标签： Asia

A groundbreaking international research collaboration has made a historic discovery: the first confirmed identification of nitrogen-bearing organic compounds in lunar soil, a finding that opens critical new avenues for understanding how life’s chemical precursors spread across the early solar system.

The team, comprising scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the University of New Mexico, and the Changsha University of Science and Technology, analyzed pristine soil samples collected by China’s Chang’e 5 and Chang’e 6 lunar exploration missions to map out the likely pathway that delivered organic materials to the inner solar system via asteroid and comet impacts. Their peer-reviewed results, published April 10, 2026 in the journal *Science Advances*, fills a long-standing gap in scientific knowledge about how the fundamental building blocks of life arrived on early Earth.

Unlike Earth, where constant geological activity and pervasive biological processes have erased most evidence of the planet’s first billion years, the moon has functioned as a well-preserved planetary time capsule. With almost no tectonic or atmospheric activity, the lunar surface retains intact traces of space debris impacts that occurred billions of years ago. While earlier analyses of samples retrieved by NASA’s Apollo missions detected carbon- and hydrogen-based organic compounds on the moon, nitrogen-bearing organics — chemical structures commonly found in asteroids sampled by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx and Japan’s Hayabusa2 missions — had never been confirmed in lunar material before this study.

This new research does more than just confirm the presence of these missing organic compounds: it also reveals how asteroid impacts both deliver and reshape these materials on the lunar surface. Using cutting-edge high-resolution microscopy and specialized light-based analytical tools, the research team verified that the detected organics are composed of carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen, and show signs of complex chemical reorganization that sets them apart from inert, simple graphitized carbon.

Dong Mingtan, lead author of the study and a doctoral candidate at the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Geology and Geophysics, explained that the team identified amide functional groups in a subset of the samples — chemical structures that are a fundamental component of key biological molecules such as proteins. This discovery, Dong noted, confirms that the organic materials have undergone complex chemical restructuring that brings them closer to the type of organic molecules that can be used as building blocks for life.

To trace the origin of the organics, the team analyzed isotopic ratios — unique elemental “fingerprints” that reveal a material’s geological and cosmic history. They found that the lunar organics had a lighter isotopic signature than organics found in intact asteroids, a pattern consistent with a process of vaporization and redeposition. When an asteroid collides with the moon, the extreme heat generated by the impact vaporizes organic molecules, which then cool and settle back into the cold lunar surface, leaving this distinct isotopic trace.

To eliminate any doubt that the organic compounds could have come from contamination after the samples were brought to Earth, the team tested for evidence of solar wind implantation, a process where charged particles from the sun bombard the lunar surface over millions of years, leaving a unique chemical marker that can only form off-Earth.

Hao Jialong, senior engineer at the Institute of Geology and Geophysics and the study’s corresponding author, confirmed that the presence of this marker confirms the organics were exposed on the lunar surface for an extended period, definitively ruling out terrestrial contamination.

Overall, the study outlines a complete lifecycle for organic materials on the moon: delivery via impacts from small solar system bodies, structural reshaping by the heat and force of those impacts, and final modification by long-term exposure to solar radiation. The research team announced that the same analytical framework developed for this project will be applied to samples collected by China’s upcoming Tianwen 2 mission, which is scheduled to return asteroid samples to Earth by the end of 2027.

BEIJING – A groundbreaking naturally occurring insecticidal protein sourced from common plants is transitioning from lab discovery to large-scale agricultural application, marking a major milestone in China’s homegrown crop protection technology, according to a recent report from Science and Technology Daily.

Discovered and developed by the Institute of Cotton Research (ICR) under the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, the new protein, named iJAZ, offers a fully independent and controllable new pathway for breeding insect-resistant staple crops. To accelerate commercial rollout of the innovation, ICR has entered into a collaborative development agreement with Guangxi Tianyuan Biochemistry Co., Ltd. The partnership will focus on integrating the iJAZ technology into insect-resistant breeding programs for four high-value major crops: cotton, soybean, eucalyptus, and sugarcane, with the goal of making the novel insect-resistant approach widely accessible to global agriculture.

