NPU achievement makes China's top 10 life sciences advances

The "Top 10 Scientific Advances in Life Sciences of China 2025" have been recently released. The research achievement of "Exploring the New Boundaries of Biodiversity: Decoding the Genetic Mechanisms of Evolution and Adaptation of Abyssal Animals" by a team from Northwestern Polytechnical University (NPU) and multiple other teams was included, marking the third time that the team's work has been selected.

The abyssal trench is an extreme boundary of the adaptability of life on Earth and one of the most challenging frontiers in biodiversity research. The science field has known very little about the mechanisms by which organisms evolve and sustain themselves in extremely high-pressure and energy-deficient environments.

This study used rare samples and multi-omics data to reconstruct for the first time the evolutionary roadmap of vertebrates entering the abyss independently multiple times, challenging the traditional perception that the deep sea is the "endpoint" of life evolution and revealing that it is actually a key hub for nurturing multiple innovations.

The research results have been published as cover stories in the top international academic journal Cell, providing a key scientific basis for understanding the limits of life on Earth, developing and utilizing deep-sea biological resources, and serving major national marine strategies.

The selection reflects the team's ability to produce significant original innovative achievements in basic life science research and highlights NPU's achievements in interdisciplinary integration.