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In 2020, the year of the pandemic, some scientists became bona fide celebrities. Even researchers who didnt join regular press conferences had unprecedented influence over peoples lives. Its rare for science to dominate a year as much as it did over the past 12 months.

Chinas role was pivotal. It was where the first cases of COVID-19 were reported. It was also where, overcoming the early misinformation about the nature of the outbreak, Chinese scientists quicklysequencedthe virus and shared their findings with the world, allowing for vaccines to be developed at remarkable speed.

Besides those vaccines some developed by Chinese pharmaceutical companies, slated to be widely rolled out over the coming months 2021 has plenty more in store for scientific developments.

Sixth Tone spoke with several Chinese researchers to ask what they are working on and where their field is heading in 2021.

Space Ambitions

After several successful moon missions, 2021 will be the year when China starts building its own space station, dubbed Tiangong, or Sky Palace. For April, the China National Space Administration has scheduled to launch Tiangongs core unit. Before the end of 2022, two experiment units will follow and dock with the core.

With a wider field of view than the Hubble Space Telescope, a telescope aboard the space station launch date unclear promises to reveal parts of the universe previously unobserved, astronomer Chen Pengfei at Nanjing University tells Sixth Tone. The first manned mission to the space station is expected to take place in the next few years.

If everything goes as planned, Chinas first two satellites for observing the sun will also launch in 2021. One of them, dubbed CHASE, is operated by Chens team and will focus on detecting solar activities.

And around May, Chinas first Mars probe is slated to land on the red planet after a 10-month voyage.

Diving to Greater Depths

Closer to home but no less unknown is the deep ocean, much of which has yet to be surveyed, says Jiang Xuefeng, a chemist at East China Normal University in Shanghai. But deep ocean exploration is slated to be a scientific focus for China starting in 2021, according to a government development plan.

Despite the deep ocean being dark, cold, and almost devoid of oxygen, it is nevertheless home to an abundance of life. Scientists have discovered in the past decades that the chemicals these organisms produce for surviving such inhospitable conditions could cure some of the most detrimental human diseases, like cancer. Jiang expects more research into them will lead to breakthroughs in the field of medicine in the next few years.

In 2020, the submersible Fendouzhe, or Striver, became the first Chinese manned vessel to reach the bottom of the Mariana Trench, the deepest spot on earth. Its like a spacecraft, Jiang tells Sixth Tone. With that tool bringing us to the deep ocean, we can better study chemicals and reactions happening in the extreme environment.

Mapping Gut Microbiota

Other chemicals with big effects on human health are expected to be found inside our own bowels. Over the past two decades, scientists have unraveled how our intestines affect whole-body health, identifying some 50 human diseases that are influenced by gut microbiota the communities microorganisms form such as fatty-liver diseases and Alzheimers disease.

But exactly which bacteria are responsible for which diseases remains a black box, says Yuan Jing, a microbiota researcher at the Capital Institute of Pediatrics in Beijing. We can tell a patient has a different and imbalanced mix of microorganisms compared with healthy people, but which one or ones are the culprits remains unclear.

Yuan expects new information to come to light in 2021, as many researchers shift their focus to trace compounds released by gut microbiota directly impacting other organs, potentially in harmful ways.

Engineered Pigs

Other medical advances might come from a new research institute studying pigs, on track to finish construction in 2021. The lab, located in northern Chinas Hebei province, is called Tianpeng Project after a famous swine character from the centuries-old novel Journey to the West.

One goal of the project is to use genetic engineering to develop porcine models creating groups of pigs with particular features to be used in medical research. Compared with the classic rodent model, pigs are much more similar to humans and are thus better tools for replicating diseases such as cystic fibrosis, and facilitating drug discovery.

Moreover, with genetic engineering techniques such as CRISPR, scientists can make pigs immune to deadly diseases such as African swine fever and porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome, says Hu Xiaoxiang, a biotechnologist at China Agricultural University in Beijing.

The U.S. government just approved the first genetically engineered pigs for food in December, and Hu thinks gene technology in agriculture will be a future trend.

It is the most efficient way to resist a disease, better than any pills or vaccines, she tells Sixth Tone.

6G Looming

More is in store for our phones and other electronics. Even though 5G is still being rolled out, scientists are busy working on the next generation of mobile communication, 6G.

