Profile of Dr. Hefeng Huang

<正>Dr. Hefeng Huang received her Bachelor’s degree in 1982 and Master’s degree in 1989 from the Zhejiang Medical University, now known as the Zhejiang University Medical School in Hangzhou, China. After graduation, she served as a doctor of obstetrics and gynecology at the Zhejiang Women’s Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University. From1990 to 1991, she underwent training for assisted reproduction technology (ART) at the Queen Mary Hospital of the Hong Kong University. Subsequently, she returned to the     

Profile of Dr. Hualan Chen

正Dr. Hualan Chen is a virologist whose research focuses on understanding influenza virus and developing vaccines against this virus. She studied veterinary medicine as her undergraduate and graduate majors in Gansu Agricultural University, receiving her Bachelor degree and Master degree in 1991 and 1994, respectively. In 1997, she received her Ph.D. from the Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS). After three years of postdoctoral research at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States, she was offered a professorship in 2002 at the Harbin Veterinary Research Institute of CAAS and was appointed as the Director of the     

Profile of Xiyun Yan

正Dr.Xiyun Yan obtained her B.S.degree in 1983,from the Henan Medical College,and then studied cell biology in Professor Shizhang Bei’s lab in the Institute of Biophysics,Chinese Academy of Sciences(CAS)until leaving for Germany in 1989.After receiving her medical doctor's degree from Heidelberg University in Germany,she joined the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Institute in New York as a postdoctoral research fellow.In 1997,Dr.Yan returned to China through her selection in the"Hundred Talents Program"by     

Profile of Qi Zhou

正Dr.Qi Zhou received his Ph.D.degree in Histology and Embryology from Northeast Agricultural University,China,in 1996.He then joined the Institute of Developmental Biology,Chinese Academy of Sciences(CAS),as a postdoctoral fellow,and was qualified as associate professor two years later.In 1999,he joined Prof.Jean-Paul Renard’s group at the Developmental Biology and Reproduction Unit of the French National Institute for Agricultural Research(INRA)as a postdoctoral fellow.He soon led several researchers working on an animal cloning project,and,among     

Cell Research Announces the Appointment of New Deputy Editor-in-chief

Cell Research is pleased to announce that Dr Dangsheng Li has been appointed as the new Deputy Editor-in-chief for our journal, starting March 2006. Dangsheng received his BS degree （in Cell Biology） from the University of Science and Technology of China, and obtained his PhD （in Molecular Biology） from Cornell University Graduate School of Medical Sciences. After extensive postdoctoral training at New York University Medical Center, he joined Cell Press in 2004 to serve as an Associate Editor for the premium biology journal Cell. Dangsheng will be in charge of the scientific editing operations of Cell Research, working closely with our academic Editors, members of our Editorial Board, as well as our expert reviewers. Dangsheng shares our goals of developing and growing Cell Research, and we are extremely pleased to be able to appoint him to this position.     

Cell Research Announces the Appointment of New Deputy Editor-in-chief

Cell Research is pleased to announce that Dr Dangsheng Li has been appointed as thenew Deputy Editor-in-chief for our journal,starting March 2006.Dangsheng received hisBS degree(in Cell Biology)from the University of Science and Technology of China,and obtained his PhD(in Molecular Biology)from Cornell University Graduate School ofMedical Sciences.After extensive postdoctoral training at New York University MedicalCenter,he joined Cell Press in 2004 to serve as an Associate Editor for the premium biol-ogy journal Cell.Dangsheng will be in charge of the scientific editing operations of Cell     

Current progress of China＇s free ART program

China＇s Free ART Program was initiated in 2002 as an emergency response to save and improve the lives of AIDS patients living mainly in impoverished rural regions of central China. With little experience in HIV/AIDS treatment and care and resource limitations, China＇s efforts to provide widespread access to free antiretroviral therapy has been a process fraught with difficulty. However, the Free ART Program is progressing from an emergency response to a standardized treatment and care system. The development of national guidelines, training programs, a laboratory support network, a national patient database, programs for special populations such as children and patients living with coinfections, and operational research has improved the scope and quality of the free treatment program. As of June 30, 2005, a total of 19,456 patients in 28 provinces, autonomous regions, and special municipalities had received free ART. Challenges stemming from the nature of China＇s health system and patient population persist, but with strong government support and a diverse set of resources, China has the capacity to overcome these challenges and to provide nationwide access to high quality treatment and care.     

