New food sources and production systems:a comparison of international regulations and China’s advancements in novel foods with synthetic biology

The global shift towards sustainable food systems has sparked innovations in food sources and production systems,including cell-based meat,plant-based food products,precision fermentation,and 3D food printing.These advancements pose regulatory challenges and opportunities,with China emerging as a critical player in adopting and regulating new food technologies.This review explores the international landscape of new food sources and production systems(NFPS),focusing on China’s role and regulatory approaches compared to global practices.Through this comparative analysis,we aim to contribute to the ongoing dialogue on food safety regulation,offering insights and recommendations for policymakers,industry stakeholders,and researchers engaged in the global food system’s evolution.This comprehensive overview underscores the dynamic nature of regulatory frameworks governing NFPS,highlighting the international efforts to ensure food safety,consumer protection,and the sustainable evolution of the food industry.

Construction of Molecular Biology and Experiment Case Library for Graduate Students

Molecular Biology and Experiment is considered fundamental for graduate students specializing in aquaculture at Guangdong Ocean University.This discipline focuses on the examination of the structure and function of macromolecules,including proteins and nucleic acids.Moreover,it elucidates biological phenomena and principles at the molecular level,making it an essential foundational course for students pursuing various biology majors.As a foundational course for the basic application of aquaculture,Molecular Biology and Experiment requires guidance through numerous examples and cases.However,there are several challenges to address in developing the case library.Consequently,a case library has been established to meet the course requirements of Molecular Biology and Experiment for modern graduate students,with the central goal of reforming the educational model of higher education institutions and enhancing the effectiveness and quality of talent development.This strategy is designed to nurture highly skilled professionals who can address the current needs of the industry.

Exploration on Teaching Reform of Synthetic Biology Course Based on the New Engineering Concept

Synthetic biology is a new frontier of life science,which aims to design,transform and even synthesize organisms with engineering design concept.Doing a good job in the teaching of"synthetic biology"is of great significance to the cultivation and reserve of biotechnology professionals in China,and also has an important impact on students' employment competitiveness.Under the background of"new engineering",the course reform of"synthetic biology"was carried out in terms of the construction of teaching staff,teaching methods,students' participation and the innovation of course content,and specific reform suggestions were put forward,hoping to effectively promote the sustainable development of"synthetic biology"and effectively improve the quality of education.

Plant Developmental Biology in China: Past, Present and Future

Plant development is a process from germination of seed to vegetative growth, flower initiation and development, fertilization and finally to the next generation seed formation. A lot of achievements have been obtained in plant developmental biology in China. Since the 1990's, those young generation scientists returned to China from abroad to use molecular and genetic techniques to study morphological, physiological and biochemical process of plant development. The present paper reviews the progress in some research area of plant developmental biology in the past decades and also prospects the chance and future of plant developmental studies, due to the recent advances of plant genome sequencing and functional genomics in China under the international research background.

Pollination Biology of Ficus hispida in the Tropical Rainforests of Xishuangbanna, China

Ficus hispida L. (Moraceae) is a remarkable species in the ecosystem of tropical rainforests in Xishuangbanna, China. The figs and fig_pollination wasps (Chalcidoidae: Agaonidae) are highly co_evolved mutualists that depend completely on each other for propagating descendants. Pollination of all fig species is done by fig wasps; their unique symbiotic associates, the fig wasps, cannot develop in anywhere except in the fig syconia. The present paper reports on the biology and flowering phenology of F. hispida , as well as the propagation character and pollination behavior of the fig wasps (Ceratosolen solmsi marchali Mayr) based on our observations in the rainforests of Xishuangbanna, southern Yunnan of China. F. hispida is a dioecious tree that annually blossoms and bears fruits 6-8 times, with four to five fruit_bearing peaks. The male trees produce pollen and provide fig wasps with reproductive havens, while the female trees produce fig seeds after pollination by the female wasps. Pollen of F. hispida cannot escape from the dehiscent anthers until they are disturbed by fig wasps. The female wasps open the anthers and collect pollen with their antennal scrapes, mandibles and legs, and then carry pollen to the female receptive syconia where fertilization takes place. Meanwhile, some of the female wasps lay eggs in the male receptive syconia. It takes about 3-67 min to search for the receptive syconia for pollination, and 15-23 h to enter the female receptive syconia. The number of female wasps entering a syconium has close relation with the impregnation and seed_bearing rate of female flowers, as well as the oviposition and reproduction rate of the fig wasps themselves. F. hispida is endowed with a relatively high level of seed bearing (54.1%-82.5%, average 73.8 %). The wasp oviposition rate on the male flowers is between 72.3% and 93.8% with a mean of 84.4%.

