Ruo-Tong Ren

Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Science

The Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), focuses on basic research in the life sciences. It was established in 1958, from the former Beijing Experimental Biology Institute founded in 1957. Professor Shizhang Bei, a renowned biologist and a distinguished CAS member, founded the Institute in 1958. Professor Tao Xu is the current Director-General. The main research focus of the Institute is on the fields of protein science and brain & cognitive sciences. The Institute has two National Key Laboratories--"The National Laboratory of Biomacromolecules" and "The National Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Sciences". Establishment of the National Laboratory of Protein Science was given approval by China's Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) in December 2006. Our research in the field of protein science includes the following key areas: 3D-structure and function of proteins, bio-membranes and membrane proteins, protein translation and folding, protein interaction networks, the molecular basis of infection and immunity, the molecular basis of sensation and cognition, protein and peptide drugs, and new techniques and methods in protein science research. Key research areas in brain and cognitive sciences include neural processes and mechanisms in complex cognition, expression of visual perception and attention, neural mechanisms of perceptional information processing, and dysfunction in brain cognition. The Biophysics Society of China is affiliated with our Institute. We take responsibility for editing two core national natural science journals, namely Progress in Biochemistry & Biophysics and Acta Biophysica Sinica. Of these, Progress in Biochemistry & Biophysics is indexed in the SCI?E database. Our institute has a library (1100 square meters) with 28,000 books, more than 33,000 journals, and 11 databases. Library users can use the internet to access about 2,500 foreign e-journals.