In 2021, it should become clearer what kinds of improvements might be included when the standard is decided years down the line. One possible candidate, engineer Sun Songlin at Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications tells Sixth Tone, is technology that allows transmitting data in the very high, terahertz frequency range.

This should offer greater bandwidth and thus faster data transmission with even fewer delays than 5G. Several domestic institutions, including University of Electronic Science and Technology of China in the southwestern Sichuan province and Suns school, have ongoing projects to explore whether this solution can deliver in real life what it promises in theory.

The experiment data coming in 2021 is likely to determine whether terahertz will be included as part of the 6G standards, Sun says.

Advanced Wearable Devices

Other mobile technology might find its way onto peoples wrists this year. Zhang Wuxiong, an engineer at Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences hopes to see better sensors being developed in 2021. Blood pressure meters, for example, may soon be integrated into smart watches. The feature requires a leap in Chinas sensor development technology, Zhang tells Sixth Tone.

Over 95% of sensors in China are imported. It (sensor manufacturing) is the hardest nut to crack, Zhang says.

So far, many scientists have been experimenting with wearable sensors that can measure how light reflects differently when blood pressure changes. Zhang expects the accuracy to improve as scientists work out how to eliminate inference from factors such as skin color.

Tangible Carbon

One cutting-edge discovery that will become commonplace is graphene. The ultra-thin material made of pure carbon that won its inventors a Nobel Prize a decade ago will finally enter ordinary peoples lives in 2021, Yu Qingkai, a materials scientist at the Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, predicts.

When graphene was first discovered in the 2000s, scientists called it a wonder material because of its remarkable properties: transparent, a good conductor, and lighter than paper but hundreds of times stronger than steel. It has potential applications in almost every field, from making flexible electronics and building better water filters to facilitating biomedical research. However, its high price tag of up to several hundred dollars per gram has been a limiting factor, Yu tells Sixth Tone.

Recent advancements in graphene production have made larger-scale applications possible. Huawei, Chinas mobile device giant, started to use graphene for heat dissipation in its 5G cellphones in 2019.

Yu and his team are working on further improving the efficiency of graphene manufacturing. With greater yields, the price will drop to as low as a common raw chemical material, Yu says about their goal for 2021. Industries will enjoy it and use it for their products.

Sequencing Autism

Another field slated for breakthroughs is the origins of autism spectrum disorder. In 2021, researchers in Shanghai will build a database with the genetic sequencing information of 1,000 Chinese people with autism spectrum disorder and their parents. Genetic mutations have previously been found to be one cause of autism, and types of mutations are likely to vary across different races, says Qiu Zilong, neuroscientist at Shanghais Institute of Neuroscience under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

So we cant use data from, say, American research, to study cases among Chinese people, Qiu tells Sixth Tone. He expects the database, the first of its kind in China, will help reveal hundreds of genetic mutations associated with autism in the Chinese population.

(In-text images: People Visual)

(Header image:Shijue Select/People Visual)

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The Chinese Science Trends to Watch For in 2021 - Sixth Tone

CRISPR, a tool for editing the genetic code in living organisms, was first discovered in 2007. Since then, the prospect of eliminating diseases by editing the human genome has been hovering on the edge of science fiction and reality.

Until 2020.

Here are four incredible CRISPR breakthroughs that happened this year.

"When we think about how CRISPR will be applied in the future, that is really one of the most important bottlenecks to the field right now: delivery," Jennifer Doudna, who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry along with Emmanuelle Charpentier in October for creating CRISPR, told Genetic Engineering News.

Accessing DNA in living cells has been the biggest challenge for CRISPR. The most widely used CRISPR gene editing system uses a protein called Cas9, which is naturally found in bacteria and archaea. Their biological role is to fight off viruses by destroying the viruses' DNA and cutting it out of their genomes.

However, scientists can use them as "DNA scissors," which can be used to cut disease-causing mutations out of any DNA.

The trouble is Cas9, as well as other proteins used in different CRISPR systems, are all really bulky, which makes it difficult to access the smallest nooks and crannies of the human genome.

However, in July Doudna and her University of California Berkeley team announced that they found a new Cas protein.

Drumroll, please. Enter the tiny Cas (pronounced "Cas-phi").

At practically half the size, Cas can reach areas of the human genome that most CRISPR gene editing proteins cannot. This new protein could be a game-changer for genetic engineering.

This year researchers announced the results of an on-going clinical trial that tested CRISPR's ability to edit the DNA of living cells and possibly cure genetic diseases in humans.

