A batch of virus-like particles cultivated by the National Synchrontron Radiation Research Center is to be sent to the International Space Station for crystallization experiments next month, in collaboration with Japanese company Space BD, the center announced yesterday.
Space BD in May said that it had been appointed as the sole private partner by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) for its high-quality protein crystal growth experiment service, HelioX Cosmos founder and CEO Bill Chang (張懷謙) said.
A parcel of the center’s particles has been sent to Japan for a US rocket launch scheduled next month, Chang said, adding that he could not reveal the precise time and rocket supplier for the mission.
Photo courtesy of the National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center
The particles are to stay in the space station’s lab for nearly a month, he said.
The launch is primarily a supply mission for the space station, the center said.
The particles are expected to crystallize while in space, and would be kept at minus-196°C after being returned to Earth, it said.
After the particles return to the center, researchers plan to utilize high-intensity X-ray and protein crystallography technology at the Taiwan Photon Source to observe changes in the particles, it said.
The particles originated from viruses that can cause diseases in humans or animals, and have been reduced to being “virus-like” after removal of their pathogenic genes, said center deputy director Chen Chun-jung (陳俊榮), who leads a team on molecular biology research.
While conducting postdoctoral research at the University of Georgia from 1999 to 2000, Chen engaged in a similar project in which particles were sent to space through a NASA-supported project, he said.
“We expect the quality of the particles’ crystallization to elevate significantly in a gravity-free environment, in comparison with that in general laboratories on Earth,” Chen said.
With better crystallization, researchers can analyze the viruses’ atomic structures with better depth and improve understanding about their pathogenic mechanisms, he said.
Although Chen did not state which types of viruses are being sent to the space station, the center’s news release referred to viruses that cause COVID-19, swine fever, avian influenza, and sealife diseases as examples that can claim lives and cause economic damage.
Improving our understanding about the viruses would help the development of new treatments, the center said, hoping to make breakthroughs in precision medicine and pandemic-prevention technology.
The center, headquartered at the Hsinchu science park, is affiliated with the Ministry of Science and Technology. The project has been coordinated by HelioX Cosmos, a Taiwanese start-up that is the official representative for the Japanese company.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS