Life sciences and biotechnology in China

Abstract

Life science and biotechnology have become a top priority in research and development in many countries as the world marches into the new century. China as a developing country with a 1.3 billion population and booming economy is actively meeting the challenge of a new era in this area of research. Owing to support from the government and the scientific community, and reform to improve the infrastructure, recent years have witnessed a rapid progress in some important fields of life science and biotechnology in China, such as genomics and protein sciences, neuroscience, systematics, super-hybrid rice research, stem cell and cloning technology, gene therapy and drug/vaccine development. The planned expansion and development of innovation in related sectors and the area of bioethics are described and discussed.

A Comparative Study of Scientific Publications in Health Care Sciences and Services from Mainland China, Taiwan, Japan, and India (2007–2014)

“…Although ML has made great achievements in its economy in the past decade, most of the rural population still lives in poverty. More than 50% of the rural population cannot afford any kind of medical care [ 18 , 19 ]. Thus, health care sciences and services development is at a relatively low level in rural areas—far from the modernization level associated with the publication of scientific articles in international journals.…”

Obstacles and opportunities in Chinese pharmaceutical innovation

“…Meanwhile, China is one of the countries with the richest biological resources and diversities, which has approximately 10% of the world’s biological resources [46]. Additionally, with further research of active components and pharmacological mechanisms, TCM will serve the global health demands and broaden the pipeline of natural medicine discovery and development, increasing the importance of Chinese herbal medicines in therapeutic systems especially for cancer, HIV, diabetes and cardiovascular disease therapies.…”

Synthetic biology: An emerging research field in China

“…From the historical point of view, the forces driving Chinese biotechnology research are the need to fulfill agricultural demands and enhance industrial production, and to provide health care to the 1.3 billion people. Early biotechnology developments in China emphasized more on research for agricultural applications but less for medical and pharmaceutical ones ( Chen et al, 2007 ). However, since the launch of funding projects 863 and 973 Programs, the development and utilization of molecular techniques in life science have become common.…”