Source: People's Daily health client Chen Longfei
On January 18, the top ten scientific and technological progress news in China in 2021 and the top ten scientific and technological progress news in the world were announced by the academicians of the two academies. The People's Daily health client combed and found that among the 20 scientific and technological progress news, 7 were related to medical health.
Continental de novo synthesis of carbon dioxide to starch is realized
Researchers observe synthetic starch in test tubes, courtesy of Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Starch is the most important component of grain, but also an important industrial raw material, its main synthesis method is carried out by green plants through photosynthesis to fix carbon dioxide. Researchers at the Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences proposed a subversive starch preparation method, without relying on plant photosynthesis, using carbon dioxide and hydrogen produced by electrolysis as raw materials to successfully produce starch, which realized the de novo synthesis of carbon dioxide to starch for the first time in the world, making it possible to transform starch production from traditional agricultural planting mode to industrial workshop production mode, and achieving original breakthroughs. The results were published online in the journal Science on September 24, 2021.
Heterologous tetraploid wild rice has rapidly domesticated from scratch to obtain a new breakthrough
Plant phenotype of heterologous tetraploid wild rice and diploid cultivated rice. Courtesy of Institute of Seed Innovation/ Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Global warming and the frequent occurrence of extreme weather have brought great challenges to food security. Academician Li Jiayang's team from the Institute of Seed Innovation/Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences proposed for the first time a new strategy for rapid de novo domestication of heterologous tetraploid wild rice, aiming to eventually breed a new type of polyploid rice crop, thereby greatly improving food yield and increasing the adaptability of crop environmental changes. This study proposes a new and feasible strategy for the future response to the food crisis, opening up a new direction of crop breeding. The research results were published in Cell on February 4, 2021.
The world's first "self-replicating" living robot was born
A living robot assembles individual cells into a new cell mass. Image credit: Douglas Blackiston
Scientists at the University of Vermont, Tufts University and Harvard University's West Institute for Bio-Inspired Engineering have discovered a completely new way of biological reproduction, creating Xenobots 3.0, the first ever living robot that can replicate itself for multiple generations. It is reported that the living robot may contribute to a new breakthrough in medicine - in addition to being expected to be used for accurate drug delivery, it can also be applied to regenerative medicine, or it can provide pioneering solutions to birth defects, anti-trauma, cancer and aging. On November 29, the relevant research results were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Scientists use AI technology to solve the problem of protein structure prediction
AI can now quickly and reliably predict the three-dimensional shape of most proteins. Image source: DEEPMIND
The University of Washington in the United States and DeepMind in the United Kingdom predict the precise three-dimensional atomic structure of proteins and some molecular complexes by building artificial intelligence programs. DeepMind's report on alphaFold, an artificial intelligence program, can predict 98.5% of human protein structure, helping to deeply understand some key biological information and conduct drug research and development. The RoseTTAFold protein structure prediction program created by the University of Washington in the United States can predict the structure of proteins and the binding forms between proteins in just ten minutes. The paper was published in Nature and Science on July 15.
"Gene scissors" for the first time to treat genetic diseases
CRISPR is used to treat rare and fatal liver disease. Image credit: ELLA MARU STUDIO
The CRISPR gene editing technology of "gene scissors" to treat genetic diseases requires the removal of a huge obstacle: injecting molecular scissor tools directly into the affected cells to achieve DNA cutting. Researchers at the University of London in the United Kingdom have found that CRISPR technology can inactivate a mutant gene. The study was the first to inject crispr drugs into the blood of patients with a rare genetic disorder and found that the livers of 3 of them all but stopped producing toxic proteins. The findings were published May 28 in the New England Journal of Medicine. The study is a critical first step in being able to inactivate, repair or replace disease-causing genes in any part of the body.
The "sesame grain" size heart model was introduced
Reproducibility of cardiac model development. Image credit: Sasha Mendjan et al
Sasha Mendjan's team, a biologist at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, used human pluripotent stem cells to grow a sesame-sized heart model, also known as a heart line. It can be organized spontaneously, developing a hollow atrium without the need for experimental stents, almost reproducing the spontaneous growth trajectory of the human heart. The study, published May 20 in Cell, offers the possibility of creating artificial heart organoids.
Scientists have successfully constructed early human embryonic-like structures in the lab
Artificial blastocysts. Image credit: UT Southwestern
Researchers at the University of Texas southwestern medical center in Dallas successfully used human pluripotent stem cell differentiation to induce early human embryonic-like structures. This structure has a similar structure to that of human blastocyst embryos, can correctly express the corresponding genes and proteins, and can develop in vitro for 2 to 4 days, forming amnioid sacs and other structures. The research results were published in Nature on March 17. This embryonic-like structure provides a basis for in-depth understanding of miscarriage, deformed children, female fertility disorders and other phenomena caused by early major human diseases, and to establish drug screening models.