BEIJING, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- The following are the highlights of China's science news from the past week:
OCEAN TEMPERATURE
The world's oceans in 2019 were the warmest in recorded human history, a new article said Tuesday. Conducted by an international team of 14 scientists from 11 institutes worldwide, the study also found that global ocean temperatures keep rising and speeding up.
According to the article published in the journal Advances in Atmospheric Sciences, the global ocean temperatures in 2019 were about 0.075 degrees Celsius higher than the average from 1981 to 2010.
TIDAL CURRENT GENERATOR
China's tidal current generator unit with the country's largest single-machine capacity of 600 kW has passed the approval tests of the Ministry of Natural Resources.
The generator unit was developed by the Harbin Electric Machinery Company under the Harbin Electric Corporation, one of the largest manufacturers of power plant equipment in China.
NEW GENOME EDITING METHOD
Chinese scientists have invented a new method of genetically altering rice by applying the ScCas9 protein, which could help develop new gene functions, molecular breeding and genetic improvement.
The innovation was made by a research team from the Institute of Plant Protection of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.
The method would enhance the CRISPR/Cas system, which has rapidly become the preferred tool for genome engineering due to its high efficiency, specificity, simplicity and versatility.
BERBERINE CAN PREVENT COLORECTAL ADENOMA RECURRENCE
Chinese medical researchers have disclosed that the traditional Chinese medicine berberine can prevent colorectal adenoma recurrence after resection, according to a recent study paper published in the journal Lancet Gastroenterology and Hepatology.
Researchers from Renji Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine randomly selected 553 participants being treated by berberine from 2014 to 2016, along with 555 participants who were given a placebo.
The researchers analyzed 429 participants in the berberine group and 462 in the non-berberine group.
The result showed 36 percent of the participants in the berberine group and 47 percent in the placebo group were found to have recurrent adenoma during follow-up. And no colorectal cancers were detected and no serious adverse events were reported, said the paper.
RICE GENE DATABASE
Chinese researchers have developed a database on rice epigenomic information to facilitate rice breeding, according to the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS).
Researchers from the Biotechnology Research Institute of the CAAS created a database named eRice, to integrate epigenomic annotations for both japonica and indica rice, two main cultivars in Asia.
The database combines artificial intelligence technology to conduct deep mining of the data. It will be updated to provide a broader understanding of the epigenetic regulation of complex biological processes in rice as well as a guide for future molecular design efforts.
MOSQUITO SALIVARY PROTEIN
Chinese scientists have identified a mosquito salivary protein as a key factor in facilitating virus transmission, providing a new target for the prevention and control of mosquito-borne disease.
Researchers from Tsinghua University, Shenzhen Center for Disease Control and Prevention as well as other institutions conducted a series of screenings on 32 mosquito salivary proteins and found that the protein AaVA-1 promotes dengue and Zika virus infection and AaVA-1-deficient mosquitoes reduce Zika virus transmission.
This study also showed that AaVA-1 promotes virus transmission by activation of autophagy in host immune cells.