Unlike many synthetic or engineered insecticidal traits, iJAZ occurs naturally in a range of everyday plant species, including cotton, pumpkin, and durian. What sets the protein apart from the current industry standard, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) insecticidal protein, is its completely unique mechanism of action and structural characteristics. Unlike Bt proteins that are constitutively expressed in modified crop tissues, iJAZ remains inactive in plant cells under normal, undamaged conditions. Only when targeted chewing pests begin feeding on plant leaves and causing tissue damage does the protein activate: it then specifically identifies and binds tightly to unique receptor sites found only in the pests’ digestive tracts, triggering its potent lethal effect.

Independent research data from ICR’s trials confirms the protein’s extraordinary efficacy: it achieves a 99.33 percent resistance rate against cotton bollworm larvae, one of the most destructive and costly pests for global cotton production. Structurally, iJAZ is just one-tenth the molecular size of conventional Bt proteins, a key advantage that allows both iJAZ and Bt proteins to be stacked in the same crop variety. This combined application provides a long-sought solution to one of the most pressing challenges facing modern agricultural biotechnology: the widespread degradation of Bt protein efficacy as pests develop cross-resistance over decades of widespread use.

To complement the discovery of iJAZ, ICR researchers have also developed a cutting-edge high-efficiency genetic transformation system designed to streamline the integration of the iJAZ trait into elite commercial crop varieties. The new system leverages direct shoot regeneration from the apical stem cells of seeds, cutting the traditional transformation cycle dramatically: what previously took between 6 and 8 months to complete now only requires 2 to 3 months. Even more significantly, the new system overcomes the long-standing genotype barrier that has limited the speed of crop breeding, allowing scientists to directly add insect-resistant protection to existing top-performing commercial varieties rather than breeding new varieties from scratch. This tailored approach drastically accelerates the development and release of new insect-resistant crop varieties for farmers.

To date, the combined iJAZ and transformation technology system has already been successfully adapted and tested across a diverse range of additional crop species, including peanut, cucumber, and cowpea, demonstrating its broad applicability to global agricultural production.

Nearly six months into their historic stay aboard China’s Tiangong space station, the three-person Shenzhou XXI crew has opened a window into their daily orbital work through a newly released video diary, putting a spotlight on the groundbreaking aerospace medical experiments they are conducting to advance human long-duration spaceflight knowledge.

Released Sunday by the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA), the vlog follows astronauts Zhang Lu, Wu Fei and Zhang Hongzhang as they move smoothly between specialized research racks aboard the orbiting outpost. Clad in standard blue short-sleeved mission polos, the crew demonstrates practiced precision as they handle biological samples, calibrate research hardware, and tick off a packed schedule of experimental and maintenance tasks. Per CMSA’s latest update, all three crew members remain in excellent physical shape, maintaining sharp coordination and steady motivation more than five months into their mission.

The core focus of the work highlighted in the vlog centers on advancing understanding of how long-duration exposure to microgravity and isolated space conditions impacts human bodily function and performance. To this end, the crew has already completed a battery of cognitive function assessments and emergency decision-making drills, data from which will fill critical gaps in current research on human adaptation to extended space travel.

One of the most notable experiments showcased in the diary sees the crew using a specialized space-grade Raman spectrometer to analyze metabolic components in urine samples. The insights gathered from this work will allow scientists to refine existing metabolic indicator frameworks and health evaluation standards for astronauts on future long-duration missions. The team also collected and cryogenically preserved saliva samples, which will be transported back to Earth for ground-based analysis of gut flora and digestive system changes in microgravity.

Following experimental protocols, the crew also successfully drew and processed blood samples for three key lines of research: bone metabolism regulation, integrative omics, and the impact of spaceflight on circadian sleep rhythms. After processing the samples with a specialized on-orbit centrifuge, the specimens were stored securely to await return to Earth for further study.

Beyond medical research, the crew also continued progress on microgravity physical science experiments during the period covered by the vlog. Tasks completed included replacing research samples in the orbiting laboratory’s fluid physics experiment cabinet, swapping out burners and gas cylinders in the combustion science module, and cleaning research materials from the containerless experimental chamber. When off-duty, the astronauts stick to a structured health maintenance routine, with the vlog capturing them working out on the station’s treadmill and using resistance bands to counteract the muscle and bone density loss associated with long-term microgravity exposure.

The Shenzhou XXI mission launched on October 31, 2025, from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China. To date, the crew has completed two planned extravehicular activity sessions: the first in December 2025, and the second in mid-March 2026, marking steady progress across all mission objectives.