HONG KONG - Over 7,000 new microbial species in the oceans were discovered by researchers from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), which made the results public on Monday.The new species found including acidobacteria, a natural medicinal phylum with the CRISPR gene editing system discovered at sea for the first time, shedded new light on human's understanding of microbial biodiversity in the oceans and brought hope to the development of new drugs.Led by Qian Peiyuan, a professor of the Department of Ocean Science at HKUST, the research team collaborated with peers from the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia, University of Georgia in the United States and University of Queensland in Australia on sourcing water samples across Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans.Over a span of eight years, the team developed biofilms with the water samples on different materials, eventually discovering more than 7,000 new biofilm-forming species and 10 new bacterial phyla, breaking the existing belief that the world has only 35,000 marine microbial species and 80 bacterial phyla.Acidobacteria, one of the new marine phyla identified in this research known only exist in terrestrial soils previously, has been used for developing novel antibiotics and anti-tumor drugs due to its high level of biosynthetic gene clusters.This is the first ocean species found to contain gene-editing system CRISPR, which is a family of DNA sequences found within the genomes of bacterial organisms like Escherichia coli. It confers resistance to foreign plasmids or phages and contains gene-editing capabilities.The CRISPR technology is widely used in agro-industrial and pharmaceutical genetic engineering to improve yield for soybeans, corn and rice, for instance, through enhancing the resistance of crops to pollution and natural disasters."The discovery of new marine microbial species has not only improved our understanding of ocean biodiversity, but more importantly, these species have big potential, both in terms of facilitating our understanding of lives and offering new clues to our search of new treatments for diseases," said Qian.The finding was published in the scientific journal Nature Communications. wristbands canadacustom silicone bracelets canadarubber bracelets canadasilicone bracelets canadasilicone wristbands canadacustom wristbands canadacanadian wristbandswristbands canada
Vice-Premier Liu Yandong meets Chinese athlete Wu Dajing, who won the men's 500-meter short-track speed skating gold medal at the Winter Games in Pyeongchang, Republic of Korea, on Sunday. Liu, as the special representative of President Xi Jinping, was invited to the Winter Olympics closing ceremony and met some of the Chinese athletes.Feng Yongbin / China Daily Beijing stole the show at the closing ceremony of the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics on Sunday by presenting a high-tech handover performance at the gala finale to herald the start of Olympic Beijing time. The extinguishing of the Olympic flame in Pyeongchang, the Republic of Korea, on Sunday marked the beginning of a new four-year cycle to the 2022 Beijing Winter Games after Beijing Mayor Chen Jining received the Olympic flag from his Pyeongchang counterpart Shim Jaeguk. Following the flag handover, an eight-minute show directed by renowned film producer Zhang Yimou welcomes the world to Beijing in a high-tech visual feast, facilitated by transparent projection screens playing images of modern China powered by robots skating with human artists disguised as pandas. President Xi Jinping invited the world to Beijing in a video message during the show. Together with all the Chinese people, I welcome friends from all over the world. See you in Beijing in 2022, he said. Zhang, who impressed the world for promoting China's rich history and culture by directing the grand opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, said he expects the show on Sunday to help present his country's more diversified image in the new era. We made every second count during the eight short minutes to showcase a confident China not only for its profound 5,000-year-old history, but also the remarkable achievements the country has made today, said Zhang. With electronic music and colorful lights illuminating the night sky in Pyeongchang, the host also put on a dynamic finale show by fusing traditional Korean culture with contemporary dancing, singing and visual art presentation. Visiting Vice-Premier Liu Yandong attended the closing ceremony as a special envoy sent by Xi after earlier meetings with Thomas Bach, the president of International Olympic Committee, and representatives of China's sports delegation competing in Pyeongchang. China attaches importance to further contributing to the Olympic Movement and the country will offer full support to Beijing to prepare for and host the 2022 Winter Olympics on a green, sharing, open and clean basis, Liu said during her meeting with Bach. She encouraged China's winter sports Olympians to train harder and more scientifically to achieve better results in the 2022 Winter Olympics at home. The Chinese delegation finished 16th overall in the medal tally in Pyeongchang, with one gold, six silver and two bronze medals in five different events. Wu Dajing, who won China's only gold at the Games in the men's 500m short-track speed skating, said the experience gained in Pyeongchang coupled with the government support has boosted his fellow athletes' confidence for great achievements in 2020. A total of 2,920 athletes from 92 countries and regions competed in Pyeongchang for 102 gold medals, the most in history. A record 30 delegations won medals at the Pyeongchang Games, breaking a previous record of 26 in 2006, 2010 and 2014. Over 1.39 million spectators had visited the venues in Pyeongchang by Sunday afternoon.