Back to the future of oridonin： again, compound from medicinal herb shows potent antileukemia efficacies in vitro and in vivo

Traditional Chinese Medicine （TCM） has been widely and successfully used in treating illnesses ranging from inflammation to cancer, and compounds from medicinal herbs and minerals are playing more and more important roles in taming various kinds of diseases [1 ], exemplified by artemisinin and arsenic trioxide （ATO）. Artemisinin （or Qinghaosu in Chinese） is isolated from a plant called sweet wormwood （Artemisia annua; or Qinghao in Chi- nese） which has been used as an antipyretic remedy for more than 1500 years in China. Artemisinin has impressive parasiticidal properties in vitro and in vivo, and is now one of the most important class of antimalarial agents [2, 3]. ATO is a common, naturally occurring substance which had been used in China for a long time as a therapeutic agent for some severe diseases with the ancient philosophy of ＇treating an evil with a toxic＇ [4]. In 1990s, ATO was shown to be able to cause partial differentiation at low dose and apoptosis at high concentration of acute promyelocytic leukemia （APL） cells [5], and induce complete remission in 90% of patients with relapsed or refractory APL [6-8]. These paradigms suggest that TCM is the treasure house not only for the Chinese people, but also for the whole human beings. It is our responsibility to develop evidence-based therapeutic approaches from TCM for diseases with poor prognosis.     

Sodium channel gene expression in mosquitoes, Aeries albopictus （S.）

A mosquito strain of Aedes albopictus, HAmAal^G0, from Huntsville, Alabama, USA, showed a normal susceptibility and low tolerance to permethrin and resmethrin （pyrethroid insecticides） compared to a susceptible Ikaken strain, even though these pyrethroid insecticides have been used in the field for a long period of time in Alabama. Recently, we treated HAmAal^G0 in the laboratory with permethrin for five generations and detected no significant change in the level of resistance to permethrin in the selected mosquitoes, HAmAal^G0, compared with the parental strain HAmAal^G0. We then examined the allelic expression at the L-to-F kdr site of the sodium channel gene in the Aedes mosquitoes to address our hypothesis that the L-to-F kdr mutation was not present in HAmAal^G0 and HAmAal^G5 mosquitoes. We found that every tested individual in Ikaken, HAmAal^G5, and HAmAal^G5 populations expressed a codon of CTA at the L-to-F kdr site encoding Leu, strongly corresponding to their susceptibility to insecticides.     

NEW SPECIES AND NEW RECORDS OF LYGUS (SUBG. APOLYGUS) FROM CHINA(HEMIPTERA: MIRIDAE)

The present paper deals with ten species of the genus Lygus Hahn (subg. Apolygus)collected from China. Among them eight species are described as new to science and twospecies are recorded for the first time in this country. Type specimens except otherwise no-ted are kept in the Biology Department of Nankai University,Lygus (Apolygus) hilaris (Horvath) New record from China: Zhejiang.     

NEW GENUS AND NEW SPECIES OF ISOMETOPIDAE FROM CHINA (Hemiptera - Heteroptera)

The present paper deals with four species belonging to three genera, in which a genus (Paraletabo gen. nov.) and four species are described as new to science, a genus (Sophianus Distant) is recorded for the first time from China. The type specimens are deposited in the Department of Biology, Nankai University. The new genus and new species are briefly diangnosed as follows.     

A glimpse of life science research at Tsinghua

<正>Life Science at Tsinghua University has a long and eventful history.The Biology Department,founded in 1926,was among the oldest and most prestigious in China.In 1952,the Biology Department,together with other natural science departments,were eliminated from the University by order of the central government.In 1984,the Department of Biological Science and Biotechnology was re-established,with Professor Poo Mu-ming being the founding Director.In the ensuing 25 years,the Department went through rapid transformations and gained national and international recognition.In September 2009,the Department of Biological Science and Biotechnology was replaced by the School of Life Sciences.     

Profile of Peng Li

正Dr.Peng Li received her B.S.degree from Beijing Normal University(China)in 1987.In 1988,she joined the Department of Biochemistry,University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas(USA)as a CUSBEA(China–United States Biochemistry Examination and Application)student.In 1995,she received her Ph.D.degree from University of California at San Diego(U.S.A).She then did her post-doctoral training in Howard Hughes Medical Institute,University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at     

Celebrating 90 years of Peking University School of Life Sciences(1925–2015)

<正>The Department of Biology at Peking University was established in 1925,with Mr.Tan Xi Hong as its inaugural department head.In 1993,the department was renamed the School of Life Sciences.During the past 90 years,a steady stream of students has enrolled in the department in order to explore the secrets of life and to dedicate themselves to the advancement of society.     

