Editorial Cite This: ACS Chem. Neurosci. 2018, 9, 138−139
pubs.acs.org/chemneuro
Global Neuroscience: China
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researchers have more opportunities to compete for better salaries, which is one of the country’s recent measures set to attract smart Ph.D. students who tend to move to or remain in the West, particularly the United States. Chinese neuroscience has reached critical mass in several regions of China, including Shanghai, Beijing, Hangzhou, Wuhan, Guangzhou, and Xi’an, and will continue to expand with existing and emerging talent recruitment programs. Intriguingly, collaboration between researchers in neuroscience and those in other disciplines would accelerate neuroscience development in China. As part of the major drive for excellence in brain research, the Chinese Academy of Sciences founded the Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology (CEBSIT), a cross-disciplinary, multi-institutional organization, in 2014. The center, led by Professor Mu-ming Poo, previously a joint investigator at UC Berkeley and the Institute of Neuroscience in Shanghai, will address major questions at the frontiers of brain science as well as in artificial intelligence technology involving brain-inspired computing methods and devices. The trend to promote cross-disciplinary brain research has now spread to other places. Tsinghua University in Beijing recently announced the establishment of the Tsinghua Laboratory of Brain and Intelligence, with emphasis on the interaction of systems and computational neuroscience and artificial intelligence. Chinese neuroscience has entered a new era. Brain science and brain-inspired research have been listed as part of the onehundred things to do in China’s 13th 5-year plan for national social and economic development, with the ultimate goal of launching the China Brain Project, a 15-year initiative focusing on basic and applied neuroscience advances, information technology, and artificial intelligence.6 With this and international collaborations, Chinese neuroscience will continue to grow stronger in the coming years. ACS Chemical Neuroscience highlights outstanding research advances from scientists in China in our Global Neuroscience: China virtual issue. Read the research here!
n recent weeks, Drs. Shi-qing Cai, Jiang-an Yin, and their colleagues have been excited about their research published as an article in recent issue of Nature.1 In this work, they uncovered the genetic basis of the natural variation in aging rate. Thanks to the long-term strong research support received from the Chinese government, they were able to pursue 8-year efforts to complete this remarkable work. They are not the only ones who have benefited from the support. On Deccember 20, 2017, three papers appeared in the same issue of Neuron from three independent research groups based in Beijing,2−4 exemplifying the rapid growth and great potential of Chinese neuroscience. Nowadays, more and more researchers in China are able to generate original and high-quality scientific findings through long-term efforts. It is estimated that, in 2017, up to 100 papers from Chinese scientists were published in three high profile journals Nature, Science, and Cell.5 Over the last 40 years, Chinese neuroscience has benefited tremendously from China’s economic boom. The support from the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) and the Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) have been steadily growing over the years. These two funding agencies have been the major sources of financial support to Chinese neuroscience research. Some provinces have also committed funds to enhance their local neuroscience growth. The investment in neuroscience has reached new heights ever since China launched its economic reform in the early 1980s. Although historically, limited funds for Chinese neuroscience research have come from the private sector, emerging evidence suggests that this situation may be changing. In 2011, the IDG/ McGovern Institute expanded the McGovern neuroscience research network to China by setting up three new IDG/ McGovern Institutes at Tsinghua University, Peking University, and Beijing Normal University, respectively, indicating high interest in China as a place for international investment in neuroscience. Very recently, Chinese entrepreneur Mr. Tianqiao Chen and his wife founded the Tianqiao Chen International Brain Disorder Research Institute in the Huasha Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai. Their donation of 500 million RMB (equivalent to $73.5 million USD) represents their new commitment to research that improves our understanding of the brain and, consequently, human welfare. It is likely that their move will call upon more donations and support from entrepreneurs to further brain research in China. The rapid growth of Chinese neuroscience is also attributable to the influx of Chinese-born and foreign-born neuroscientists who have been supported by a variety of talent programs, such as the Chinese Academy of Science’s Hundred Talents Plan, the Thousand Talents Program from the Central Organization Department, the NSFC’s Outstanding Young Scientist program, and the Ministry of Education’s Changjiang Professorship. Young researchers have received more attention than ever. As soon as they are successfully enrolled in the Recruitment Program for Young Professionals from the Central Organization Department, they receive substantial start-up funds and quickly build an ambitious group. Postdoctoral © 2018 American Chemical Society
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Jiawei Zhou, Associate Editor AUTHOR INFORMATION
Notes
Views expressed in this editorial are those of the author and not necessarily the views of the ACS.
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REFERENCES
(1) Yin, J.-A., Gao, G., Liu, X.-J., Hao, Z.-Q., Li, K., Kang, X.-L., Li, H., Shan, Y.-H., Hu, W.-L., Li, H.-P., and Cai, S.-Q. (2017) Genetic variation in glia-neuron signaling modulates ageing rate. Nature 551, 198−203. (2) Chai, Z., Wang, C., Huang, R., Wang, Y., Zhang, X., Wu, Q., Wang, Y., Wu, X., Zheng, L., Zhang, C., Guo, W., Xiong, W., Ding, J., Zhu, F., and Zhou, Z. (2017) Cav2.2 gates calcium-independent but voltage-dependent secretion in mammalian sensory neurons. Neuron 96, 1317−1326.
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DOI: 10.1021/acschemneuro.8b00048 ACS Chem. Neurosci. 2018, 9, 138−139
ACS Chemical Neuroscience
Editorial
(3) Chen, R., Wang, F., Liang, H., and Li, W. (2017) Synergistic processing of visual contours across cortical layers in V1 and V2. Neuron 96, 1388−1402. (4) Chen, G., Zhang, Y., Li, X., Zhao, X., Ye, Q., Lin, Y., Tao, H. W., Rasch, M. J., and Zhang, X. (2017) Distinct inhibitory circuits orchestrate cortical beta and gamma band oscillations. Neuron 96, 1403−1418. (5) Ye, S. Look back to 2017: the scientific events remembered by history The Intellectuals, published on Dec. 21, 2017. (6) Poo, M., Du, J., Ip, N. Y., Xiong, Z.-Q., Xu, B., and Tan, T. (2016) China brain project: basic neuroscience, brain diseases, and brain-inspired computing. Neuron 92, 591−596.
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DOI: 10.1021/acschemneuro.8b00048 ACS Chem. Neurosci. 2018, 9, 138−139
