CHINA  SCIENCE  AND  TECHNOLOGY
NEWSLETTER
The Ministry of Science and Technology
People's Republic of China

National S&T Library’s Birthday

Thanks to its 5-year sustained efforts, China’s National S&T Library has become a largest domestic modern service network offering S&T information and literatures, said LIU Yanhua, Chinese Vice-Minister of Science and Technology, at an event to mark the 5th anniversary of the founding of the library.

Built under the principle of “unified procurement, standardized processing, joint networking, and resources sharing”, the library works to promote the concept of joint construction and resources sharing, using information technology and network environment. It provides nationwide services for four major areas, including basic sciences, engineering technology, farming technology, and medicine and health.  

Up to date, the library has possessed 21,000 sorts of domestic and international S&T journals, with 60% of imported S&T journals in the country, which makes it an information agency possessing most overseas published S&T journals. The library has established over 30 million entries of data concerning domestic or international S&T journals, magazines, conference proceedings, academic degree papers, S&T reports, and literatures on patents, standards, and metrology.  In the meantime, it adds Japanese and Russian journals to its databases, making itself the first domestic search engine for Japanese and Russian S&T literatures.

China’s First Information Development Report

The Information Office, part of China’s State Council, recently published a report to show China’s information process and associated development in 2005. The report, made up of some 36,000 words, covers 11 areas, including situation and tasks for China’s information process, China’s information process in 2004, diffusion and application of information technology, e-government, e-commerce, development and utilization of information resources, personnel training, information industry and associated infrastructures, network and information security, information process related laws, regulations, and standardization, and perspectives for China’s information process in 2005. The report analyzes the strategic framework and alternatives of China’s information process, while listing a summary of new accomplishments and experience achieved in recent years in the field, using abundant charts, data, and examples.  The report presents a clear picture of tasks to be accomplished in major economic and social sectors. 

In the report, China defines the following major tasks for the future information development: extensively using information technology, and promoting economic restructuring and change of economic growth modes; enhancing the development and utilization of information resources, and raising the overall returns of information process; perfecting information infrastructures, and meeting the increasing needs for applications; making information technology and associated industry the priorities for future development, and providing technical and logistic support for information development; and strengthening information security, and promoting a stable society and healthy information process.

The Information Office will, starting from the year, compile and publish an information development report on an annual basis.

High-Tech Trades More

Along with the deepened implementation of the strategies “rejuvenating trade with science and technology”, China applauds for a rapidly increased high tech trade volume, said CHANG Xiaocun, Director, Department of Science and Technology, part of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce. CHANG added that China expects a high tech import & export volume to reach USD 400 billion this year. As a possible result, the weight of high tech export in the nation’s total export will see an increase up to 30% in the year from 11% registered six years ago. 

In the fist half of the year, China’s high tech import & export amounted to USD 180.26 billion, with a growth of 26.2%. Of the mixed package, import made USD 86.74 billion, with a growth of 19.9%. Export gained USD 93.52 billion, with a 32.4% growth, or 27.3% of the nation’s total export. During the same period of time, China registered 4,696 contracts for technology transfer, or 15.5% up, with an amount of USD 8.14 billion, or 26.4% more against the previous year. Of the said amount, technology fees came to USD 5.6 billion, or 68.8% of the total amount expected in the contracts.

CHNAG disclosed that the Ministry of Commerce is working together with other government agencies to brew new policies for promoting high tech export, and prepare an action plan for rejuvenating trade with science and technology in the 11th Five-year plan period(2006-2010). The Ministry also encourages and supports, with valid measures, the export of proprietary high tech brands, and make expanding such exports an important component of the ongoing efforts.

Transposition System for Mammals

A research team, headed by Dr. XU Tian of Fudan University, recently announced that it has established the world first transposition factor system for mammals, and created a novel approach for extensive study of mammals’ genetic functions. The findings were publishing as a cover story in the August 12 issue of journal Cell.

