normal. "If the world does not share vaccines, the virus will share the world" "People all over the world must realize that the virus will not talk to anyone about sovereignty, so everyone must work together", Academician Gao Fu's shared call is exactly the proper meaning of scientific research before the major epidemic that has not been encountered in a hundred years.
Science needs dialogue, and dialogue promotes science. The collision of ideas has always ignited the spark of inspiration, and in the mutual dialogue between scientists through forums, science has achieved sharing through exchanges, providing inspiration for research. He Fuchu, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and director of the Science and Technology Committee of the Academy of Military Sciences of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, introduced the achievements and progress of several basic research such as proteome research on new coronavirus pneumonia at the forum. Revealing the relationship between specific genes and the severeness of the new crown, although it is a basic and experimental study, the progress of science is coming from the discovery of basic exploration, and such exploration will also clarify some ideas for the prevention and treatment of severe new crown pneumonia through dialogue, and provide some experience and new knowledge for later researchers.
The theme of the Greater Bay Area Science Forum on "Shared Science" has twofold value, which is reflected in the life science sub-forum, which provides direction for scientific research and provides suggestions for public governance. As far as the former is concerned, Academician Gao Fu called on researchers to pay attention to the new technology of mRNA vaccine, which will be a revolutionary change in biomedicine. At present, it is believed that mRNA vaccines can form a better protective effect through the comprehensive stimulation of innate immunity, and the production cycle is faster, but it causes some unnecessary immune responses and unknowable consequences, and has also become the veil that mRNA vaccines have not yet unveiled. Therefore, the mRNA vaccine needs to be further studied.
In terms of public governance, Academician Zhong Nanshan proposed to continue to inject vaccines at the forum; develop antibody drugs; strengthen the research of small molecule drugs and traditional Chinese medicines; and call for interdisciplinary and world-wide efforts to work together on four suggestions. Dr. Zhang Wenhong also introduced the Israeli epidemic prevention model, implementing an open policy after completing the two-dose full vaccination, and at the same time rapidly promoting the strengthening of vaccination of needles, which has performed well in controlling the case fatality rate and morbidity. "Different forms of enhanced vaccination can greatly increase the level of antibodies after two injections, which is conducive to the realization of openness." These scientific research achievements provide scientific wisdom for the next step in the normalization of epidemic prevention and control, and the benign operation of society is to collect scientific results and promote the dialogue of achievements as a comparative comparison, and then choose the most suitable local operation strategy.
Science has competition and sharing, through the new crown epidemic, the ultimate ideal of science must be shared, because in the face of the virus that is related to life and spreads around the world, only when the world shares the progress and achievements of science, can the exchange of personnel and trade return to normal, and science can truly benefit mankind. In his congratulatory letter to the 2021 Greater Bay Area Science Forum, President Xi Jinping said that China is willing to work with scientists and international scientific and technological organizations from all over the world to close international scientific and technological exchanges and cooperation, strengthen research on major scientific issues, promote common scientific and technological cracking, deepen the coordination of key scientific projects, and jointly promote the development of world science and technology to better benefit mankind. This forum is precisely by providing a platform to promote dialogue, joint research and promote a cause.
It is expected that the Greater Bay Area Science Forum will become a new base for cutting-edge scientific exchanges in the world and a new starting point for high-quality construction of the "Belt and Road".