China News Service, Shenzhen, September 8 (Reporter Suo Youwei) The 21st International Conference on Genomics (ICG-21) was held from September 7 to 8 at the BGI Space-Time Center in Shenzhen. Based on the current development trend of life sciences, with the theme of "Intelligent Health", the conference brings together experts and scholars from universities, scientific research institutes, medical institutions, and industries at home and abroad to explore how cutting-edge technology can protect human life and well-being in an all-round way.
Since its first meeting in 2006, ICG has always inherited the spirit of "share, work together, and share" of the Human Genome Project. It has witnessed the transformation of genomics from deciphering the base sequence of life, to multi-omics analysis of life codes, to the deep involvement of artificial intelligence in life science research, and has gradually grown into a highly influential international academic exchange link in the global life sciences field.
At the opening ceremony, Yang Huanming, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and co-founder and chairman of the BGI Group, shared his international cooperation experience in the advancement of the Human Genome Project, and advocated adhering to the scientific concept of openness and sharing, continuing to cultivate a new generation of scientific research talents, and assisting the development of human health with cutting-edge omics innovation.
Wang Jian, chairman and co-founder of BGI Group, said that since BGI participated in the Human Genome Project on behalf of China in 1999, it has been deeply involved in omics research. Since then, it has taken root in Shenzhen and relied on the open and inclusive innovation soil of the special zone to produce a series of scientific research results with international influence. It continues to promote the implementation of omics technology in people's livelihood scenarios and benefit public health. Facing the future, he hopes that the team will stick to its original scientific aspiration and strive to build a world-class life science research force.
This conference specially invites outstanding scholars at home and abroad to give keynote speeches, covering global public health collaboration, intelligent medical innovation, brain-computer technology research and development, regenerative medicine applications and other cutting-edge fields, unlocking a new development picture of life sciences in multiple dimensions.
Professor Fred DUBEE, co-chairman of the ICG International Advisory Group, shared the latest practice and cooperation progress of the China-Africa soil innovation cooperation practice project - the African Soil Strengthening Program (ASSP). The project will be officially launched in Shenzhen, China, in 2023, using The Gambia as a field pilot to promote soil remediation solutions in sub-Saharan Africa. At present, the project has completed the analysis of 500 soil samples and restored more than 200 hectares of degraded land, directly benefiting more than 2,000 farmers.
The diagnosis and treatment of rare diseases has long faced challenges such as scarcity of cases, difficulty in diagnosis, and complex interpretation of genetic variations. Zhang Ya, a distinguished professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University and deputy dean of the School of Artificial Intelligence, said that the value of AI in life sciences is moving from "auxiliary diagnosis" to "proposing and verifying hypotheses." In the future, a closed loop will be formed through artificial intelligence, clinical practice, and experiments, which is expected to further promote rare disease research from diagnosis and treatment to mechanism discovery.
Li Chengyu, a researcher at Lingang Laboratory and a leading brain-computer interface scientist, shared the application direction of brain-computer interfaces. It is reported that Li Chengyu's team relied on multi-omics technology to analyze brain cells of model animals such as macaques and marmosets, and successfully drew the world's first spatial distribution map of single cells in the primate cerebral cortex.
In addition to keynote speeches, this conference has five parallel academic report directions of "beauty, health, longevity, wisdom, and happiness", bringing together experts from multiple disciplines such as clinical medicine, pharmacy, computers, biology, brain science, psychology, and business to discuss life and health issues from multiple perspectives such as technology, clinical, and humanities.
The conference will host a number of special thematic activities. At the science popularization carnival held on the 7th, BGI CEO Yin Ye and many other popular science "big names" transformed obscure and cutting-edge life science research into easy-to-understand science content, popularizing omics and life science and technology knowledge to teenagers and the public. The education forum held on the same day brought together education experts, scientific research scholars and front-line educators to conduct in-depth discussions around topics such as life science science innovation and interdisciplinary education, and explore innovative paths for cultivating scientific and innovative talents.
