On February 27, the Ministry of Science and Technology's High Technology Research and Development Center (Basic Research Management Center) released the top 10 advances in Chinese science in 2020, which are:China's scientists have made outstanding progress in actively responding to the New Crown Epidemic, Chang'e 5 has achieved the first automatic sample return to the lunar surface, the Striver set a new record for manned deep diving in China, revealed the key steps in the transmission of human genetic material, developed transparent ferroelectric single crystals with ultra-high-voltage electrical properties, and 2020 Mt. Everest elevation determination;
Ancient genomes reveal the evolutionary and migratory history of Chinese populations over the past 10,000 years, big data carve out the highest-precision history of the Earth's 300-million-year evolution of biodiversity to date, and in-depth analysis of the multiple The researchers have also analyzed the markers and targets of organ aging, and experimentally observed the quantum interference phenomenon in chemical reactions.
1, China's scientists actively responded to the new crown epidemic made outstanding progress
In the face of the sudden new crown epidemic, China's scientists conscientiously implement the important speeches of the national leadership on the prevention and control of the epidemic and a series of important instructions, in the central work of the epidemic leading group and the State Council under the co-ordination of the joint prevention and joint control mechanism. Under the coordination of the Central Leading Group on Epidemic Prevention and Control and the State Council's Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism, scientists have made a series of outstanding progresses in unity and collaboration, and have provided important scientific support for winning the battle against the epidemic.
In terms of pathogenesis and epidemiology, we were the first to isolate and identify the new coronavirus strain and shared the full genome sequence of the virus with the World Health Organization (WHO), laying the foundation for the rapid advancement of diagnostic technology and the development of drug vaccines; elucidated the key mechanism of cell invasion by the new coronavirus; continued to deepen the study of the virus's transmission pathway to provide scientific and technological support for the optimization of the prevention and control strategy; and quantitatively evaluated the effectiveness of China's prevention and control measures. The study also quantitatively evaluates the effect of prevention and control measures in China.
With regard to the development of detection reagents and animal models, we have rapidly developed nucleic acid diagnostic reagents for Neocollins at the beginning of the epidemic and immunoassay reagents, which provide strong support for pathogen detection; and constructed animal models of Neocollins infection in mice and monkeys, which provide support for drug screening, vaccine development, and research on the mechanism of viral transmission.
In the area of drugs and clinical treatment, we have revealed the clinical characteristics of C. neoformans, and in the absence of specific drugs, we have implemented a combination of traditional Chinese and Western medicine, launched eight versions of the National Diagnostic and Treatment Program for C. neoformans Pneumonia, screened out clinically effective traditional Chinese and Western medicines and treatments, such as the "three medicines, three parties", which have been borrowed and used in many countries; analyzed the structure of the virus and key proteins, and uncovered the structure and mechanism of virus transmission in mice and monkeys. It has analyzed the structure of the virus and key proteins, and revealed the mechanism of action of a number of Chinese and Western medicines. It has also put forward scientific prevention and control programs, such as the establishment of square pod hospitals, large-scale nucleic acid testing, and big-data tracking and tracing, which have increased the admission and treatment rates and cure rates, and reduced the infection and death rates.
In the research and development of vaccines and neutralizing antibodies, we have simultaneously carried out the research and development of inactivated vaccines, viral vector vaccines, protein subunit vaccines, and nucleic acid vaccines, etc., and were the first in the world to carry out phase 1 clinical trials of adenovirus vector vaccines and phase 3 clinical trials of inactivated vaccines, which were approved to be marketed under conditional marketing conditions; we have identified and created a series of neutralizing monoclonal antibodies targeting the neocoronary spikelike protein S and receptor binding domain RBD, forming a series of neutralizing monoclonal antibodies. We have identified and created a series of neutralizing monoclonal antibodies targeting the new coronary protein S and the receptor binding domain RBD, forming an antiviral "cocktail" of Chinese antibody combinations.
China's scientists, through their tireless efforts and selfless dedication, and through their rigorous and efficient scientific research work, have provided strong scientific support for China's major strategic achievements in the fight against the CKP epidemic.
