Overview

        The Zhejiang International Science and Technology Cooperation Base of Active Ingredients of Edible and Medicinal Plants and Health,approved by the Science Technology Department of Zhejiang Province in 2021, is an important international cooperation platform for edible and medicinalplants research and talent training in Zhejiang with domestic and global impacts.

Research Directions

        The Base conducts extensive and in-depth basic and applied research on edible and medicinal plants and health in four main areas:

(1) Biotechnology ofedible and medicinal plants: The Laboratory studies functional genomics using multi-omics technology and produces active ingredients with synthetic biology and other biotechnology;

(2) Separation of active ingredients from edible and medicinal plants: The Laboratory develops green separation technologies such as membrane separation and conducts chromatographic and mass spectrometry analysis;

(3)Evaluation of themechanism of edible and medicinal plants: The Laboratory seeks to find targets with transcript ome and proteome technologies and conducts in vitro and in vivo verification of the efficacy and mechanism;

(4)Disease prevention and treatment by edible and medicinal plants: The Laboratory conducts a clinical study of functional components in edible and medicinal plantsand develops functional products.

Research Staff

        There are over 40 researchers in the Base, with Prof.Kai Guoyinas Director, Prof.LinXianming as Deputy Director, and Dr. HanBing as Secretary. The team’s expertise covers a broadrange of topics, such as biotechnology, biology,pharmacology,food science, physiology, and epidemiology.

        Prof.Kaiserves as Deputy Director of ZCMU Office of Academic Research, and Director of Chinese Medicine Biotechnology Laboratory. He is a recipient of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars and academic leader of TCM in Zhejiang Province. His research focuses on the biotechnology of TCM, metabolic engineering of medicinal plants, plant molecular biology and efficacy evaluation of natural products. He has a solid theoretical foundation and rich practical experience in plant resources, tissue culture and rapid propagation, gene discovery, genetic transformation, bioactivity evaluation and metabolic regulation. He has conducted more than 30 national and provincial projects, includingfour projects of NSFC,and several Major Science and Technology Projects of Zhejiang Province and published more than 150 papers in SCI journals, such as Trends in Biotechnology,PNAS,the Journal of Advanced Research,Chemical Engineering Journal,Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition,Nano-Micro Letters,Metabolic Engineering,New Phytologist,Composites Part B,BMC Biology,Food Chemistry,Free Radical Biology and Medicine,the Journal of Integrative Plant Biology,Horticulture Research,the Journal of Experimental Botany,the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, and Phytomedicine.

        Prof.Linis Head of the Third Affiliated Hospital of ZCMU, and is among the seventh batch of Zhejiang Provincial Famous TCM Doctors and the third batch of National Outstanding Clinical Talents of TCM. His research focuseson TCM, cerebrovascular diseases, and acupuncture. He has conducted several projects of NSFC, sub-projects of the National Key Basic Research Program, and two provincial projects.

Projects and Cooperation

        As a platform for domestic and international research cooperation and academic exchange, the Base has carried out extensive cooperation and exchanges with world-famous universities, such as the United States, Poland, Italy, Bulgaria, Israel, Spain, Republic of Korea, and South Africa. The two parties jointly published more than 40 papers in SCI journals, including 16 top and 4 highlycited papers.

Equipment

        The Base has nearly 40 sets of advanced technology instruments and equipment, including LC-MS, GC-MS, HPLC, real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR, multi-mode microplate reader, semi-preparative LC separation system, flow cytometry,gel imaging analysis system, fluorescence microscope,FluoView400 fluorescence imaging system, and NanoDrop.