<p>Many researchers thought the acupuncture therapy was effective, but doubted whether acupuncture points did exist.<br />Now, a team, led by the Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility (SSRF), has discovered that the acupuncture points do exist but these differ from other parts of the body.<br /><br />"X-ray beams emitted by the Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility (SSRF) are 100 million times brighter, and 10,000 times more intense than the beam produced by a standard X-ray machine," the Xinhua news agency quoted Xiao Tiqiao, the head of the construction of SSRF's beamlines, as saying.<br /><br />In fact, the SSRF, the biggest scientific platform for science research and technology development in China, had last month concluded a nine-month trial operation.<br />During the trial operation, the light sources helped in the treatment of fatal cancers, a task led by the scholars with the Med-X Institute of the Shanghai Jiao Tong University.<br /><br />"The beamlines are just like super microscopes. They can contribute to the treatment of early stage cancers by detecting the tumor cells that might be overlooked by the X- ray at hospital," Xiao said. <br /><br />Added Yang Guoyuan of the Med-X Institute: "The SSRF had created a clear and detailed image of the tiny cephalic arteries of a living mouse, which could enable the observation of dynamic pathological changes in the human brain."<br />The SSRF could also shorten the period of developing a new drug by three to four years, said Shen Xu, a researcher with Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica under the Chinese Academy of Science.<br /><br />The light sources could expose the three-dimensional structure of viruses, and thus help us design a drug to cure them, Shen said.</p>
<p>Many researchers thought the acupuncture therapy was effective, but doubted whether acupuncture points did exist.<br />Now, a team, led by the Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility (SSRF), has discovered that the acupuncture points do exist but these differ from other parts of the body.<br /><br />"X-ray beams emitted by the Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility (SSRF) are 100 million times brighter, and 10,000 times more intense than the beam produced by a standard X-ray machine," the Xinhua news agency quoted Xiao Tiqiao, the head of the construction of SSRF's beamlines, as saying.<br /><br />In fact, the SSRF, the biggest scientific platform for science research and technology development in China, had last month concluded a nine-month trial operation.<br />During the trial operation, the light sources helped in the treatment of fatal cancers, a task led by the scholars with the Med-X Institute of the Shanghai Jiao Tong University.<br /><br />"The beamlines are just like super microscopes. They can contribute to the treatment of early stage cancers by detecting the tumor cells that might be overlooked by the X- ray at hospital," Xiao said. <br /><br />Added Yang Guoyuan of the Med-X Institute: "The SSRF had created a clear and detailed image of the tiny cephalic arteries of a living mouse, which could enable the observation of dynamic pathological changes in the human brain."<br />The SSRF could also shorten the period of developing a new drug by three to four years, said Shen Xu, a researcher with Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica under the Chinese Academy of Science.<br /><br />The light sources could expose the three-dimensional structure of viruses, and thus help us design a drug to cure them, Shen said.</p>