100 Outstanding National R&D Achievements Announced for 2007 Yonsei University’s researchers reaffirmed the university’s status as the top research force in the nation. Professors Kim Ho-Keun (pathology), Jeong Won-Yoon (oral biology), Lee Yong-Jae (earth system sciences), and Jeon Hye-Young (atmospheric sciences) were included in the Ministry of Education’s 2007 list of “100 Outstanding National R&D Achievements.” The Outstanding Achievements project first began in 2006 to advertise the importance R&D. Tracking the Genes that Cause Cancer and Genetic Disorders Professor Kim Ho-Keun’s research team in the Department of Pathology has discovered a new pattern of the genetic movement in intestine cancer. Professor Kim’s research is significant in that he was able to find an important clue regarding the cancer cell’s ability to bypass the immune system, ultimately providing a new solution to curing cancer. Most patents and technology in this area are monopolized by the U.S. However, the field is in its early stages, and this discovery by Professor Kim’s team has raised the possibility of taking the lead from the U.S. New Plant Extract with Properties for Preventing and Curing Cancer – Jeong Won-Yoon A Natural Substance to Prevent Cancer and Metastasizing to Bones The need is becoming greater for a non-toxic substance that can stop cancer from metastasizing into a more severe cancer and also cure cancer. Professor Jeong’s Oral Biology team has discovered anticancerous properties in substances such as xanthorrhizol, found in traditional Indonesian medicines. Also, a substance in licorice root extract was shown to have anticancerous, anti-toxic properties, and also suppressed osteoporosis and the metastasizing of cancer into bones. Also, the team showed that peach skin extract suppresses bone loss. Although Korea has a great store of medicinal herbs used traditionally, systematic research on the properties of these plants has been lacking. Professor Jeon’s research is considered to have opened the doors to a new advance in the development of cancer prevention methods. Entering a New Stage of High-Pressure Nano-Science Professor Lee of the Department of Earth System Sciences has explained a curious phenomenon regarding the change of volume in zeolite at high pressure. It has recently been discovered that zeolite does not undergo a decrease in volume even under high pressure. Professor Lee’s team was able to explain this unexpected phenomenon. Diamonds are made of carbon and have great light permeability, making it easy to use electromagnetic waves to observe the changes that occur in a state of high pressure. Professor Lee was the first to set up a research facility for this type of research in Korea, which uses the fact that at the base of a brilliant cut diamond, there is a nearly invisible surface called the culet. When a substance is placed between two culets and the two diamonds are pressed together, a state of high pressure 10,000 times that of atmospheric pressure can be created using just the bare hands. Professor Lee’s research results may lead to a high added value in the form of a new field in the area of high-pressure nano-science, an area which is in the spotlight internationally. Also, the zeolite phenomenon in high pressure can lead to the development of environment-friendly technology. Development of next-generation gravity wave drag parameterization Contribute to weather forecasting and climate prediction ! Prof. Hye-Yeong Chun at Department of Atmospheric Sciences is received a great attention from gravity-wave research society for development of a next-generation gravity wave drag (GWD) parameterization with a completely new concept. It is well recognized now that realistic climate simulation cannot be archived without proper treatment of momentum transport by atmospheric gravity waves in climate models. Prof. Chun's research group has developed a GWD parameterization based on the ray theory, that explicitly calculates momentum transport following three-dimensional trajectory of individual wave ray. This ray-based GWD parameterization is developed first time by Prof. Chun's group and it overcomes several limitations that stem in the traditional columnar parameterizations used in most climate models. Recently, the parameterization is validated using global satellite observations and found to be superior to columnar parameterization. The ray-based parameterization is recognized as a state-of-the-art parameterization, and its theoretical and technical standard gets ahead of that in European Unions and United State of America by 2-3 years.