The nation’s first brain bank opened in Taipei yesterday, with Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) expressing his hopes that it would also make Taiwan a bellwether in neuroscience in Asia.
National Taiwan University’s (NTU) College of Medicine yesterday hosted a plaque unveiling ceremony for the Taiwan Brain Bank, which was attended by Chen, National Health Research Institutes president Sytwu Huey-kang (司徒惠康), NTU vice president Chang Shan-chwen (張上淳), Minister of Health and Welfare Hsueh Jui-yuan (薛瑞元) and Taiwan Brain Bank Association chairman Hsieh Sung-tsang (謝松蒼).
“Many chronic diseases affecting the nation’s increasingly aging population — such as dementia and Parkinson’s disease — are related to the brain,” Chen said.
Photo: Lin Hui-chin, Taipei Times
“The establishment of the Taiwan Brain Bank would help scientists study various cerebral diseases, which could help prevent people from getting them and enable medical experts to begin patients’ treatment early,” he said. “This would also make Taiwan a bellwether in brain science in Asia.”
The brain bank belongs to the nation, not NTU, Chang said.
“Today is only the beginning, and the brain bank cannot sustain itself with the budget allocated to the medical school alone. We are calling for long-term financial support from the government,” Chang said.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
In the past, the focus of neuroscience was studying data gathered through neuroimaging, Hsueh said, adding that the brain bank would allow neuroscientists to analyze brains directly.
“We understand that funding is needed to maintain the operations of the brain bank, so part of the technology budget would be used for this purpose. Another challenge would be to encourage voluntary donations of brains, which requires joint cooperation of the medical community and different patient groups,” Hsueh said.
“People need to know the importance of organ donations and give their consent to donate while they are alive. Their families should also give their consent,” he said.
There are about 150 brain banks worldwide, Hsieh said, adding that having brain banks is an indicator of prosperity.
“Unlike brain banks in other countries that were established by the government, the Taiwan Brain Bank was initiated by patients and their relatives who wanted to contribute by donating their brains for research,” Hsieh said.
Hsieh began leading a workforce to establish the brain bank in 2017, when they faced the challenge of finding a legal basis for such an institution. The problem was resolved after the Ministry of Health and Welfare issued interpretations of relevant regulations.
The brain bank also spent three years training its personnel and installing relevant facilities before it was officially established yesterday.
TPP RALLY: The clashes occurred near the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall on Saturday at a rally to mark the anniversary of a raid on former TPP chairman Ko Wen-je People who clashed with police at a Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) rally in Taipei on Saturday would be referred to prosecutors for investigation, said the Ministry of the Interior, which oversees the National Police Agency. Taipei police had collected evidence of obstruction of public officials and coercion by “disorderly” demonstrators, as well as contraventions of the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法), the ministry said in a statement on Sunday. It added that amid the “severe pushing and jostling” by some demonstrators, eight police officers were injured, including one who was sent to hospital after losing consciousness, allegedly due to heat stroke. The Taipei
NO LIVERPOOL TRIP: Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, who won a gold medal in the boxing at the Paris Olympics, was embroiled in controversy about her gender at that event Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting (林郁婷) will not attend this year’s World Boxing Championships in Liverpool, England, due to a lack of response regarding her sex tests from the organizer, World Boxing. The national boxing association on Monday said that it had submitted all required tests to World Boxing, but had not received a response as of Monday, the departure day for the championships. It said the decision for Lin to skip the championships was made to protect its athletes, ensuring they would not travel to the UK without a guarantee of participation. Lin, who won a gold medal in the women’s 57kg boxing
The US has revoked Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) authorization to freely ship essential gear to its main Chinese chipmaking base, potentially curtailing its production capabilities at that older-generation facility. American officials recently informed TSMC of their decision to end the Taiwanese chipmaker’s so-called validated end user (VEU) status for its Nanjing site. The action mirrors steps the US took to revoke VEU designations for China facilities owned by Samsung Electronics Co and SK Hynix Inc. The waivers are set to expire in about four months. “TSMC has received notification from the US Government that our VEU authorization for TSMC Nanjing
CHINESE INCURSIONS, SORTIES: President William Lai thanked military officers for shouldering the responsibility of defending the survival and development of Taiwan President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday said that aggression would inevitably fail, pointing — on the day before a mass military parade in Beijing — to the lessons from World War II and key victories Taiwan claims against Chinese forces in 1958. Taiwan has over the past five years repeatedly complained about heightened Chinese military activity including war games around the nation as Beijing steps up pressure to enforce territorial claims that Taipei rejects. Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), flanked by Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, are to oversee a military parade in Beijing today to mark the
RSS