China - October 21, 2024

China's largest heavy ion research facility forges scientific edge

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China's Heavy Ion Research Facility in Lanzhou, operated by the Institute of Modern Physics, continues playing an important role in the country's scientific research and social development.

As the largest heavy ion research facility in China, the center is also one of a few large-scale full ion accelerating systems in the world which can accelerate ions from hydrogen to uranium, to high energies.

The Lanzhou accelerator is also advancing the development of new crops through induced mutation... the process of using ion beams to disrupt a seed's DNA, forcing it to generate mutants with certain desirable traits, like rice that's salt-alkali tolerant.

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Zhou Libin, Deputy director, Biomedical Research Center, Institute of Modern Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences:

"Its mutagenic dosage and mutagenic energy are artificially adjustable. By using heavy ion beam-induced mutational breeding technology, we've obtained a new rice variety 'Dongdao 122' with high quality, high yield and salt-alkali tolerance, as well as a new low-cadmium rice variety."

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The Heavy Ion Research Facility in Lanzhou was first established in the 1970's reaching international advanced levels of operation by 1988.

Today, the center has 20 experimental terminals, with an annual experimental beam feeding time of more than 5,000 hours.

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