Ming Dong: Decipher of the “brain code”

After more than a decade of research, the team led by Ming Dong, Director of Tianjin Brain Science Research Center and Dean of the Institute of Medical Engineering and Translational Medicine of Tianjin University, achieved a breakthrough in key technology of brain-computer interface (BCI) in China, standing at the forefront of innovation.

At the third World Intelligence Congress in 2019, the team showcased the world's first integrated BCI decoding chip -- the "Brain Talker". With application of advanced machine learning algorithms, it is capable of making fine distinction and fast decoding of extremely weak EEG characteristics. Currently, it only takes 1.7 seconds to output a command, which makes it the first high-speed brain-machine interaction system with 108 characters. It has also set a world record of scalp EEG BCI with the largest set of commands for online control.

Dong Yang: Exploring biological treasures with genomics research

Dong Yang, a young scientist born in the 1980s, is a professor at Yunnan Agricultural University. He is leading a team, aged 26 on average, to uncover the mechanisms behind the genetic diversity and domestication of grapes. A total of 26 countries have joined the research project. With a daily processing volume of 40 Tb of data, it is one of the world’s largest research projects on plant genetic resources. Using the microRNA transcriptome technology, the research team has for the first time revealed all the differences of goat fleece and hair follicles at the transcriptional level, and identified more than 50 genes closely associated with the formation of goat fleece.

In addition, with their technological advantage, Dong Yang and his team successfully reduced the time required in genetic mapping from 10-15 years to half a year, and the related results were published in Nature Biotechnology. On the basis of the research, Dong Yang also worked with relevant Chinese universities and institutes to breed cashmere goats, giving a strong boost to the yield and quality of cashmere.

Source:《Chinese Science and Technology Newsletter》