Interdisciplinarity for life sciences

摘要

Jie QIAO Honorary Editor-in-Chief, INR The year 2022 marks the 110th anniversary of Peking University Health Science Center (PKUHSC). The last 110 years have witnessed the PKUHSC, the first public medical school in China, rising from scratch to a leading academic health center and one of the first Project 211 members, with 5 schools, 6 affiliated hospitals, 4 collaborative hospitals, 11 teaching hospitals, 3 national key primary disciplines, 12 national key secondary disciplines, and 77 national, ministerial or provincial research centers. The PKUHSC upholds a people-centered approach in all its endeavors and fully aligns itself with President Xi Jinping’s vision for scientific and technological (S&T) development. Leveraging on its Clinical Medicine Plus X strategy, the PKUHSC strives to address major gaps in China through enhanced interdisciplinarity in the medical field. Interdisciplinarity as a necessity for disciplinary development “I think the next century will be the century of complexity,” said Stephan Hawking in 2000. Interdisciplinarity, which addresses the complexity innate to nature and society, is the signature of complexity science. In the backdrop of a new round of scientific and industrial revolutions, scientific research is going through a paradigm shift, making interdisciplinarity a necessity for disciplinary development in the era of big science. This is especially true for life sciences, potentially the most dynamic discipline in the 21st century. In fact, the history of life sciences is one of disciplinary crossing-over and integration. The discovery of the DNA double helix by American geneticist James Watson and British physicist Francis Crick in 1953 marked the first round of revolution in the field, bringing to life sciences a package of tools and concepts from physics and chemistry, such as radiography, nuclear magnetic resonance and electron microscopy. The second round of revolution in the 1990s, on the other hand, featured the creation and advancement of genomics, which is a hybrid of life sciences with mathematics and computer science. Genomics has shed new light on regulatory mechanisms, pathogenesis, diagnostics, precision medicine and drug development, and has given rise to a number of high-tech industries. Already we are in the middle of the third round of revolution, in which interdisciplinarity goes beyond merely sharing the latest techniques, but to encompass extensive and meaningful integration among disciplines in search of new perspectives, paradigms and tools in addressing the profound, complex, and systemic questions faced by life sciences. Bioinformatics, for instance, represents this kind of integration among biology, chemistry, computer science, informatics, and applied mathematics. It applies the toolkits of mathematics, computer science, and biology to the acquisition, processing, storage, classification, retrieval, and analysis of genetic information, so as to decipher the secret of life. Another case in point would be computerized tomography, a critical diagnostic tool that combines sophisticated radiography and computer-assisted mathematical modeling. Interdisciplinarity and integrated innovation as the powerhouse for the success of PKUHSC In his talks with scientists in September 2020, President Xi said scientific and technological development must target the global science frontiers, serve the main economic battlefield, strive to meet the significant needs of the country, and benefit people's lives and health. Responding to his call, the 110-year-old PKUHSC will continue to lead by example in promoting interdisciplinary integration through its Clinical Medicine Plus X strategy to address major scientific questions. Over the years, interdisciplinarity and integrated innovation has become Peking University's competitive edge and driving force for quality-driven development at Peking University, leading to a wealth of achievements: In the Double First-Class Initiative, the PKUHSC