New advances in quality chemistry and health function of black tea2021-12-27Black tea, which is fully fermented, is the most consumed tea in the world. While being processed, it has to undergo withering, rolling and fermentation, which causes complex biochemical reactions of the substances contained in tea leaves and ultimately gives birth to its unique flavor and health effect. Recently, the research team led by Prof. WANG Yuefei from the College of Agriculture and ... READ MORE |
Genetic basis of root economic spectrum2021-12-25By analyzing the acquisition-conservation tradeoff in root systems among different plants, ecologists put forward the root economics spectrum (RES) hypothesis. Some plant species have finer and cost-effective absorptive roots which contribute to rapid nutrient uptake but have shorter lifespans whereas others have thicker and less cost-effective absorptive roots marked by slower nutrient acquisitio... READ MORE |
AI helps with drug discovery in the “galaxy”2021-12-23Drug-target interaction (DTI) is a prominent research area in drug discovery, which refers to the recognition of interactions between chemical compounds and the protein targets. Chemists estimate that 1060 compounds with drug-like properties could be made — that's more than the total number of atoms in the Solar System, as an article reported in the journal Nature in 2017.Drug develo... READ MORE |
Scientists probe into spinach domestication and genetic basis of agronomic traits2021-12-22On December 13, Prof. JIAO Chen from the College of Agriculture and Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, and Prof. FEI Zhangjun from the Boyce Thompson Institute, Cornell University, co-published a research article entitled “Genomic analyses provide insights into spinach domestication and the genetic basis of agronomic traits” in the journal Nature Communications.Spinach is a remarkably... READ MORE |
Global youth showcase digital solutions to challenges of poverty and hunger2021-12-21On December 9, 10 youth-led teams pitched their innovative solutions at the on-line Pitch Event of the Global AgriInno Challenge (GAC) 2021, which attracted over 600 viewers from five continents.GAC 2021, themed on “Digital Villages: Solutions for the Four Betters”, was co-organized by Zhejiang University (ZJU) and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), with the support f... READ MORE |
X-Spider: From the Web of Technology to the Web of Life2021-12-21“Let me introduce to you my second granddaughter,” an elderly lady enthusiastically announced, bending down to a half-squat as she patted the robot at her feet, “unlike other robots, this one can chat with me, and amazingly, in the Hangzhou dialect!” The ball-bodied, six-legged robot is called X-Spider. its relevance to the global aging population and its unique value proposition sent thi... READ MORE |
Rapid morphological shifts in response to habitat fragmentation2021-12-20Habitat fragmentation is one of the leading causes of biodiversity loss. The body size in terms of body mass and body length is associated with many biological traits, such as life history strategy and interspecific competition. Differences in space and time in body size are also the outcome of adaptive evolution. As compared with mainland species, island species have undergone remarkably striking... READ MORE |
ZJU, LMU Munich renew partnership commitment2021-12-18Zhejiang University and LMU Munich have renewed an agreement to work together to develop strategic collaborations for advancing knowledge, research and innovation.ZJU Vice President YAN Jianhua and LMU Vice President Francesca Biagini signed an Agreement for Joint Doctoral Studies on December 17 as a latest step in the development of co-supervision mechanisms.“With this Agreement, Zhejiang Univer... READ MORE |
Insight@ZJU: Vice President HE Lianzhen shares her vision for building a more sustainable community2021-12-17[Message from the Editor: In the face of major challenges, concerted actions need to be taken more broadly in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. Innovation-driven universities have a greater responsibility to shoulder and a unique role to play in this process. At the invitation of International Association of Universities (IAU), Vice President HE Lianzhen shared ZJU... READ MORE |
Joint efforts called for to promote AI ethics2021-12-14A multi-country panel of scholars, researchers and stakeholders called for global efforts to tackle the peril of AI usage with AI ethics at the Workshop themed on “the AI Ethics & Internet Governance: Global Lessons & Practices”. As part of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) held in Katowice, Poland from December 6 to 10, the Workshop was co-hosted by the Zhejiang University College of ... READ MORE |
Directed-evolution of translation system for efficient unnatural amino acids incorporation and generalizable synthetic auxotroph construction2021-12-14The genetic code of all three kingdoms of life is universal and encodes the same 20 natural amino acids for a variety of complex physiological functions. The expansion of the genetic code by incorporating UAAs with diverse functional groups has enabled the synthesis of proteins with enhanced or novel functions, and the construction of UAA-dependent synthetic auxotrophs. However, it is extremely ch... READ MORE |
Dialogue@ZJU: Dr. Hyeon Jeong Lee, honoree of MIT Technology Review Innovators Under 35 Asia Pacific 20212021-12-13[Message from the editor: Recently, Dr. Hyeon Jeong Lee at the Zhejiang University College of Biomedical Engineering & Instrument Science was awarded with the title of MIT Technology Review Innovators Under 35 Asia Pacific 2021. In this interview, she introduced her research and shared her insights into innovation.] Quotes from the interview:- Innovation requires creativity and ... READ MORE |
Seeing is believing: phase transformation in titanium alloys observed at atomic scale2021-12-11Titanium is an important structural metal. Titanium alloys are widely used in aerospace and biomedical applications, thanks to their light weight, remarkable specific strength, superb corrosion resistance and high heat resistance.Recently, Prof. YU Qian in Prof. ZHANG Ze’ s group at the Center of Electron Microscopy in Zhejiang University led her team in collaboration with Prof. MA En a... READ MORE |
Does more attention necessarily lead to better working memory?2021-12-11When logging onto a web page, we are often required to enter a randomly generated verification code. To avoid errors, we need to pay sufficient attention to it. However, this code is no longer needed for future scenarios; thus, the information becomes outdated after serving its one-time purpose. How does the brain deal with this type of attended but outdated information? Recently, the researc... READ MORE |