Profile of Xiaofeng Cao

正Dr.Xiaofeng Cao obtained her B.S.degree in Applied Biochemistry from Peking University in 1988.She received her M.S.degree(supervised by Mr.Longfei Yan)in Biochemistry from China Agricultural University in 1991.From1993 to 1997,she carried out her Ph.D.study(supervised by Dr.Zhangliang Chen)in the National Laboratory of Protein Engineering and Plant Genetic Engineering in the College of Life Sciences,Peking University.From 1995 to     

Increasing terrestrial vegetation activity in China, 1982—1999

Variations in vegetation activity during the past 18 years in China were investigated using the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) derived from the 3rd generation time series dataset of NOAA-AVHRR from 1982 to 1999. In order to eliminate the effects of non-vegetation factors, we characterized areas with NDVI < 0.1 as “sparsely vegetated areas” and areas with NDVI ≥ 0.1 as “vegetated areas”. The results showed that increasing NDVI trends were evident, to varying extents, in almost all regions in China in the 18 years, indicating that vegetation activity has been rising in recent years in these regions. Compared to the early 1980s, the vegetated area increased by 3.5% by the late 1990s, while the sparsely vegetated area declined by 18.1% in the same period. The national total mean annual NDVI increased by 7.4% during the study period. Extended growing seasons and increased plant growth rates accounted for the bulk of these increases, while increases in temperature and summer rainfall, and strengthening agricultural activity were also likely important factors. NDVI changes in China exhibited relatively large spatial heterogeneity; the eastern coastal regions experienced declining or indiscernibly rising trends, while agricultural regions and western China experienced marked increases. Such a pattern was due primarily to urbanization, agricultural activity, regional climate characteristics, and different vegetation responses to regional climate changes.     

AIDS Research and Its Role in China＇s AIDS Prevention and Control Policies

By the end of 2005, the estimated number of HIV infected people in China was 650,000. The seriousness of the epidemic calls for effective control measures to tackle the problems in order to avoid the tragedy in Africa from happening in China. ＂Prevention First＂ is the cornerstone of the country＇s health policy. On 2003 World AIDS Day, Premier Jiabao Wen announced a new national AIDS control policy, ＂Four Frees and One Care＂. This policy clearly shows that the Chinese government has once again taken full responsibility to solve public health problems and has profound impact far beyond the AIDS field. In early 2006, the central government put scientific and technology innovation as a national priority and set the target to build an innovative China by year 2020. Since then, the government has been increasing investment in science and technology with major emphasis on both infectious diseases control and new drug research and development. For the first time, development of 100 new drugs and control of major infectious diseases （AIDS, HBV, TB and other emerging infectious diseases） have been selected as national key scientific projects. China＇s best minds in related fields will be pooled to work together in order to remove the technical barriers blocking efficient control of the major infectious disease in China. Knowledge on molecular epidemiology, immunology, pathogenesis, HAART, as well as HIVDR strains will certainly provide urgently needed scientific information for China＇s AIDS control program. Only evidence-based strategy from good research will provide long-term effective control of AIDS.     

Mitochondrial dysfunction in Parkinson＇s disease： a possible target for neuroprotection

Mitochondria are dynamic organelles which are required for maintaining cellular homeostasis. Thus, it is not surprising that irregularities in mitochondrial function result in cellular damage and are linked with neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson＇s disease. Evidence that mitochondrial dysfunction is key to the pathogenesis of Parkinson＇s disease is founded in studies in post-mortem tissue from patients with Parkinson＇s disease, and also from genetic studies stemming from patients with familial Parkinson＇s disease. Whether triggered by environmental or genetic factors, mitochondrial dysfunction occurs early in the pathogenic process, and is central to Parkinson＇s disease pathology. As such, targeting the mitochondria to slow or halt disease progression is an attractive strategy for disease-modifying agents in Parkinson＇s disease. Indeed, several therapies which target the mitochondria have been investigated as neuroproteetive treatments for Parkinson＇s disease. This review will discuss the evidence supporting mitochondrial dysfunction in Parkinson＇s disease pathology as well as treatment strategies that target the mitochondria.     

ON NEW SPECIES OF THE FAMILY THOMISIDAE FROM CHINA (ARACHNIDA: ARANEAE)

The present paper deals with nine species of spiders belonging to the. family .Thomisidae from China, types are deposited in the Institute of Zoology, Academia Sinica, Beijing and the Department of Biology, Bethune Medical University, Changchun, respectively. Diagnoses ofnew species are as follows:new speties are as follows:     

A NEW RHEOCRICOTOPUS THIENEMANN ＆ HARNISCHIA （DIPTERA： CHIRONOMIDAE） FROM TAIWAN PROVINCE, CHINA

Rheocricotopus (Psilocricotopus) taiwanensis sp. n. from Taiwan, China, is described as male imagines. The species is allied to R. (P.) chalybeatus (Edwards) but it is easily separated from the latter in lacking setae in all reins, much lower AR and more pronounced crista dorsalis in gonostylus. The genus is new to Taiwan Province, China. The specimen is deposited at the Department of Biology, Nankai University, Tianjin.