BEIJING: The following is a summary of published science and technology news of China:
HONORS FOR ASTRONAUTS
Three astronauts from the Shenzhou-15 crewed mission were awarded medals for their service to China’s space endeavors.
Fei Junlong was honored with a second-class aerospace achievement medal, while Deng Qingming and Zhang Lu received third-class medals and the honorary title of “heroic astronauts.”
The awards were given by the Communist Party of China Central Committee, the State Council, and the Central Military Commission.
SPACE EXPERIMENT
Chinese scientists will conduct an exo-ecosystem space experiment on the Tiangong Space Station, aiming to explore the ability of microbes to survive in space.
The China Exo-Ecosystem Space Experiment (CHEESE), co-designed by scientists from Tsinghua University, the Institute of Microbiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics and Dalian Maritime University, will expose microorganisms to space conditions, including microgravity, vacuum, UV radiation and extreme temperatures.
KIDNEY GROWTH
A Chinese team has grown, for the first time in the world, early kidneys from human stem cells inside pig embryos.
The advance that brings pig-grown human organs closer to reality will open an exciting avenue for kidney transplants and a new window for studying human kidney development, according to a study published in the journal Cell Stem Cell.
Scientists from Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health under the Chinese Academy of Sciences used a gene-editing tool to engineer certain genes in human induced pluripotent stem cells (IPSCs) to strengthen their capability to gain a foothold and form kidneys in pig embryos that are genetically modified to lack the ability to grow a kidney.
