A new study led by Prof. BI Yuhai and Prof. George F. Gao (GAO Fu) from the Institute of Microbiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has uncovered significant genetic and antigenic diversity among H9N2 avian influenza viruses (AIVs) circulating in poultry across China, highlighting the growing public health risk posed by H9N2 AIVs.

An international research team led by the Yunnan Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), along with collaborators, has achieved a breakthrough by using the Transit Timing Variation (TTV) technique for the first time to discover a super-Earth. The exoplanet, Kepler-725c, has 10 times the mass of Earth and is located in the habitable zone of the Sun-like star Kepler-725. The discovery was published in Nature Astronomy.

Chinese researchers led by Prof. XIAO Jun at the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have developed a groundbreaking technology that sheds light on how the three-dimensional (3D) organization of plant genomes influences gene expression—especially in photosynthesis.

An international research team led by Dr. ZHANG Shukang and postdoctoral researcher Dr. CHOI Seung from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, has conducted a comprehensive study of secondary eggshell units (SEUs) in dinosaur eggshells using techniques including electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD), polarized light microscopy (PLM), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). For comparison, they examined some eggshells of modern birds, turtles, and crocodiles.

Newly sequenced ancient genomes from Yunnan, China, have shed new light on human prehistory in East Asia. In a study published in Science, a research team led by Prof. FU Qiaomei at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences analyzed data from 127 ancient humans, dating from 7,100 to 1,400 years ago. The results show that this region is pivotal to understanding the origin of both Tibetan and Austroasiatic (i.e., ethnic groups with a shared language group in South and Southeast Asia) population groups.