Studies on the Reproductive Biology and Endangerment Mechanism of the Endangered Plant Manglietia aromatica

The embryogenesis, pollen germination, floral character and seed physiology of the endangered plant Manglietia aromatica Dandy were investigated. Based on this study, this species has very low seed set rate. The abortion rate of functional megaspores in all the ovules is 27.9%, the egg cell abortion rate of mature embryo sacs is up to 80%, and the germination rate of pollen grains is as low as nearly 0.01%. In addition, the floral structure appears to be another limited factor for the effective pollination of this species. The endangerment mechanism of this species seems to be comprehensive. Human's destroying actions are the direct factors that have made the population degenerate quickly; low reproductive ability and the destroyed environments are the main reasons that prevent the population from renovating and spreading. Therefore, the conservation measures suggested by this study are to research the breed technology, artificial population renovating, in situ conservation, and ex situ conservation.

Morphology of Pyrocoelia pygidialis Pic (Coleoptera:Lampyridae) with Notes on Its Biology

Morphology of different development stages from egg, larva, pupa to adult （male and female） of the firefly, Pyrocoelia pygidialis Pic, was described in details. Some biological habits were noted according to the records of field collection and observation, with references to the rearing in the laboratory. With weakly luminous egg, larva, pupa and female adult, and much weaker luminous male adult only when disturbed, P pygidialis Pic is considered as a diurnal firefly, and chemical signal, instead of light signal, is possibly its dominant means of male-female recognition.

Neural plasticity and adult neurogenesis: the deep biology perspective

The recognition that neurogenesis does not stop with adolescence has spun off research towards the reduction of brain disorders by enhancing brain regeneration. Adult neurogenesis is one of the tougher problems of developmental biology as it requires the generation of complex intracellular and pericellular anatomies, amidst the danger of neuroinflammation. We here review how a multitude of regulatory pathways optimized for early neurogenesis has to be revamped into a new choreography of time dependencies. Distinct pathways need to be regulated, ranging from neural growth factor induced differentiation to mitochondrial bioenergetics, reactive oxygen metabolism, and apoptosis. Requiring much Gibbs energy consumption, brain depends on aerobic energy metabolism, hence on mitochondrial activity. Mitochondrial fission and fusion, movement and perhaps even mitoptosis, thereby come into play. All these network processes are interlinked and involve a plethora of molecules. We recommend a deep thinking approach to adult neurobiology.

Current advances of biocontainment strategy in synthetic biology

Synthetic biotechnology has led to the widespread application of genetically modified organisms(GMOs)in biochemistry, bioenergy, and therapy. However, the uncontrolled spread of GMOs may lead to genetic contamination by horizontal gene transfer, resulting in unpredictable biosafety risks. To deal with these challenges, many effective methods have been developed for biocontainment. In this article, we summarize and discuss recent advances in biocontainment strategies from three aspects: DNA replication, transcriptional regulation, and protein translation. We also briefly introduce the efforts in the biocontainment convention, such as the recent publication of the Tianjin Biosecurity Guidelines for the Code of Conduct for Scientists.

Research Progress of Biology in Coix

Coix has a long cultivation history as a minor crop in China, but many problems including unclear origin, chaos of species, loss and inaccurate use of germplasm resources exist in its research and production due to the lack of systematic study. In recent years, the importance of Coix has been realized with the exploration of its effects in treating and preventing cancer. The systematic study of Coix has met a superb development opportunity with the rapid development of biotechnology especially the deep-sequencing technique. Therefore, this paper presented here the current status of origin and evolution, classification, cytology and molecular biology progress of Coix, analyzed the ploidy of Coix and the genetic relationships with Zea, Sorghum and so on from the point of cytology, and then based on the molecular biology, analyzed the important significance of DNA molecular marker, genetic mapping and gene library in the research on identification of genetic relationship between species and genetic breeding, which could provide useful information for further Coix research.

An Overview on Molecular Biology of Flax(Linum usitatissimum L.) in China

The advances in molecular biology research of flax （Linum usitatissimum L.）, including DNA extraction, gene cloning and transformation, molecular markers, molecular identity, genetic diversity analysis, construction of genetic linkage map etc. were summarized in this article. Meanwhile, some problems existing in flax breeding, cultivation and germplasm classification were pointed out, including less developed molecular markers, lack of target genes and usable markers, genetic linkage map covering less genome, less research on molecular biology and so on. Five constructive suggestions were finally proposed in this article to provide reference for molecular biology research and development of Chinese flax.