It is reported in the story that, unlike traditional methods for in-vitro stem cells cultivation, the novel approach induces mutations in rats by planting transposition factors (moveable genetic factors) in rats’ normal genes, a process that would damage normal genes. The new approach makes scientists understanding genetic functions of “artificially made patients” possible. The process can entirely be controlled by researchers for an efficient experiment.

In the meantime, transposition factors that carry exogenous genes can be further cultivated directly in the body of a living creature. An appropriate mating can further produce genetically modified matters. It creates a lower technical threshold.  Comparing with traditional methods, the high performance transposition approach can raise the implanting frequency in original genes, more randomly, and to a larger extent. This will allow researchers to spot unidentified genes and know their functions through experiments, more efficiently and more widely. In the past, it would take one-year time for two researchers to identify and understand the functions of two genes. Now two graduate students at Fudan University has spotted and gained preliminary knowledge of more than 70 genes within 3 months. 

The innovative approach also creates new genetic therapies for treating human diseases, as it can quickly find genes relating to diseases on an extended basis, establish diverse diseases models, understand diseases genesis mechanism, and define pharmaceutical targets. The new process can also be used to verify and study the genes of important biological functions, and to benefit the improvement of cash animals.

Better Insulin Transplanting Technique

Prof. WANG Wei, Xiangya No. 3 Hospital, part of the Zhongnan University, has harvested series findings in insulin transplanting, which boosts human confidence in combating type I diabetes. Based on extensive basic researches, WANG performed, starting from 1999, heterogeneous insulin transplanting on 20 type I diabetes patients. He transplanted the pig insulin cells into their bodies, and freed them from tortures of the disease.

WANG has made three major contributions to insulin transplanting: 1) creating a safer transplanting method. Currently, a prevailing process in the world is to transplant insulin cells through liver’s portal vein, which may cause damages to liver itself. WANG makes the transplanting through liver’s artery, which greatly improves safety; 2) Wang and Prof. MO Zhaohui jointly discovered apparent differences between different races, in terms of the adverse effects in anti-repulsion treatment, which led to a desirable and enhanced therapeutic solution for Chinese populations; 3) WANG studied different therapeutic solutions for heterogeneous and homogenous insulin transplanting, and for the first time in the world found special rules for staging an anti-repulsion treatment for heterogeneous transplanting. This creates a new way of thinking in addressing serious shortages of insulin providers.  

Fast Test Kit for Cow Tuberculosis

The Harbin Vet Institute has recently developed two specific processes to test cow tuberculosis pathogen. It only takes three hours for the process to roll out test results of the DNA of M.vaccae at 50pg. The new PCR process selects an esat-6 gene that is specifically possessed by the tuberculosis mycobacterium compound, in an attempt to increase the target genes for PCR. The further specificity and sensitivity analysis results in an esat-6 gene based PCR test process. The new process is able to perform fast test with high sensitivity and specificity, with both of them reaching the same level of overseas counterpart products. Another process, named ELISA test kit, integrates a number of highly specific antigens in E. coli. In addition to activating an efficient gene expression, it produces an antigen for diagnosing cow tuberculosis. Clinical trials have shown that the processes can sort out cows affected with tuberculosis in a fast manner, and they are promising for a development perspective with an enhanced specificity.

The test kits can be applied to raw milk samples for testing the DNA of Brucella through nested-PCR. With a test sensitivity ranging from 50 to 100 bacteria/ml milk sample, the processes produce the diagnostic results within 48 hours. The test kits can perform test on diverse samples, including milk, fetus stomach fluid from miscarriage, vagina secretions, serum, and embryo membrane. With a strong specificity and desirable repetition capacity, the test kits can be preserved for 6 months at a temperature of -20º C.

Traditional AIDS Therapy into Clinic Trials

Upon the approval of State Food and Drug Administration, Sanhuangsan, a novel compound made up of 16 Chinese traditional herbs, has been allowed into clinical trials.

