Academia Sinica on Wednesday said it has joined a project initiated by the US that seeks cooperation among several nations in an effort to promote cancer prevention and control.
Earlier this year, Academia Sinica and Chang Gung University signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the National Cancer Institute in the US to join the Cancer Moonshot initiative, which was announced in January.
The MOU features a strategy of analyzing a large number of cancer cases and exploring the mechanism of when the disease occurs.
Describing Academia Sinica as having leading proteogenomics technology, Chen Yu-ju (陳玉如), head of its Institute of Chemistry, said: “This cooperation shows that Taiwan’s proteogenomics technology has won international recognition and will help promote Taiwan’s visibility in the area of academic research.”
Academia Sinica and Chang Gung University last year signed MOUs with the National Cancer Institute to develop international cooperation on using proteomic methods to characterize tumors and compare findings with other diagnostic features, including genomic characterization, Academia Sinica said.
Earlier this year, the three organizations agreed to sign revised agreements to expand areas of cooperation, which makes Taiwan a participant in the US-led cancer project, it said.
With the aim of accelerating the progress toward prevention, treatment and even a cure for cancer, US President Barack Obama announced the Cancer Moonshot initiative in January and appointed US Vice President Joe Biden to lead the effort.
During a speech at the Social Good Summit in New York, Biden expressed the hope that by 2030 cancer will have disappeared from the world.
To achieve the goal, Biden announced steps through the Cancer Moonshot initiative, which include the announcement of new commitments with various countries to support better international cancer research and care.
The US will work with institutions in Taiwan, Canada, China, Germany, Switzerland, Japan and South Korea in the field of proteogenomics, and with Serbia, Sweden and Japan to open a discussion about better prevention, screening, treatment and research collaboration, Biden said.
Meanwhile, the US Department of Energy will work with Norway to share cervical screening data over the long term, he said.
The US Department of State will also strengthen US bilateral science and technology engagements with other countries to support Cancer Moonshot, he added.
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it is fully aware of the situation following reports that the son of ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai (薄熙來) has arrived in Taiwan and is to marry a Taiwanese. Local media reported that Bo Guagua (薄瓜瓜), son of the former member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is to marry the granddaughter of Luodong Poh-Ai Hospital founder Hsu Wen-cheng (許文政). The pair met when studying abroad and arranged to get married this year, with the wedding breakfast to be held at The One holiday resort in Hsinchu
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon this morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan between Friday and Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The storm, which as of 8am was still 1,100km southeast of southern Taiwan, is currently expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, the CWA said. Because of its rapid speed — 28kph as of 8am — a sea warning for the storm could be issued tonight, rather than tomorrow, as previously forecast, the CWA said. In terms of its impact, Usagi is to bring scattered or
An orange gas cloud that leaked from a waste management plant yesterday morning in Taoyuan’s Guanyin District (觀音) was likely caused by acidic waste, authorities said, adding that it posed no immediate harm. The leak occurred at a plant in the district’s Environmental Science and Technology Park at about 7am, the Taoyuan Fire Department said. Firefighters discovered a cloud of unidentified orange gas leaking from a waste tank when they arrived on the site, it said, adding that they put on Level A chemical protection before entering the building. After finding there was no continuous leak, the department worked with the city’s Department
MESSAGE: The ministry said China and the Philippines are escalating regional tensions, and Taiwan should be included in dialogue mechanisms on an equal footing Taiwan has rejected renewed sovereignty claims over the South China Sea by the Philippines and China by reaffirming its sovereignty and rights under international law over the disputed area. “The Republic of China [ROC] enjoys all rights to island groups and their surrounding waters in the South China Sea in accordance with international law and maritime laws,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said in a statement yesterday. Other countries’ attempts to claim sovereignty over the South China Sea do not change the fact that the ROC holds sovereignty over the region, the ministry said. The MOFA statement came after