简介：Sincetheearlydaysofmannedspaceflight,hazardouseffectsofthespaceenvironmentonlivingorganismshavebeendisputed.WiththecontinuousmanningoftheInternationalSpaceStation,theplannedChi-nesespacestation,andrenewedinterestinreturningtotheMoonandsendingmannedflightstoMars,identifyingandaddressingthepotentialoutcomesoflong-termspaceexposuresiscriticallyimportant.

简介：Stableisotopesofmostimportantbiologicalelements,suchasC,H,NandO,affectlivingorganisms.Inrapidlygrowingspecies,deuteriumandtoalesserextentotherheavyisotopesreducethegrowthrate.Atleastfordeuteriumitisknownthatitsdepletionalsonegativelyimpactsthespeedofbiologicalprocesses.Asarule,livingorganisms'resist'changesintheirisotopicenvironment,preferringnaturalisotopicabundances.Thispreferencecouldbeduetoevolutionaryoptimization;anadditionaleffectcouldbeduetothepresenceofthe'isotopicreso-nance'.Theisotopicresonancephenomenonhasbeenlinkedtothechoiceofearliestaminoacids,andthusaffectedtheevolutionofgeneticcode.Totesttheisotopicresonancehypothesis,literaturedatawereanalyzedagainstquantitativeandqualitativepredictionsofthehypothesis.Fourstudiesprovidedfiveindependentdatasets,eachinverygoodquantitativeagreementwiththepredictions.Thus,theisotopicresonancehypothesisisnolongersimplyplausible;itcannowbedeemedlikely.Additionaltestingisneeded,however,beforefullacceptanceofthishypothesis.

简介：TheBeijingGenomicsInstitute(BGI)ofChineseAcademyofSciences(CAS)wasofficiallyfoundedinDecember2003.Itspredecessor,BeijingHuadaGenomicsResearchCenter,haspresentedsignificantcontributionstothedevelopmentoflifesciencesinChinabyitsexcellentscientificinnovationsandachievementsinthelastfiveyears.

简介：TheChina-UKSystemsBiologyWorkshop2005washeldduringJune20-21intheNationalScienceParkofZhejiangUniversity,Hangzhou,China.ItwasorganizedbytheInstituteofBioinformatics,ZhejiangUniversity,andwasinitiatedbyProf.Dr.JunZhu(ZhejiangUniversity)andProf.Dr.JohnFindlay(UniversityofLeeds,UK).TheworkshopwaspartoftheprogramcalledUK-ChinaPartnersinScience,aone-yearcampaignthatwasinitiatedbytheBritishgovernmenttoexploremorecollaborationsbetweenUKandChinaonscienceandtechnology.Itwasattendedalsobyarepresentativeofthisprogram,Mr.FrankYuan,seniorscience&innovationofficer.Theideaoftheworkshopwastobringtogetherexpertswithspecialistsinsystemsbiologyinordertopromotethe"naturalpartnership"betweenscientistsfromthetwocountries.Themostimportantitemsofsystemsbiologyconsideredattheworkshopwere:(1)Newtechnologiesandadvancesinsystemsbiology;(2)Researchdevelopmentsingenomicsandproteomics;(3)Newmethodologiesandsoftwareincomputationalbiology;(4)ResearchcollaborationonsystemsbiologybetweenChinaandUK.