Zhang Xueli [File photo] While people still think the magic outfit Spider Man wears is an impossible fantasy, they don't know a bunch of scientists are making it true. Scientists acquired protein substances similar to spiders' thread from microbial strains, and are on the way to turning it into real clothes with high strength and elasticity. In another case, they were able to extract ginsenoside, a valuable herbal compound found in ginseng, from microorganisms housed in a one-square-kilometer factory. The amount produced would normally require a 162,000-hectare field of ginseng. The scientists from Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, are applying their scientific findings to real life and making them profitable. Officially built less than five years ago, this research institute in Tianjin has succeeded in commercializing scientific finds and benefiting society and scientists. Zhang Xueli, a returnee who worked at the University of Florida for over four years, is the first scientist worth hundreds of millions in the institute, reported Science and Technology Daily Wednesday. Zhang returned to China in 2010. He realized the industrialization of a biological method to produce L-alanine ahead of the world. Compared to traditional production methods, his method decreased costs by over 40 percent and wastewater volume by 90 percent. The institute helped Zhang assign the technology to a company in Anhui, Hebei province, which soon used it to beat international corporations and become the biggest alanine supplier, occupying 80 percent of the market share compared to 18 percent in earlier days. Zhang benefits from his technology as the company becomes publicly traded. With the institute's strong help and support to the scientists, there are several scientists who now benefit from their findings. As of November, the institute has about 30 different technologies in the field of green biosynthesis or biotechnology already industrialized or on the way there. jordan wristbandcheap silicone wristbandsfabric wristbandscustomise fidget spinnerprinted braceletscustom livestrong bracelets
Kong Guochang donates blood in Zhoukou city, Central China's Henan province.[Photo by Hu Hongtao for China Daily] A migrant worker from Henan has donated blood more than 200 times while shuttling between construction sites in 40 cities in the last decade. Kong Guochang, 48, from Zhoukou city, Central China's Henan province, said he does it as he considers helping people in need a meaningful act. Kong learnt about blood donation after he became a migrant worker in 2007, and decided to become a volunteer. I left home and worked in different cities. I wanted to give back to the community for helping me, Kong said. He said the people's response he saw when he was working in Chengdu to the earthquake in Sichuan province in 2008 impressed him the most. Donating blood means lighting up hope, Kong said. After that he kept an eye on blood centers wherever he went. He proudly displays 81 certificates which have recorded his blood donations in the past 10 years, and posted the red certificates as the Chinese character Zhongguo (meaning China), to display his love for the country. Whenever there's a disaster, all the Chinese people come together - this is an ingrained power rooted in all Chinese, Kong said.
