Highlights of China's science news

BEIJING, March 20 (Xinhua) -- The following are the highlights of China's science news from the past week:

REFRACTING TELESCOPE

Chinese scientists are working to set up the world's largest refracting telescope in Tibet Autonomous Region for observing stars and planets. Construction for the telescope has already started in the regional capital of Lhasa.

The 1-meter refractor will be mounted on a planned regional planetarium, which is likely to start construction this year and emerge as the world's highest astronomical observatory upon completion. Scientists will use the refractor to carry out sky surveys, including monitoring near-Earth asteroids.

CHINESE COVID-19 DRUG CANDIDATE

A Chinese COVID-19 drug candidate is undergoing clinical trials in the United States after receiving approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Researchers commenced phase-1 clinical trials for the drug, coded DC402234, at a clinical research center of New Jersey-based Frontage Laboratories, Inc., the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica of the Chinese Academy of Sciences said.

COVID-19 VACCINE FOR EMERGENCY USE

China has approved the emergency use of a self-developed recombinant protein subunit vaccine against COVID-19, its main developer, the Institute of Microbiology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Researchers have been holding phase-3 trials of the vaccine (CHO Cells) since November 2020 in China, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Ecuador and Indonesia, planning to enroll up to 29,000 adults.

SPACE-BRED RICE

About 1,500 rice seeds have sprouted and grown leaves in the greenhouse of the National Engineering Research Center of Plant Space Breeding of South China Agricultural University, after returning from a space journey.

These rice seeds traveled more than 760,000 kilometers to the moon last November and returned to Earth on Dec. 17 after 23 days of flight aboard China's Chang'e 5 lunar probe.

ION IMPLANTERS

A subsidiary of China Electronic Technology Group Corporation has developed full series of homegrown ion implanters for chipmakers, the CETC said in Beijing on Wednesday.

The ion implanters are all made in China and can provide a one-stop service for global chipmakers.