2, Chang'e 5 for the first time to realize the lunar surface automatic sample return
November 24, Chang'e 5 detector in Hainan Wenchang Space Launch Complex launched by the Long March 5 launch vehicle directly into the Earth-Moon transfer orbit; since then, the detector through the Earth-Month transfer, near-moon braking, circular flight, lunar landing, lunar surface sampling encapsulation
The probe experienced the flight phases of earth-moon transfer, near-moon braking, circumlunar flight, lunar surface landing, lunar surface sample encapsulation, lunar surface takeoff, lunar orbital rendezvous and docking and sample transfer, lunar-earth incursion, lunar-earth transfer and re-entry recovery, and lasted 23 days before the Chang'e-5 returner carrying lunar samples touched down safely in the predetermined area of Siziwangqi, Inner Mongolia.
As China's space system project with the highest degree of complexity and the largest technology span, Chang'e-5 accomplished for the first time the sampling and encapsulation of an extraterrestrial object, the first extraterrestrial object surface takeoff, the first unmanned lunar orbit rendezvous and docking and sample transfer, the first lunar-earth entry and carrying lunar samples to return to Earth with high-speed re-entry and many other major technological breakthroughs in the history of China's spaceflight and ultimately realized the country's first extraterrestrial object The first sample return from extraterrestrial objects in China was finally realized.
The success of the Chang'e 5 lunar surface automatic sample return mission marks the successful conclusion of the three-step plan of China's lunar exploration project, which is a big step forward for China's space industry and will contribute to deepening mankind's scientific knowledge of the causes of the moon and the evolutionary history of the solar system.
3. "Striver" creates a new record for manned deep diving in China
"Striver" is the first manned submersible to be developed in China during the 13th Five-Year Plan. "Striver" completed the first phase of sea trials, *** counting 17 dives, the maximum dive depth of 4548 meters.
October 10, 2020, "Striver" set sail to the Marianas Trench to carry out the second phase of sea trials, during which *** counted 13 dives, of which 11 people 24 people participated in eight deep dive tests over 10,000 meters deep.November 10, 2020, 8:12 pm. "Striver" created 10,909 meters of China's manned deep dive depth record.
As the only manned deep-diving equipment in the world that can simultaneously carry three people for multiple round trips to the full depth of the ocean, the success of its development and sea trials has significantly raised the level of independent innovation in China's deep-sea equipment technology, giving China the ability to enter the deepest part of the world's oceans to carry out scientific exploration and research, and reflecting China's success in the field of high technology in the oceans.
4. Revealing the key steps in the transmission of human genetic material
DNA replication is the basis for the precise transmission of human genetic material between cells, and the specific process of recognizing the DNA replication start site in higher organisms is not clear to people, which, to a certain extent, has hindered the understanding of the mechanism of cancer development.
Guo Hong Li's team at the Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and his collaborators have revealed a fine-grained regulatory mechanism for recognizing DNA replication start sites. The study found that histone variant H2A.Z is able to promote dimethylation modification of the twentieth amino acid of histone H4 by binding to histone methylation transferase SUV420H1. The H2A.Z nucleosome with dimethylation modification can further recruit replication start site recognition proteins, thus helping the recognition of DNA replication start sites.
The study further revealed that replication start sites regulated by the H2A.Z-SUV420H1-H4K20me2 pathway have strong replication activity and are biased toward activation for use early in the replication phase. Upon disruption of this regulatory mechanism in cancer cells, both DNA replication and cell growth were inhibited. Upon disruption of the regulatory mechanism in T cells, immune activation of T cells was also inhibited.
This study has elucidated a novel epigenetic regulatory mechanism of DNA replication mediated by H2A.Z, which provides a new perspective for understanding the recognition of DNA replication start sites in higher organisms, and makes an important contribution to solving the long-standing problem of selective initiation of DNA replication start sites in eukaryotic cells.
5. Transparent ferroelectric single crystals with ultra-high piezoelectricity
Relaxed ferroelectric single crystals [Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-PbTiO3, PMN-PT] (Note: Numbers are subscripts) have excellent piezoelectricity effect, and they have been widely used in ultrasound imaging, sonar equipment and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). However, since its discovery more than 20 years ago, there has been no new breakthrough in piezoelectric performance, and due to the existence of ferroelectric domain walls, resulting in low transmittance, which is unable to meet the current demand for multifunctional and high-sensitivity development of piezoelectric devices, there is an urgent need for new theories and design methods.
