2021: year in review
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2021-12-31
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As we draw near to the end of Year 2021, the ongoing pandemic continues to pose challenges, yet the crisis has driven deeper partnerships in response and further steps in our commitment to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. ZJU hosted the Global University Presidents’ Online Forum Presidents in March, where a joint statement was announced, reaffirming collective commitment of 61 universities around the world to sustainability. Meanwhile, “A Global ZJU for Social Good (Z4G)”, our sus...
ZJU scientists reveal the genetic basis of mitochondrial diseases
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2021-12-31
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Mutations in genes encoding mitochondrial aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases are linked to diverse diseases. However, the precise mechanisms by which these mutations affect mitochondrial function and disease development are not fully understood.The joint team led by Dr. GE Wanzhong from the Women’s Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine and Prof. GUAN Min-Xin from the Institute of Genetics, Zhejiang University published their collaborative research regarding the developmental delay ...
ZJU scientists’ research work hailed as one of China’s Top 10 Sci-tech Breakthroughs of the Year
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2021-12-29
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On December 20, Science and Technology Daily, a newspaper co-founded by the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology, the State Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and China Association for Science and Technology, unveiled China’s Top 10 Scientific and Technological Breakthroughs 2021. The research on elastic ice microfibers, completed by Prof. TONG Limin and his team at the College of Optical Science and Engineering, ...
New advances in quality chemistry and health function of black tea
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2021-12-27
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Black 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 Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, has made a series of progress in terms of the quality formation ...
Genetic basis of root economic spectrum
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2021-12-25
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By 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 acquisition but longer lifespans. The RES hypothesis reflects the correlations among different root traits, wh...
AI helps with drug discovery in the “galaxy”
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2021-12-23
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Drug-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 development, on average, takes about 14 years and costs up to 1.5 billion dollars. During the journey of d...
Scientists probe into spinach domestication and genetic basis of agronomic traits
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2021-12-22
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On 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 nutritious leafy vegetable belonging to the Chenopodiaceae family. However, there has been a p...
Global youth showcase digital solutions to challenges of poverty and hunger
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2021-12-21
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On 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 from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, China and Pinduoduo, a leading e-commerce platfor...
X-Spider: From the Web of Technology to the Web of Life
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2021-12-21
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“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 this elder-care robot all the way to the finals of the 7th International “Internet Plus” Competition....
Rapid morphological shifts in response to habitat fragmentation
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2021-12-20
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Habitat 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 changes in shape and body size.Prof. DING Ping at the Zhejiang University College of Life Scie...