Innovation and Development

New Tech for Generation of PPARγ Knockout Pigs

A research team led by Dr. Lai Liangxue at the Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health (GIBH) of CAS in collaboration with Dr. Eugene Chen’s team a t University of Michigan, successfully generated living PPARγ knock-out piglets, opening a new chapter for studying functions of PPARγ and TZDs in diabetes and cardiovascular complications.  This large animal model was obtained by a cutting-edge technology known as zinc-finger nuclease (ZFN).  The collaborative research effort was the first to use ZFN technology in order to selectively delete endogenous genes in large animals (Cell Research, Apr. 19, 2011). The pig cardiovascular system, which closely resembles that of humans, is an ideal experimental animal model for studying the regulation of the human cardiovascular system.  In the current research, the efficiency of pig somatic cell gene targeting was dramatically increased (from 10-6 to 4%) using the ZFN technology, which ultimately resulted in the successful generation of two living PPARγ knock-out piglets by nuclear transfer cloning.  The research results not only set up a platform to generate piglet models and target endogenous genes with high efficiency, but also offer a reliable approach for gene targeting in large animals that lack ES cells.

Breakthrough in Silicon-based Photonics

Recently, Profs. Du Junjie, Wang Xi, Zou Shichang and Gan fuwan, etc. from the SOI group of the State Key Laboratory of Functional Materials for Informatics, CAS, made a breakthrough in the research of photonics. This group is committed to the research of silicon-based photonics including silicon-based photonic devices, the optoelectronic monolithic integration technology and the optical interconnect technology on silicon chips. This research uses the different symmetry of the resonance modes in the resonance of a single particle, and after passing the single-layer arrangement made up of several particles alone, a bend of 90 degrees (radius of zero curvature) may occur to beams. Moreover, bent rays and incoming rays are on the same side of the normal, and the phenomenon of negative refraction occurs. This research result carried in PRL is expected to be applied significantly in high-density integrated silicon-based photonics, and it provides an original optical control theory for related research. The important breakthrough was published on Physical Review Letters on May 20, and as one of the highlights for each issue, it has been chosen as Editors’ Suggestion. This work has attracted wide attention from international scientific circles, and the American Physical Society recently made a special report on the achievement on physics.aps.org.