The research team of Prof. Xu Zhuo from Xi'an Jiaotong University has revealed the origin of the high piezoelectric effect in relaxing ferroelectric single crystals, and developed samarium-doped PMN-PT single crystals, whose piezoelectric performance exceeds 4,000 pC/N, which is doubled compared with that of undoped single crystals.
On this basis, by utilizing the electric domain structure modulation and eliminating the ferroelectric domain walls that play a role in light scattering in single crystals, high piezoelectricity and high transmittance have been obtained in PMN-PT single crystals at the same time for the first time, which breaks through the international problem that it is difficult for both of them to ****exist in the long run. Its piezoelectric coefficient is 100 times higher than that of the existing transparent piezoelectric single crystal LiNbO3 (note: 3 is the subscript), and the electro-optical coefficient can be increased by a maximum of 40 times, and it also has a higher threshold of resistance to photodamage and nonlinear optical effects.
This transparent ferroelectric single crystal can dramatically improve the imaging resolution of photoacoustic imaging systems for the diagnosis of breast cancer, melanoma, and blood disorders, as well as provide a new key material for the development of high-performance electro-optical modulators, optical phased arrays, and quantum optical devices. This single-crystal material with excellent electro-optic, acousto-optic and acousto-optic-electric coupling effects is expected to further open up more new application areas.
6. 2020 Everest Elevation Measurement
The height of Mount Everest has long been a source of concern for the world, and accurately determining the height of Mount Everest and announcing it to the whole world highlights the country's comprehensive strength and scientific and technological level. 2020 Everest Elevation Measurement, a team of Chinese scientists comprehensively utilized a wide range of modern surveying and mapping technologies to achieve a number of major technological innovations and breakthroughs, obtaining the highest precision measurement in history.
This time, the Chinese scientists made a breakthrough by utilizing a variety of modern surveying and mapping techniques to achieve a number of major technological innovations and obtain the highest precision Everest elevation results in history.
The Everest elevation measurement, Beidou satellite positioning technology and domestic measurement equipment for the first time to play a full role in the main force, the application of domestic measurement equipment to achieve a major breakthrough. For the first time, the ground gravity measurement at the summit was completed, obtaining the first gravity measurement result at the summit of Mount Everest in the history of mankind, which helps to improve the accuracy of the Everest elevation measurement. The team of scientists overcame the extreme weather and harsh environment in the Everest region to realize the first historical breakthrough in aerial gravity, optical and laser remote sensing measurements on the summit of Mount Everest and the surrounding area of 12,700 square kilometers, which filled the blank of gravity data in the Everest region and greatly improved the precision of Everest elevation measurement.
Compared with the 2005 Everest Elevation Measurement, the accuracy of the geoid in the Everest region has been improved by 300 percent. A team of Chinese and Nepalese scientists carried out scientific and technological cooperation to establish for the first time the geodetic level surface of the Everest region based on the global elevation datum, and for the first time in history **** the same determination of the snow surface elevation of Everest based on the global elevation datum, which is 8,848.86 meters.
In addition to this, the rich observational data obtained from the Everest Survey will provide valuable and informative first-hand information for the restoration of ecological environment protection, natural resource management, geological research and investigation, monitoring of crustal movement, climate change and glacial tundra research in the Everest region.
7. Paleogenome reveals the evolution and migration history of Chinese populations over the past 10,000 years
In the field of international paleogenomics, there is a dearth of paleogenomic research on East Asia, especially on prehistoric populations in China. Fu Qiaomei's research team at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, has conducted the largest, large-scale and systematic paleogenomic study of prehistoric populations in China for the first time, and has succeeded in obtaining the genomes of 25 individuals from 9500-4200 years ago and 1 individual from 300 years ago from 11 sites in China's north and south through cutting-edge experimental methods, revealing that China's populations have been in the same state of evolution as those in the north and south, and that the main body of the Chinese population is the same as the main body. The study reveals the pattern of north-south differentiation, the continuity of the main body and the history of migration and integration of the Chinese population since 9,500 years ago.
