China Claims Space Biological Medicine Enters Era Of Industrialization

SPACE MEDICINE

Experts believed that space technology is an effective tool in breeding new biological bacteria. ShenzhouThree, as the first space medicine that enjoys independent Intellectual Property Right in China,has obtained 11 national patents by far.

Xi'an, China (XNA) Dec 07, 2005
Shenzhou Three, China's first space medicine, has been put into industrial production recently in Xi'an, the capital of China's northwest Shaanxi province. This event ushers in a new era in space medicine research in China.

Jiang Xingcun, professor of the Institute of Genetics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), said the bacteria that the Shenzhou Three oral solution contains had been carried into space four times by Shenzhou series spacecrafts and four times by satellites carrying scientific experiments. Affected by cosmic radiation, low gravity and other factors in space, the bacteria underwent a process of enhanced gene mutation, representing a four to six fold increase.

China began its space research on the life sciences in the 1960s. Chinese scientists first put cucumbers, green peppers and rice on spaceships, and now with the remarkable success of Shenzhou Three, China has made a great stride in the field of space biological medicine research.

Xi'an Hengtong Guanghua Pharmaceutical is the first enterprise in China that applies space biotechnology in bacteria breeding. It is also the first to industrialize the production of space medicine. Hengtong's president, Zhao Heng, said that the Shenzhou Three oral solution, with the application of advanced space biotechnology, has made possible many things that were impossible before.

ShenzhouThree, as the first space medicine that enjoys independent Intellectual Property Rights in China, has obtained 11 national patents so far. Clinic applications in many hospitals indicate that Shenzhou Three is effective in improving the human immune system, as well as for treating a variety of diseases such as recurrent respiratory infection, regenerative anemia and malignancy.

Space life pharmacy, still a burgeoning industry world wide, is a high-tech industry that China aims to lead. With an annual output worth five billion RMB, Hengtong has now risen to be one of the top 50 enterprises in the nation's medicine industry.

Source: Xinhua News Agency

DRAGON SPACE

China To Send Pig 'Eggs' Into Space

Beijing (AFP) Jul 17, 2005
China plans to take 'eggs' from pedigree pigs on its second manned space mission to study whether exposure to outer space alters the genetic make-up of the 'eggs', state media said Sunday.