Biology Research Center of Southwest University is an Institute for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies. It was established in August 2018 in accordance with the general requirement of national "Double First-Class" initiative. The purpose of the Center is to foster original innovation and conduct pioneering research by exploring the frontiers of life science and integrating the strength and mission of Southwest University.
Possessing the vision for the strategic, global and prospective influence that life science is making, the Center aims to solve the problems with great significance, and carry forward the long-term goal of “science development, technology innovation, industry revitalization and culture promotion”. It undertakes many important projects, including the discipline construction of "Double First-Class" initiative, development of biology disciplines, and construction of West China (Chongqing) innovation center, promoting its position as a leader and pioneer in technology innovation of related industries.
The Center is an important part of the State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology, and has several research platforms, including Chongqing Key Laboratory of Sericulture, Chongqing Engineering Research Center of Novel Silk Materials, Chongqing Engineering Laboratory of Silkworm and Mulberry Functional Genomics and Biotechnology. There are 45 full-time faculty members in the Center, including 12 professors, 15 associate professors, 3 research associates, 11 postdocs and 4 administrative staffs. They have received many national honors for their outstanding achievements, including "Leading Talents" of the National Key Talents Plan (1), "Foreign Expert" (1), "Young Expert" (3), “Municipal Talents” such as Excellent Scientist of Chongqing, Liangjiang Scholar, Hundred Talents Plan of Chongqing, Bayu Scholar, and Young Top-notch Talents (10). The research group has also been awarded the Innovation Team of the Ministry of Education, the Innovative Team of Outstanding Scientific Research Talents of the Ministry of Agriculture, the Innovative Group of Chongqing Natural Science Foundation, and the Excellent Graduate Supervisor Team of Chongqing. The research space is over 3,000 m2, and equipped with state-of-the-art instruments, such as confocal microscope, flow cytometer, liquid mass spectrometer, with a total value of more than 60 million RMB.
Powered by the spirit of pioneering and innovating, the Center has successfully completed silkworm genome draft map, fine map and genetic variation map, built silkworm gene expression, proteomic and metabolic profiles, characterized the molecular function of silkworm important economic traits, created transgenic silkworm varieties, and established silkworm gene editing techniques for silkworm strain innovation. The research covers a variety of scientific topic, including regulation of silk protein synthesis, structural performance of silk protein, development of novel silk fiber materials, the insect hormone regulation and nutrition signal, silkworm immune mechanism and disease-resistant strain breeding, genetic manipulation and genetic material improvement, molecular mechanism of silkworm sex determination, and comparative genomics. It has established research platforms for bioinformatics, silkworm genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, positional cloning, structural biology, transgenic and genome editing, silkworm bioreactor, and bioactive substances extraction and utilization from animals and plants. In the areas of silk protein synthesis, silkworm metamorphosis development and immunity, the Center has made world-leading discoveries. Now standing on the international frontier, the Center proposes and conducts a large-scale silkworm strain innovation project, and leads the construction of a “Big Science” center, which has received high attention and support from the municipal government. In recent years, the Center has been funded by many research grants, including the national "973" program, "863" project, "948" project, the Ministry of Education "111" Wisdom Introduction Base, the National Natural Science Foundation of China (43 grants in total, including 2 key projects), and more than 200 provincial and ministerial level projects. So far, the Center has published more than 600 research papers in top journals, including Science, Nature Biotechnology, Nature Ecology & Evolution, PNAS, Nucleic Acids Research, Genome Research, Annual Review of Entomology, and PLoS Pathogens, 5 monographs including "Silkworm Genome", and been granted more than 80 patents. It has been awarded the Second Prize in National Natural Science (1st achiever), two First Prizes in Natural Science of Chongqing Municipal, Special Prize of Japanese Sericulture Society, Science and Technology Award in Silk&Linen Textile Industry, the Ninth China Youth Science and Technology Award, Top-10 Scientific Discoveries in Chinese Universities, and Elsevier’s Chinese Most Cited Researchers of 2019.
The Center has placed great emphasis on talents cultivation, and established doctoral programs in biology and animal husbandry, recruiting more than 70 graduate students and postdocs every year. At present, nearly 200 graduate students and postdocs are studying in the Center. In the past 5 years, more than ten students have been awarded Chongqing Excellent Doctor or Master Dissertation. More than 100 students have been granted the opportunity to conduct collaborative projects in world-famous universities abroad, and many of them have become high-level innovative talents. "The First Party Branch of the State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology", composed of doctoral students of the Center, was honored the model branch cultivation unit for national Party-building activity.
The Center focuses on innovation and development of sericulture industry to promote rural revitalization. To develop labor-saving, mechanized, intelligentized mass production, the Center has studied, analyzed and improved every aspect in sericulture, from silkworm strain breeding, larva feeding, cocoon harvesting to silk textile manufacturing. Now it has successfully built the “smart silkworm feeding system” and developed novel silk manufacture technology, which has received great attention both inside and outside of silk industry. This new model of silkworm feeding and silk production has been gradually popularized in Chongqing, Sichuan, Yunnan and other regions, promoting the development and transformation of China's silk industry.
The Center attaches great importance to science popularization. It has established the WeChat account of popular science, "Legend of Silk Country", which has become the most popular account in sericulture industry in recent 5 years, and founded the "Legend of Silk Country" workshop of Southwest University, which was selected into the "111" Project of Internet Culture Construction of Southwest University. With a rigorous scientific attitude and innovative mind, "Legend of Silk Country" has published over 400 original popular science articles with more than 1.5 million hits, and developed over 60 pieces of cultural and creative silk products, including the silkworm breeding package, "Little Scientist's Growth Diary". The workshop also held over 80 public activities for popular science in Chongqing, Beijing, Shanghai and Sichuan provinces, with more than 50,000 students attended.
发展科学 革新技术 振兴产业 弘扬文化
biosci.swu.edu.cn