Since 2000, a number of research institutes, including Yunnan Key Lab for Natural Medicines, the Kunming Institute of Zoology, a part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Institute of Biotechnology under the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, have worked on pre-phase studies of toxicant, pharmaceutical and therapeutic aspects of the new drug. The test results show that the drug is able to blockade virus duplications in affected cells, through effectively inhibiting HIV-1 IN. The results of an experiment on the immunity impacts on rats with weakened immunity show that it effectively improves 5 immunity indicators concerning AIDS diseases, with one of them reaches and four of them exceed the comparison groups. The therapeutic results on treating some 100 domestic and overseas AIDS patients on a trial basis show that long term taking of the medicine produces no toxicant or adverse effects, subjectively or objectively. The treated patients saw a gradual decrease of AIDS viruses, and witnessed no rebound after ceasing to take the medicine. Patients enjoyed an apparent remission after the treatment with the drug.

Molecular Rectifier

The University of Science and Technology of China recently announced that it has successfully replaced a carbon atom with nitrogen one in Fullerene single molecules, in an attempt to form an innovative single-molecule rectifier, using single electron channel effects. Working on a principle different from the traditional single-molecule rectifier, the new component has apparent strength in repetition and controllability. The finding was published in the recent issue of Physics Review Letters.

Induced by the concept to introduce an energy mix of specific property, the finding creates a new perspective for Fullerene applications in nanoelectronics and molecular components. Reviewers of Physics Review Letters believe that the finding is an excellent example for the combination of theory and practice in research activities, and it represents a future direction for condensed matter physics and molecular electronics.

Phosphor Efficient Gene for Rice

Not long ago, Zhejiang University successfully cloned a transcription factor that shows apparent enhancement of phosphor efficiency. As the first of its kind in the world, the factor, named OsPTF1, is believed important for raising crop’s phosphor efficiency, reducing production costs, and cutting down phosphor contaminations in environment. The research team explored the tolerance to inorganic phosphate (Pi) starvation in rice and its adaptation mechanism, through study of transcription factors’ expression in Pi-deficient conditions, and of the hormone metabolism process that controls roots development. Researchers also sorted out allele differences on Pi genes of different sub-species, or same species with different gene types. The project has eventually resulted in a successful cloning of OsPTF1. 

China Resumes Large Animal Experiment

It is disclosed at a hearing, jointly sponsored by China Certification and Accreditation Administration and China National Accreditation Board for Laboratories, that China will resume its disease organism related experiments on large animals. China had ceased to do so from 2004.  The Department of Biosecurity, part of the Wuhan University, recently passed the national certification check for its Class III Animal Lab, which indicates an official start of China’s biosecurity accreditation system. China Certification and Accreditation Administration also rules out that large animal labs will not be allowed to operate without a national certification.

Class III Animal Lab of the Wuhan University, having been constructed for more than 6 months with the support by seven government agencies, including the State Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Health, and General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, can accommodate bioexperiments on 50 macaques at the same time. The lab will be put into official operation upon the terminal verification check organized by the Ministry of Health. It will work on some 10 types of disease organisms, including SARS coronavirus, M.tuberculosis, AIDS viruses, and hemorrhagic fever viruses.

China Heads for the Grove Again

Following the completion of an expedition to the inaccessible Dome A, Chinese scientists plan to kick off another expedition to the Antarctica inland, heading for the Grove Mountains in 2005 and 2006. According to a briefing by officials from the State Oceanography Bureau, the expedition will collect meteoroids, map geological terrains, and study ice cover evolutions (glacier terrains, core elements of cosmos genesis, and paleontology) over the Grove Mountains, some 460 km distant from China’s Zhong Shan Station.

China started its expeditions to the Grove Mountains as early as in 1996. Chinese scientists had made three comprehensive expeditions to the area in the past decade. China’s 22^nd expedition team will implement the latest expedition to the Grove Mountains. The expedition team is made up of the scientists selected from 11 research institutes, including Institute of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Geomechanics under the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, and Chinese Antarctica Center of Surveying and Mapping. So far the team has completed the organizing and member selection processes. The team plans to start its journey heading for the Antarctica in November 2005, aboard the Snow Dragon, a polar expedition boat.

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Mr. Mao Zhongying, Department of International Cooperation, MOST 15B, Fuxing Road Beijing 100862, PR China  Tel: (8610)58881360 Fax: (8610) 58881364

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