The core technology of scientific research instruments is restricted by people seriously restricting China's scientific and technological innovation

Scientific instruments are used to search for unknown tools. According to incomplete statistics, since the 20th century, the Nobel Prize for Natural Science has been awarded to more than 27 pilot projects directly related to the development of analytical instruments. Some 60% of Nobel Prize winners have discovered others using their own tools. Things not found. Many scientists in our country can only see the phenomena that have been revealed in the imported molding instruments.

The core technology of the instrument is restricted by people and seriously restricts China's technological innovation

The birth of astronomical telescope has opened up a new era in astronomy research. TEM and SEM have promoted the rapid development of life sciences and materials science. The invention of scanning tunneling microscope has promoted the development of nanotechnology. Chen Yiyu said that the history of scientific development shows that A new scientific instrument or tool is often the golden key to opening up new areas of research.

Xu Tao, director of the Institute of Biophysics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, deeply appreciates this. Professor Owen Nell of the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Germany, who he worked in, won the 1991 Nobel Prize in physiology for his research on the development of ion channels. “This research started with instrument innovation. He developed an instrument that can detect very weak currents, opening up new areas of research.”

Another example also illustrates the need for the development of instruments: When the Human Genome Project began, scientists estimated that 30 years of sequencing would be needed. After the development of 96 capillary electrophoresis sequencers, the sequencing task was completed in 3 years.

"As a result, accelerating the innovation and development of scientific instruments has become one of the focuses of science and technology investment in countries around the world," said Chen Yiyu.

Regrettably, for a long time in the past, China’s understanding of the importance of instrument innovation was insufficient and the input was not enough. According to the data, 60% of China’s annual investment in research and fixed assets investment is 60% for imported equipment, and high-end equipment in some areas is 100% dependent on imports.

On the eve of the two sessions of the country, the 12th Five-Year Plan for the Development of Scientific Research Conditions issued by the Ministry of Science and Technology pointed out that high-end scientific instruments and equipment rely heavily on imports, key core technologies and equipment are subject to human control, and have become one of the key factors restricting the improvement of China’s independent innovation capability. .