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Academia Sinica highly values academic freedom and freedom of speech and encourages our colleagues to provide opinions on and propose solutions to key social issues. Nonetheless, research findings and opinions expressed independently by our colleagues do not necessarily reflect the official position of Academia Sinica. We expect all colleagues to adhere to academic norms and take responsibility by citing sources and ensuring accuracy when publishing independently. Research findings and opinions provided on behalf of Academia Sinica should be published according to established procedures.

2025-05-16
  • Research Findings
  • Research Center for Applied Sciences
Plasmon-Enhanced Exciton Re-Localization in Quasi-2D Perovskites: Low-Threshold Room-Temperature Nanolasing

Room-temperature nanolasers are crucial for advancing optical communication and photonic quantum technologies due to their capability to generate coherent light at a subwavelength scale. However, their development is constrained by challenges such as insufficient gain, material instability, and high lasing thresholds. A research team led by Dr. Yu-Jung Lu at the Research Center for Applied Sciences, Academia Sinica, and Dr. Chu-Chen Chueh from National Taiwan University, demonstrated a stable, wavelength-tunable, single-mode room-temperature plasmonic lasing by integrating quasi-two-dimensional (quasi-2D) perovskites with high-Q plasmonic nanostructures. The research findings provide a scalable, low-cost, and energy-efficient platform for nanolasing, with potential applications in next-generation photonic technologies, including LiDAR, sensing, optical communication, and computation. The research has been published on May 7, 2025 in Science Advances, and was featured on the journal’s homepage as a highlighted article. The first author is Yen-Yu Wang, a Ph.D. student of TIGP-Nano program at Academia Sinica. Xing-Hao Lee is listed as a co-first author and is currently affiliated with TSMC. The research was supported by Academia Sinica, the National Science and Technology Council, and NTU-AS Innovative Joint Program.

2025-04-29
  • Research Findings
  • Institute of Molecular Biology
Tiny Peptide, Big Impact: A Hidden Regulator of Motor Neuron Development

A study led by Dr. Jun-An Chen’s group at the Institute of Molecular Biology, Academia Sinica, has revealed a previously unrecognized micropeptide embedded within a misannotated long noncoding RNA (lncRNA). Motor neuron diversity in the spinal cord is crucial for coordinated movement, driven by a complex mix of internal programs and external cues. Dr. Jun-An Chen’s team, known for pioneering work on noncoding RNAs, has now uncovered a surprising discovery—a misannotated long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) that actually encodes a micropeptide named Sertm2. Highly expressed in embryonic spinal motor neurons, Sertm2 had remained unnoticed until now. Using a combination of embryonic stem cell and animal models, the team showed that deleting Sertm2 did not affect the generic motor neurons but selectively impaired certain subtypes, leading to motor coordination defects in mice. The culprit? Disrupted signaling of GDNF, a key neurotrophic factor essential for motor neuron health and a target in neurodegenerative disease research. Strikingly, reintroducing only Sertm2 micropeptide using lentiviral vectors restored normal motor neuron subtype production in the entire lncRNA genome locus, highlighting its critical role in neuronal development. The peptide’s function was also validated in human iPSC-derived motor neurons, confirming its evolutionary conservation. This study not only redefines how we view so-called “noncoding” RNAs but also positions micropeptides like Sertm2 as promising therapeutic tools and biomarkers in neurological disease and regenerative medicine. The study has been published in EMBO Reports (IF 7.7, 2025) on March 19, 2025. The study’s primary author, Fang-Yu Hsu, is a Ph.D. student in the Genome and Systems Biology Program at Academia Sinica and National Taiwan University. The research team also included Dr. Ya-Ping Yen, Hung-Chi Fan, and Mien Chang. This work was supported by Academia Sinica, the National Science and Technology Council, and the National Health Research Institutes of Taiwan.

2025-04-02
  • Research Findings
  • Biodiversity Research Center
Crowdsourcing Conservation: unveiling Taiwan’s sea turtle foraging grounds, emerging threats, and residency with broad societal engagement

This study analyzed sea turtle sightings from a citizen science project, TurtleSpot Taiwan, to identify Taiwan’s coastal foraging grounds, site fidelity, and threats. Results showed three main green turtle foraging grounds (Liuqiu Island, Kenting, and Green Island), and 43.4% of individuals stayed in the same area for one or more years, with adult-sized turtle residency greater than immature turtles. Moreover, 10% of the sightings involved turtles with fishing line entanglement, ingested debris, missing flippers, or injuries, indicating a significant level of human-turtle disturbance. The project also revealed transboundary movements of flipper-tagged individuals and demonstrated the value of citizen science in long-term ecological monitoring and marine biodiversity conservation. This research was published on March 24, 2025, in the BMC Ecology and Evolution, with Dr. Jia-Ling Feng, a PhD candidate from the TIGP Biodiversity Program at Academia Sinica, as the first author. The research team also included Dr. Yo-Ko Nozawa and Dr. Chih-Wei Ho, postdoctoral researchers. The citizen science project collaborators included several members of the Turtle Spot Taiwan. The study was jointly supported by Academia Sinica, the Turtle Spot Taiwan, and the Ocean Conservation Administration, Ocean Affairs council.

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