Flowering Biology and Fruit Development Characteristics of Apricot Cultivar ‘Kezilang' in Xinjiang

The flowering biology and fruit development characteristics of a Xinjiang apricot （Armeniaca vulgaris Lam） cultivar Kezilang were studied by measuring its flowering phenology, floral organ development, stigma receptivity, pollen quantity, pollen viability, fruit diameter, fruit fresh weight, fruit dry weight and fruit contents, with an attempt to provide a theoretical basis for the cultivation and promotion of Kezilang. The results showed that Kezilang can be popularized as an early-maturing apricot cultivar, as it had high fruit setting rate, large fruit weight, excellent taste, high sugar content and lower titratable acid content in fruit. The dynamic curves of Kezilang fruit diameters in three directions, fruit fresh weight and fruit dry weight were all S-shaped, and the rapid growth stage of dry weight was later than that of other terms. Fruit swelling was due to higher water content of flesh tissue in early stage of the rapid growth periods of fruit. Most sugar in flesh was accumulated at the second rapid growth period of fruit.

后基因组时代的交叉科学:从“Bio-X”到“X Biology”

近年来,随着"人类基因组计划"的实施,生命科学进入了一个"后基因组"(postgenome)时代.在这样一个时代,生命科学关注的范围越来越广,涉及的问题越来越复杂,采用的技术也越来越先进.

Descriptions of Male and Immature Stages of Cryptococcus ulmi Tang et Hao (Homoptera: Coccoidea: Eriococcidae) with Brief Notes on Its Biology

In this paper, the crawler, second instar female and male, prepupa, pupa and adult male of Cryptococcus ulmi are described and illustrated for the first time; adult female is redescribed; a key to all stages is given and the biology is briefly repor ted.

Network biology:A promising approach for drug target identification against neurodevelopmental disorders

Biological entities are involved in complicated and complex connections;hence,discovering biological information using network biology ideas is critical.In the past few years,network biology has emerged as an integrative and systems-level approach for understanding and interpreting these complex interactions.Biological network analysis is one method for reducing enormous data sets to clinically useful knowledge for disease diagnosis,prognosis,and treatment.The network of biological entities can help us predict drug targets for several diseases.The drug targets identified through the systems biology approach help in targeting the essential biological pathways that contribute to the progression and development of the disease.The novel strategical approach of system biologyassisted pharmacology coupled with computer-aided drug discovery(CADD)can help drugs fight multifactorial diseases efficiently.In the present review,we have summarized the role and application of network biology for not only unfolding the mechanism of complex neurodevelopmental disorders but also identifying important drug targets for diseases like ADHD,Autism,Epilepsy,and Intellectual Disability.Systems biology has emerged as a promising approach to identifying drug targets and aiming for targeted drug discovery for the precise treatment of neurodevelopmental disorders.

2^(nd) International Symposium on Adipobiology and Adipopharmacology(ISAA) 23-25 October 2009,Varna,Bulgaria Organized by the Bulgarian Society for Cell Biology

Adipobiology, particularly adipoendocrinology, investigates molecular and cellular processes mediated via adipose tissue in health and disease,

传承开拓精神 打造精品期刊——实现《Journal of Integrative Plant Biology》的跨越式发展

总结《植物学报》近年来的办刊实践和感悟。认为明确的期刊定位、国际化的编委会、海外合作出版、开放存取、追踪前沿学科的优秀稿件、发表周期短、出版质量高、期刊的广泛宣传、高效运作的编辑部等,是《Journal of Integrative Plant Biology》成长为我国精品科技期刊的主要因素。

新加坡生物学主流教材习题的特征探析及启示--以《Biology Matters》为例

以新加坡Biology Matters生物学教材习题为研究对象,分析得出其具有“绘图作答,提高学生形象思维能力”,“情境多样,注重学生对现象的解释”,“联系生活,强调知识解决实际问题”,“探讨伦理,引导学生承担社会责任”“分层设问,培养学生思维的逻辑性”等特征,希望对我国生物学测评试题的命制具有一定的启示意义。

The Laser Technology:New Trends in Biology and Medicine

In fifty years, laser technology has made great progress, and its many applications make it essential in everyday life. However, this technology is still open to numerous developments. Across multiple applications, there is particular focus in the field of medicine, for diagnosis for tailored therapies, and as a research tool in biology. Whereas its use is now well-demonstrated in ophthalmologic and dermatologic treatments, and surgery, one of the most fascinating aspects of laser technology in the field of biology emerged in the late 1990s with the development of devices able to perform fine dissections of biological tissues using a laser beam. The so-called laser-associated microdissection offers a rapid, precise method of isolating and removing targeted cells or groups of cells from complex biological tissues. It represents the missing link between clinical observations and the intrinsic physiological mechanisms of biological tissues. The molecular examination of pathologically altered cells and tissues for DNA, RNA, and protein expression has revolutionized research and diagnosis in pathology, enabling assessment of the role of the cell type in the normal physiological or disease process. Alongside conventional diagnostic and therapeutic approaches, another field of application contribute to the development of targeted treatments at the nanoscale level of laser technology, mainly in the field of cancer, leading to design new and innovative strategies in drug delivery and image-guided surgery. Most of these approaches, but although not exhaustively, will be presented here.