On the 9th, the Ministry of Science, ICT, and Future Planning and the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Evaluation and Planning (KISTEP) announced the "Top 100 National R&D Achievements of 2023". The Institute for Basic Science (IBS) has secured three spots in this prestigious list. These include research from the Center for Soft and Living Matter, Center for Cognition and Sociality, and Center for Climate Physics.

Among these, the research of the Center for Soft and Living Matter, which was in the field of biology and marine sciences, was voted by the public to be the most significant achievement for solving societal problems. The Ministry and KISTEP conducted an online poll to select outstanding achievements generated through national research and development projects. The voting took place from October 12 to 25, with approximately 4,500 participants.

The Center for Soft and Living Matter published its research in the journal 'Advanced Materials' in 2022. The paper described a biosensor capable of diagnosing diseases like cancer on the spot using blood or urine. Furthermore, they successfully demonstrated real-life application of the technology by diagnosing prostate cancer using the biosensor. This study received the highest number of votes, demonstrating its high public impact.

▲ Point-of-care cancer detection sensor developed by Center for Soft and Living Matter ⓒAdvanced Materials

On the other hand, the research published by the Center for Cognition and Sociality and the Center for Climate Physics were selected as outstanding outcomes in the basic and infrastructure sectors. The Center for Cognition and Sociality elucidated that the pathogenesis of dementia is caused by the urea cycle in the reactive astrocytes in the brain. The study suggested that the same pathway responsible for detoxifying harmful ammonia in the liver also exists in glial cells in the brain. The results were published in 'Cell Metabolism' in 2022, and it is significant in revealing a novel pathogenic mechanism for Alzheimer's.

The Center for Climate Physics Research conducted over two million years of climate simulation and combined it with archaeological data to identify the impact of climate change on human evolution. The results were published in the journal 'Nature' in 2022. This groundbreaking endeavor to combine high-resolution climate simulation with archaeology allowed them to resolve fundamental questions about human origins.

▲ IBS Center for Climate Physics combined climate simulation data and archaeology to define the habitat preferences of Homo sapiens (purple), Homo heidelbergensis (red), and Homo neanderthalensis (blue).

The Ministry of Science, ICT, and Future Planning has been selecting the top 100 national research and development achievements annually since 2006 to enhance public understanding and interest in the role of science and technology. IBS has consistently appeared on this list since 2017.

IBS Public Relations Team
William I. Suh