Project description:Myanmar locates in the crossroads of South Asia, Southeast Asia, and East Asia, and is known for high culture diversity in different ethnic groups. It is considered to be important for understanding human evolutionary history and genetic diversity in East Eurasia. However, relatively few studies have examined the population structure and demographic history in Myanmar to date. In this study, we analyzed more than 220,000 genome-wide SNPs in 175 new samples of five ethnic groups from Myanmar and compared them with the published data. Our results showed that the Myanmar population is intricately substructured, with the main observed clusters corresponding roughly to western/northern highlanders (Chin, Naga, and Jingpo) and central/southern lowlanders (Bamar and Rakhine). The gene flow inferred from South Asia has a substantial influence (~11%) on the gene pool of central/southern lowlanders rather than western/northern highlanders. The genetic admixture is dated around 650 years ago. These findings suggest that the genome-wide variation in Myanmar was likely shaped by the linguistic, cultural, and historical changes.
Project description:In 2013, China proposed its Belt and Road Initiative to promote trade, infrastructure, and commercial associations with 65 countries in Asia, Africa, and Europe. This initiative contains important health components. Simultaneously, China launched an unprecedented overseas intervention against Ebola virus in west Africa, dispatching 1200 workers, including Chinese military personnel. The overseas development assistance provided by China has been increasing by 25% annually, reaching US$7 billion in 2013. Development assistance for health from China has particularly been used to develop infrastructure and provide medical supplies to Africa and Asia. China's contributions to multilateral organisations are increasing but are unlikely to bridge substantial gaps, if any, vacated by other donors; China is creating its own multilateral funds and banks and challenging the existing global architecture. These new investment vehicles are more aligned with the geography and type of support of the Belt and Road Initiative. Our analysis concludes that China's Belt and Road Initiative, Ebola response, development assistance for health, and new investment funds are complementary and reinforcing, with China shaping a unique global engagement impacting powerfully on the contours of global health.
Project description:We present the earliest evidence for domestic cat (Felis catus L., 1758) from Kazakhstan, found as a well preserved skeleton with extensive osteological pathologies dating to 775-940 cal CE from the early medieval city of Dzhankent, Kazakhstan. This urban settlement was located on the intersection of the northern Silk Road route which linked the cities of Khorezm in the south to the trading settlements in the Volga region to the north and was known in the tenth century CE as the capital of the nomad Oghuz. The presence of this domestic cat, presented here as an osteobiography using a combination of zooarchaeological, genetic, and isotopic data, provides proxy evidence for a fundamental shift in the nature of human-animal relationships within a previously pastoral region. This illustrates the broader social, cultural, and economic changes occurring within the context of rapid urbanisation during the early medieval period along the Silk Road.
Project description:Rice ragged stunt virus (RRSV) is the causal agent of rice ragged stunt disease which causes severe loss of rice yield in Asia countries. In this study, we have analyzed the relationship between symptom and host gene responses by RRSV infection.
Project description:Rice gall dwarf virus (RGDV) is the causal agent of rice gall dwarf disease which causes severe loss of rice yield in Asia countries. In this study, we have analyzed the relationship between symptom and host gene responses by RGDV infection.
Project description:Rice transitory yellow (RTYV) is the causal agent of rice transitory yellow disease which causes severe loss of rice yield in Asia countries. In this study, we have analyzed the relationship between symptom and host gene responses by RGDV infection.
Project description:Rice black streak dwarf virus (RBSDV) is the causal agent of rice black streak dwarf disease which causes severe loss of rice yield in Asia countries. In this study, we have analyzed the relationship between symptom and host gene responses by RBSDV infection.
Project description:Gastric cancer is the most common cancer in Asia and most developing countries. To identify the molecular underpinnings of gastric cancer in the Asian population, we applied an RNA-sequencing approach to gastric tumor and noncancerous specimens to quantitatively characterize the entire transcriptome of gastric cancer (including mRNAs and microRNAs). A multi-layer analysis was then developed to identify multiple types of transcriptional aberrations associated with different stages of gastric cancer, including differentially expressed mRNAs, recurrent somatic mutations and key differentially expressed microRNAs. Through this approach, we identified the central metabolic regulator AMPK-α as a potential functional target in Asian gastric cancer. Further, we experimentally demonstrated the translational relevance of this gene as a potential therapeutic target for early-stage gastric cancer in Asian patients. Together, our findings not only provide a valuable information resource for identifying and elucidating the molecular mechanisms of Asian gastric cancer, but also represent a general integrative framework to develop more effective therapeutic targets.
Project description:The whitefly Bemisa tabaci is a species complex of more than 31 cryptic species which include some of the most destructive invasive pests of many ornamental and glasshouse crops worldwide. Among them, Middle East-Asia Minor 1 (herein MEAM1) and Mediterranean (herein MED) have invaded many countries around the world and displaced the native whitefly species. However, the molecular differences between invasive and indigenous whiteflies remain largely unknown. The global transcriptional difference between the two invasive whitefly Bemisia tabaci species (MEAM1, MED) and one indigenous whitefly species (Asia II 3) were analyzed using the Illumina sequencing technology.