The China Union of Life Science Societies at the China Association for Science and Technology recently announced the country’s top 10 advances in life sciences in 2022. Two projects recommended by the Biophysical Society of China (BSC) were included in the list.

The immune evasion of SARS-CoV-2 mutants

Principal researchers

Xiaoliang Sunney Xie

Biomedical Pioneering Innovation Center at Peking University and Changping Laboratory

Cao Yunlong

Biomedical Pioneering Innovation Center at Peking University and Changping Laboratory

Wang Xiangxi

The Institute of Biophysics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Changping Laboratory

Wang Youchun

National Institutes for Food and Drug Control and Changping Laboratory

Xie’s research team’s work, published in Nature and Cell, has pioneered the humoral immunity evasion and related molecular mechanism of the Omicron mutant strain and its subvariants. The findings have revealed the structure and infection characteristics of various mutants.

Their research suggests that it is unlikely to achieve herd immunity through Omicron infection and provides a theoretical basis for the research and development of new broad-spectrum COVID-19 vaccines and antibody drugs.

Molecular mechanism of autophagy initiation in multicellular organisms

Principal researcher

Zhang Hong

The Institute of Biophysics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences

Zhang’s project reveals that calcium transients on the ER surface are the key signal that determines the formation of autophagy on the endoplasmic reticulum, which greatly promotes understanding of the molecular mechanism of autophagy.

The research is of great significance in exploring the role ER calcium homeostasis imbalance and autophagy abnormalities play in the occurrence and development of neurodegenerative diseases and related disorders.

As one of the founding societies of the China Union of Life Science Societies, the BSC has participated in the selection of China’s top 10 advances in life sciences over the years and has injected momentum into the development and innovation of the academic field in China.