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Source: People's Republic of China in Russian – People's Republic of China in Russian –
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Source: People's Republic of China – State Council News
SHANGHAI, July 17 (Xinhua) — The enduring mystery of how consciousness originates in the brain appears to have recently gained clarity, with a groundbreaking "road map" thanks to the efforts of an ambitious international "big science" initiative led by Chinese scientists.
Last week, the prestigious international journal Cell and its sister publications published a series of 10 papers revealing breakthrough results in brain mapping, detailing the complex neural connections in species ranging from reptiles and birds to rodents, great apes, and humans.
A collaborative effort by more than 300 scientists from China, France, Sweden and the UK has resulted in a major expansion of the brain atlas, providing key insights into the neural networks that control perception, movement, learning, memory and decision making.
The achievements come at a time when China is actively promoting global scientific cooperation for the benefit of all humanity. From fundamental physics and deep space exploration to marine habitability and life sciences, the country is investing in and leading a number of cutting-edge open science projects where international partnerships are a key criterion.
A comprehensive national science center has been established in the Beijing suburb of Huairou, housing 37 advanced research facilities, 16 of which are already open to scientists from around the world. An additional 430,000 hours of machine time have been allocated for their use in 2024 alone.
The International Meridian Circle Program, a flagship initiative led by China's scientific community to enhance global space-based weather monitoring capabilities, is one of the international projects being implemented in Huairou Science City.
In June, at the Second Belt and Road Science and Technology Exchange Conference in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, China reaffirmed its support for global projects such as Deep-time Digital Earth (DDE) and Ocean Negative Carbon Emission (ONCE) launched by Chinese scientists.
The DDE program has been hailed by the scientific journal Science as the “Google of geology,” and is set to unravel significant scientific mysteries, including the global distribution of metal ore deposits.
ONCE plans to develop the world's first carbon neutrality standard for the ocean sector. It was unanimously adopted by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) last November with global support, signaling China's growing role in the global climate agenda.
The Global Hadal Trench Exploration Program (GHTEP), proposed by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), was endorsed by the UN this year, opening a new chapter of global cooperation in trench scientific research.
The program involves Chinese scientists and their colleagues from more than 10 countries jointly exploring the deepest unexplored ocean trenches on Earth. To date, 145 scientists from around the world have made 214 dives to the deepest points of nine sea trenches on the planet, including the Mariana Trench and the Kermadec Trench. Exploring the abyss is considered important for answering questions about the origins of life, its fate, and the future of humanity.
“Hadal zone research is only available to a few countries, while the 37 known marine trenches and depressions are scattered around the globe, making closer international cooperation necessary,” said ANC research fellow Du Mengran.
China has also launched the π-HuB project, which brings together scientific teams from 18 countries to map the vast diversity of human proteins and decipher the complex mechanisms underlying bodily functions. It is the next big thing in life sciences after mapping the human genome.
Robert Moritz, a professor at the US Institute for Systems Biology, said the project has the potential to transform the entire field of proteomics.
China also engages with the global scientific community through projects such as the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST), the Large High Altitude Cosmic Ray Observatory (LHAASO), a near-Earth space station, and a series of lunar and deep-space exploration missions.
The China National Space Administration (CNSA) has allocated 200 kg of payload for the Chang'e-8 lunar mission as part of international cooperation. The Chang'e-7 lunar probe will carry payloads from Egypt, Bahrain, Italy, Russia, Switzerland, Thailand and the International Lunar Observatories Association (ILOA) as part of its mission.
Last week, the International Deep Space Exploration Association (IDSEA), an international scientific organization dedicated to deep space exploration, was officially opened in Hefei, capital of Anhui Province, East China.
Looking ahead, a Chinese brain mapping team is preparing to launch the International Primate Mesoscale Brain Atlas Consortium in collaboration with international partners. After five to six years of preparatory work by Chinese scientists, the collaboration with the international team will begin in September this year. The goal of this initiative is to create a more complete map of the human brain.
“We call for sustained global scientific collaboration to jointly advance towards the highly ambitious goal of deciphering mesoscale atlases of primate brains, including the human brain,” said Pu Muming, scientific director of the CAS Shanghai Advanced Brain and Intelligence Research Center.
“Scientists from more than 20 countries and nearly a hundred researchers have already expressed their intention to join the consortium and work together,” Pu Mumin added. -0-
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