The study reveals that the main populations of the north and south of China were differentiated 9,500 years ago, but the evolution of the populations of the north and south during the same period was basically continuous, and there was no obvious influence of foreign populations, and the migratory interactions mainly took place among the populations of the East Asian region; moreover, it is clearly established that the South Island language population, which is represented by the aboriginal people of the Taiwan Island and is widely distributed in the Pacific islands, originated from the coastal area of south China and can be traced back to 8,400 years ago. It can be traced back to 8,400 years ago. This achievement fills the important information gap of prehistoric human genetics, evolution and adaptation in the East, especially in China, and makes an important scientific contribution to elucidating the process of the formation of the Chinese nation and revising the evolutionary pattern of the South East Asian populations.
8. Big Data portrays 300 million years of Earth's biodiversity evolution history with the highest precision to date
The origin and evolution of life is one of the world's top ten scientific mysteries. More than 99% of the organisms that once lived on Earth have gone extinct, and reconstructing the history of Earth's biodiversity through the fossil record is one of the most important ways to understand the current status and future trends of today's biodiversity. However, the study of Earth's biodiversity changes during the geologic history period has a low temporal resolution and coarse biological classification, which cannot accurately identify the sudden major biological evolution events, nor can it provide an important reference for the study of the evolution of the recent Earth's ecosystems.
Nanjing University's team of Shen Shuzong and Fan Junxuan joined forces with domestic and foreign experts to create an international large-scale database, independently developed artificial intelligence algorithms, and made a breakthrough with Tianhe-2 supercomputing, obtaining the world's first high-precision Paleozoic era marine biodiversity evolution curve of more than 300 million years, with more than 400 times higher time resolution than similar international studies.
The new study is the first of its kind in the world.
The new curve accurately depicts several major extinction, recovery and radiation events during the evolution of Earth's biodiversity, and reveals the synergistic relationship between the changes in biodiversity at that time and the atmospheric CO2 (note: 2 is a subscript) content and the drastic changes in global climate. This study will contribute to the transformation of evolutionary paleontology as a whole.
9. In-depth analysis of markers and intervention targets of multi-organ aging
With the aging of the population increasing, in-depth study of aging and scientific response to population aging is a major national need in the new era. Focusing on the core scientific issues of aging, the research groups of Liu Guanghui and Qu Jing at the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IZC), and Zhang Weiqi at the Institute of Genome Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IGRBS), and Tang Furen at Peking University (Peking University), have jointly developed a multidisciplinary approach to reveal novel biological markers and regulatory targets of mammalian multiorgan aging on the systemic level.
In terms of analyzing the aging mechanism, we found that the imbalance of redox pathway homeostasis is the main molecular feature of ovarian aging in primates, which provides novel biological markers for evaluating the aging of ovaries and the decline of female fertility, and also provides a new way of thinking for finding the measures to slow down the aging of the ovaries and the development of the intervention strategies of the related diseases.
In the area of aging intervention, we have elucidated the novel molecular mechanism by which caloric restriction ("seven-minute satiety") can delay multi-organ aging by regulating the immune-inflammatory pathways in various tissues of the body, revealing the scientific links between metabolic intervention, immune response and healthy lifespan. These findings deepen the understanding of the heterogeneity and complexity of organ senescence, and lay an important foundation for the establishment of early warning and scientific coping strategies for senescence and senescence-related diseases.
10. Experimental observation of quantum interference in chemical reactions
Chemical reactions are accompanied by complex quantum mechanical phenomena, which are often difficult to observe directly, and thus the nature of the reactions is difficult to be understood thoroughly.
A team of researchers from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, including academician Yang Xuming, academician Zhang Donghui, and researchers Sun Zhigang and Xiao Chunlei, has provided an example. They found that in the H + HD → H2 + D reaction, the backward scattering of the product H2 (v'= 2, j'= 3) exhibits significant oscillations (where v' is the vibrational quantum number and j' is the rotational quantum number) in the range of collision energies from 1.9 to 2.2 eV.
Topological theory analysis reveals that there are two very different reaction paths for the reaction, and the oscillations are generated by quantum mechanical interference between these two paths. The study reveals that the quantum geometrical phase effect is still present and observable at lower energies of the reaction. This is very similar to the well-known Aharonov-Bohm effect that clearly reveals the quantum nature of chemical reactions.