The study focused on two of the most common genetic disorders globally sickle cell disease and beta-thalassemia. The only cure for these blood diseases is via a stem cell transplant from a viable donor. But often, the recipients have to take immunosuppressants for months or years, with difficult side effects.

The trials involved collecting blood stem cells from the patients. Then, researchers used CRISPR to alter the cells' genes, and finally transplanted the stem cells back into the patients. Several months later, when patients reported that their symptoms were gone, the scientific community hailed the study as a gene therapy breakthrough calling it a cure.

"I am encouraged by the preliminary results, which demonstrate, in essence, a functional cure for patients with beta thalassemia and sickle cell disease," researcher Haydar Frangoul said in a news release.

The next step is expanding the study by enrolling 45 patients and observing them long-term.

The U.S. doesn't have enough donor organs to fulfill every need. As a result, approximately 17 people die each day because they couldn't get the liver, heart, or lung they required.

To solve this shortage, scientists have been looking into cross-species donation or xenotransplantation for a decade, with little progress. Our immune system is designed to attack intruders, which is excellent when you have the flu, but it makes xenotransplantation practically impossible.

"The approach, if validated through further studies, could help solve global organ shortage (and) alleviate transplantation needs."

Now, thanks to CRISPR, xenotransplantation could be possible. Using CRISPR, researchers at Qihan Biotech modified the DNA of pigs to make them more compatible with humans. The researchers made 13 genetic modifications to the pigs, all in the hopes of making them more acceptable to the human body. In vitro lab tests showed promise cells from the gene-edited pigs appeared less likely to be rejected by the human immune system than those of unmodified animals.

"The approach, if validated through further studies, could help solve global organ shortage (and) alleviate transplantation needs," Qihan Biotech co-founder George Church said in a press release.

Further studies are underway: the team is now testing an organ transplant from a gene-edited pig into a primate.

Scientists at the Casey Eye Institute in Portland used CRISPR inside the human body for the first time in a patient that had an inherited form of blindness.

Doctors dropped the gene-editing tool behind the retina via three drops of liquid that passed through a tube the size of a human hair. Once in the body, CRISPR went to work. It snipped the mutated gene on both sides of the problem area. They hope that once the mutation was removed, the snipped DNA will reconnect itself, allowing the gene to function as it should. They are now in clinical trials.

"Once the cell is edited, it's permanent and that cell will persist hopefully for the life of the patient," because these cells don't divide, said one study leader not involved in this first case, Dr. Eric Pierce at Massachusetts Eye and Ear.

If all goes according to plan, the patient should regain their vision within a few months. Next, the doctors plan to further test the procedure on 18 children and adults.

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CRISPRs Big Year: Top Breakthroughs of 2020 - Freethink

Dublin, Dec. 29, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Global Microbiome Therapeutics Market 2020: A Benchmark of the Top 10 Companies" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

This report profiles companies actively involved in developing microbiome therapeutics.

Microbiome present in the human body has a major role to play in the overall functioning of the human body. Human microbiota consists of a diverse population of bacterial, viral and eukaryotic communities and is present on skin, nasopharynx, oral cavity, respiratory tract, gastrointestinal tract and female reproductive tract. The naturally occurring microbiota is actively involved in metabolic cycle and the performance of immune system.

Today, with deeper understanding of microbiome and its role in human health, we are able to utilize microbiome for developing therapeutics. Designing microbial therapeutics has been challenging, however with the help of genetic engineering tools manipulating these naturally occurring consortia of microbiome has gained momentum in the last five years.

Numerous studies are being conducted to gain deeper understanding of host-microbiome interaction for developing targeted therapeutics. A significant focus of human microbiome research has been studying the bacteria in the gut, which represent the largest community both in terms of abundance and diversity. Microbiome therapeutics companies are increasingly involved in developing therapies for dysbiosis, obesity, inflammatory bowel disease, cancer, even neurological disorders as schizophrenia and autism.Key Topics Covered:

1. Strategic Imperative and Growth Environment

2. The Radar: Microbiome Therapeutics

3. Companies to Action

4. Strategic Insights

5. Next Steps: Leveraging The Radar to Empower Key Stakeholders

6. The Radar: Analytics

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/gbn8m2

About ResearchAndMarkets.comResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.

Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research.

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Top 10 Companies in the Global Microbiome Therapeutics Market - GlobeNewswire