Eight landmark achievements in the field of life sciences

In 2014, the Institute of Animal Sciences successfully deciphered the whole genome sequence of migratory locust, which is the largest animal genome deciphered so far, revealing the regulation of migratory locust swarm behavior and the genetic and epigenetic regulation mechanisms of phenotypic plasticity. At the same time, a series of breakthroughs have been made around the difficult problems such as the mechanism of population outbreak disaster. Won the 2017 Outstanding Scientific and Technological Achievement Award of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Flora of China and biodiversity research

In 2004, Flora of China, an encyclopedia of higher plant resources in China, was published.

Led by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Institute of Botany, South China Botanical Garden, Kunming Institute of Botany, etc.), the book took 41 years (1918-1959) of preparation by four generations of plant taxonomists in China, 45 years (1959-2004) of compilation and research, 312 authors and 164 cartographers from more than 80 units in China to complete.

The book has 80 volumes and 126 volumes, with a total of more than 50 million words, recording 301 families, 3,408 genera, 31,142 species of vascular plants in China, including 9,080 plates, which is the largest and most abundant plant annals published in the world.

Flora of China is a pioneering, innovative, systematic and basic project in the field of botany. It is a landmark achievement of Chinese botany research in the past half century. It has great academic value, promotes the development of related disciplines of botany and biology in China, and provides an important scientific basis for the research of terrestrial ecosystem and the development and utilization of plant resources. It has made a significant contribution to the sustainable development of biodiversity in China and around the world, and has had a far-reaching impact.

Before that, the "Chinese Higher Plant Atlas" and "Chinese Higher Plant Family and Genus Search Table" led by the Institute of Botany won the first prize of the 1987 State Natural Science Award; The research results of the Institute on the systematic arrangement and historical origin of pteridophytes in China won the first prize of the 1993 State Natural Science Award.

In terms of biodiversity survey, collection, preservation, protection and utilization, CAS has completed the construction of basic resource platforms such as botanical garden system, herbarium system, biogenetic resource bank and biodiversity monitoring and research network through the construction of strategic biological resources network, and established a relatively complete germplasm resource database and information sharing management system.

Kunming Institute of Botany led the establishment of the Southwest China Wild Species Germplasm Bank in 2009, collecting nearly 80,000 rare and endangered species, endemic species, and wild plant seeds of important economic and scientific value, and its germplasm resource conservation capacity has reached the international leading level. China Botanic Garden Alliance was initiated to implement the "Full coverage plan of Native plants", which plays an important support for biodiversity protection in China.

The establishment of the strategic biological resources Network of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the scientific research carried out on the basis of it are of great strategic significance to promote the conservation of biodiversity in China, the development of biotechnology industry and the response to international biological resources competition.

Paleontological research

The Nanjing Institute of Paleontology discovered the Chengjiang zoological Group in 1984. After 17 years of large-scale collection and comprehensive research of more than 30,000 fossils, a series of world-renowned results have been achieved, which for the first time vividly reproduced the face of the Marine animal world 530 million years ago and provided a scientific basis for revealing the mystery of the "Cambrian explosion". The achievement was hailed as "one of the most amazing scientific discoveries of the 20th century" and won the first prize of the National Natural Science Award in 2003.

"Golden nail" is the international standard of global chronostratigraphic division and correlation. As of July 2018, among the more than 60 "golden nails" identified in the world, there are 11 in China, ranking first in the world, of which 7 (Changxing stage, Pai Bi stage, Wujiaping stage, Hernande Stage, Guzhang Stage, Jiangshan Stage and Wuliang stage) are completed by Nanjing Paleontology Institute.

Based on many years of continuous large-scale field investigations and excavations, the Institute of Palaeontology has carried out research on the vertebrate fauna in Jehe, western Liaoning, and made a series of important discoveries and original achievements, which have enriched human understanding of the Early Cretaceous terrestrial ecosystem, and are of great significance in the study of the origin and systematic evolution of many vertebrate groups.