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As a Chinese physiologist, I
had the pleasure of attending the 35th Congress of the International Union
of Physiological Sciences (IUPS) and had a wonderful time in San Diego.
Personally, this was the second time I participated in the IUPS Congress.
The first time was in 1989 at Helsinki when I chaired a symposium on
acupuncture research. While at the San Diego Congress, I saw the magnificent
and substantial progress and changes physiological sciences had made since
1989; I realized more profoundly the future direction of the development of
physiological sciences. The reason that I think the San Diego Congress has
been a great success is not just the memorable settings and state-of-the-art
facilities provided; what is most important is that the organizers have set
a right theme and also the scientific program.
“From genomes to functions.” The theme of the Congress has been very
precise, explicit, and utterly important. What is more, the Scientific
Program Committee chaired by Walter Boron and also the National Organizing
Commit-tee chaired by Shu Chien have designed and arranged an excellent
program that matches perfectly the theme. I want to mention that the Fenn
Lecture given by the Nobel Laureate Peter Agre and the President Lecture
delivered by Allen Cowley, and of course many others, are excellent examples
demonstrating how to work from genomes to functions, how to translate the
achievements of molecular and cell biology to the functions of the complex
organisms in health and disease, even though we are just making the first
step on our march.
For years, we Chinese physiological scientists have been discussing the
development of physiological sciences in the postgenomic era and the
importance of promoting translational research and integrative physiology in
China. However, in recent years, because of the tremendous advances in
molecular and cell biology and the grant funding policies set by the
scientific leadership, biomedical research is pushed in the direction of
molecular and cellular biology, leaving only a small number of physiological
scientists working at the whole body level. Now it becomes evident that pure
reductionism has limitations to help us understand the functions of the
living body. So what stimulated me the most in San Diego is the advocacy of
conducting physiological research in ways that will provide an understanding
of the functions of the whole living organism. Of course, this is not a
simple way of going back to traditional organ-based physiology; the latest
scientific knowledge and advanced state-of-the-art technologies, such as
bioinformatics, genomics, proteomics, matabolomics, gene transfer,
functional imaging, tissue engineering, nanotechnology, etc., must be
emphasized and an interdisciplinary approach must be adopted. As Cowley
stated, now is “the time to begin building the scientific infrastructures
that will enable an integrated understanding of the function of complex
organisms and chronic diseases” (IUPS Newsletter 7, September 2004). In this
context, we Chinese physiologists also see opportunities and challenges for
the development of life sciences in front of us. We have to learn, to work,
to create, and to make significant progress. To achieve this goal, we must
make efforts to strengthen the relationship and scientific exchanges and
collaborations with our international colleagues.
“Facing the world” is one of the strategies the Chinese Association for
Physiological Sciences (CAPS) has formulated. In recent years, China has
been making rapid progress in economical and social development. We also
made progress in science and technology. But still, there is a big gap
between the level in China and the advanced level of the world, and we
recognize that the overall impact of Chinese research in physiological
sciences is below that of the developed countries. Because of the rapid
progress of globalization, we understand that we have to make great efforts
to vitalize scientific research and education; also, we must enhance the
relations with our international colleagues and catch up with the world
advanced level in various fields of science. It was with such wishes, the
CAPS sent a delegation participating in the San Diego IUPS Congress. On
behalf of the CAPS, I presented a proposal to the IUPS General Assembly,
expressing our sincere desire of hosting the 37th IUPS Congress in Beijing,
China. Though we did not get it, we experienced pleasure and happiness
because our international colleagues gave us very warm encouragement. At the
General Assembly, many delegates of various countries came to tell us that
our presentation aroused great interest from them, and they encouraged us to
make further efforts and wished us success in the future. We Chinese
delegates were deeply moved by the friendship our international colleagues
showed to us.
The CAPS will celebrate her 80th anniversary in 2006. Nearly 80 years ago,
17 Chinese physiologists formed the Chinese Physiological Society under the
leadership of Professor Robert K.S. Lim. Since its establishment, the
Society (which changed its name into CAPS in 1953) has been very active in
promoting scientific activities and made outstanding contributions in the
development of physiological sciences and training of physiological
scientists in China. In 1980, the CAPS became an adhering body of the IUPS.
This was a very important event for the Chinese physiologists, since
participation in an international union would provide us a good platform to
communicate with physiologists around the world and forge better
relationships with physiologists at distant lands. All these would certainly
have impact on us Chinese physiologists. China now adopts a policy of
“opening to the world.” During the past two decades, an increasing number of
Chinese scientists, including physiologists, went abroad, working in
different laboratories and institutions across the world. They play an
active role in physiological research and many of them have made
contributions to the development of physiological sciences in various
fields. Evidently, they also play an important role in promoting the
development of science and technology in China. In 2004, the CAPS organized
the First International Conference of Chinese Physiological Scientists in
Beijing. We had the honor to have Shu Chien, Honorary Member of CAPS, as the
Co-Chair and have Allen Cowley, Akimichi Kaneko, and Irene Schulz attending
and giving plenary lectures. Having over 200 participants, the conference
proved to be a success in uniting the strengths of Chinese physiological
scientists around the world and enhancing the research of physiological
sciences in China to catch up with the international advances in scientific
progress. A decision was made on the meeting that such Conference would be
held regularly every four years. The success of this conference further
stimulated and strengthened our confidence to host an IUPS Congress in China
in the near future. When I was in San Diego, I felt a great happiness
because the number of participants from mainland China was much more than
the number in previous congresses; also, I saw many participants from
various parts of the world were of Chinese origin. At this point, I am very
optimistic that, by way of playing an active role on the platform provided
by the IUPS, the Chinese physiological scientists will further strengthen
the relationship and collaboration with their international colleagues and
make their share of contributions to the development of physiological
sciences in the world.
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| A photograph taken at the
entrance to the San Diego Convention Center on April 3, 2005, for some
of the Chinese physiological scientists attending the 35th IUPS
Congress. Third from left in the front row is Tai Yao, author of this
article and President of Chinese Association for Physiological Sciences
(CAPS). Fourth from left is Shu Chien, Chair of National Organizing
Committee of the Congress and Honorary Member of CAPS. |
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