Biological Characteristics of the Mycelium and Optimization of the Culture Medium for Phallus dongsun.

This study aimed to elucidate the influence of various culture medium components, including carbon sources, nitrogen sources, inorganic salts, suspension agents, and temperature, on the mycelial growth characteristics of Phallus dongsun. Employing single-factor experiments and response surface methodology within glass Petri dishes, the research identified that carrot powder, soybean powder, and ZnSO4 notably enhanced the proliferation of aerial mycelium, significantly augmenting the growth rate of P. dongsun mycelium. The resultant mycelium was observed to be dense, robust, and fluffy in texture. In particular, ZnSO4 markedly accelerated the mycelium growth rate. Furthermore, xanthan gum was found to effectively modulate the medium's viscosity, ensuring a stable suspension and facilitating nutrient equilibrium. The optimal cultivation temperature was determined to be 25°C, with mycelial growth ceasing below 5°C and mycelium perishing at temperatures exceeding 35°C. The optimal medium composition was established as follows: wheat starch 5 g/l, carrot powder 5 g/l, soybean powder 7.50 g/l, glucose 10 g/l, ZnSO4 0.71 g/l, NH4Cl 0.68 g/l, xanthan gum 0.5 g/l, and agar 20 g/l. Under these optimized conditions, the mycelium of P. dongsun exhibited a rapid growth rate (1.04 ± 0.14 mm/day), characterized by a thick, dense, and well-developed structure. This investigation provides a theoretical foundation for the conservation, strain selection, and breeding of P. dongsun.

Laser-induced graphene-based digital microfluidics (gDMF): a versatile platform with sub-one-dollar cost.

Digital microfluidics (DMF), is an emerging liquid-handling technology, that shows promising potential in various biological and biomedical applications. However, the fabrication of conventional DMF chips is usually complicated, time-consuming, and costly, which seriously limits their widespread applications, especially in the field of point-of-care testing (POCT). Although the paper- or film-based DMF devices can offer an inexpensive and convenient alternative, they still suffer from the planar addressing structure, and thus, limited electrode quantity. To address the above issues, we herein describe the development of a laser-induced graphene (LIG) based digital microfluidics chip (gDMF). It can be easily made (within 10 min, under ambient conditions, without the need of costly materials or cleanroom-based techniques) by a computer-controlled laser scribing process. Moreover, both the planar addressing DMF (pgDMF) and vertical addressing DMF (vgDMF) can be readily achieved, with the latter offering the potential of a higher electrode density. Also, both of them have an impressively low cost of below $1 ($0.85 for pgDMF, $0.59 for vgDMF). Experiments also show that both pgDMF and vgDMF have a comparable performance to conventional DMF devices, with a colorimetric assay performed on vgDMF as proof-of-concept to demonstrate their applicability. Given the simple fabrication, low cost, full function, and the ease of modifying the electrode pattern for various applications, it is reasonably expect that the proposed gDMF may offer an alternative choice as a versatile platform for POCT.

How should China set ethical guardrails for medical research?

'Ethics first' reform in China significantly changes the governance framework for the research of emerging technologies. The misapplication of human genome editing technology reflects the urgent need to reform the governance framework. Strengthening ethics governance in medical research has become a consensus in China, where legal and ethical reforms are proceeding in parallel. The protection of human dignity, the prevention of biosafety risks, as well as the regulation of technological crimes are at the core of the legal system, which has been embodied in numerous fundamental legislations following the CRISPR-babies incident. Establishing a national ethics committee to coordinate ethics governance, and reinforcing ethics review and external oversight are significant steps in ethical reform. Essentially, ethics governance requires implementing the basic concept of 'ethics first', focusing on forward-looking and preventive governance rather than delayed intervention, while maintaining openness and collaboration.