Nobel Laureates Join China’s Brain-Health Conversation: Michael Levitt and May-Britt Moser

From Molecular Research to Neuroscience: Connecting International Academic Perspectives with China’s Biomanufacturing Practice

BEIJING, Oct. 21, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Michael Levitt and May-Britt Moser represent two distinct paths of scientific discovery. One traveled from Stanford to Beijing; the other joined remotely from Trondheim, Norway. On October 20, the two Nobel laureates participated in different ways in a brain-science symposium and global new-product launch hosted by Chinese brand SynasWell.

Levitt, a recipient of the 2013 Nobel Prize in Chemistry and a pioneer in computational biology, uses computational models to explore complex molecular systems. Moser, a recipient of the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine and co-discoverer of grid cells, has helped explain how the brain knows where it is. Their research may appear far apart, yet it converges on a shared question: How does the brain manage energy, and how does that relate to its function?

That question became part of a brain-health conversation in China. On October 20 in Beijing, “Dialogue with Nobel Laureates: Brain Science Innovation Symposium and SynasWell Global New Product Launch” brought their perspectives together. From molecular mechanisms to the intricate activity of neural circuits, a question relevant to everyday life emerged: How can scientific understanding of the brain become more closely connected with the way people live?

Levitt approaches the subject through computational biology. The multiscale modeling methods he helped develop enable researchers to combine descriptions at different scales to investigate molecular processes in complex chemical systems.

Moser approaches it through neuroscience. In 2005, she and Edvard Moser discovered grid cells: neurons that activate at multiple locations as an animal moves through its environment, with their firing locations forming a regular hexagonal grid. The discovery revealed a crucial component of the brain’s spatial positioning system and helped make the “brain’s internal GPS” a familiar scientific concept.

One path moves from computation toward biology; the other, from neural circuits toward cognition. In this discussion, they converged on the brain’s energy metabolism and the maintenance of its function. A key molecule at that intersection was Beta Acid, or D3HB.

Beta Acid, scientifically known as D-β-hydroxybutyric acid (D3HB/D-BHB), is an endogenous ketone body produced by the liver. It can cross the blood-brain barrier and provide the brain with an alternative energy source when glucose availability is limited. Beyond its role in energy supply, research has identified signaling properties involving histone modifications and the regulation of neuroinflammation.

Moser’s research offers important clues relevant to this field. The entorhinal cortex, where grid cells are found, is among the brain regions affected earliest in Alzheimer’s disease. Grid-cell dysfunction can precede cell death, suggesting that opportunities for intervention may arise much earlier.

D3HB has been studied for more than a century, but bringing ketone-based approaches into widespread everyday use has presented challenges. Traditional ketogenic diets can be difficult to sustain. Medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) supplements produce relatively limited increases in blood ketones, while ketone salts and esters each have their own limitations.

“Science needs industry partners who can move quickly,” Moser said. The remark helps explain the rationale for dialogue with industry: scientific discoveries need the capacity for translation if they are to move beyond papers and into people’s lives.

SynasWell’s scientific team has sought to address these challenges through sustained work in synthetic biology. Using a biosynthetic production pathway, the team has achieved manufacturing at the thousand-ton scale, advancing laboratory research toward affordable consumer products. The aim is to make high-purity exogenous Beta Acid accessible to more people in a form they can understand, afford and incorporate into their routines.

Across decades in computational biology, Levitt has pursued a related challenge: how to make complex biological systems understandable, amenable to modeling and open to intervention. When molecular-level research meets SynasWell’s exploration of Beta Acid products, a distinctive opportunity emerges for brain health: scientific understanding and everyday care can, for the first time, advance together on the same timeline.

As Nobel laureates engage with China’s brain-health sector, Levitt and Moser’s choice to join the conversation brings the country’s emerging industry into the Nobel spotlight. It marks a milestone in China’s move from catching up to competing alongside international peers in brain science.

Media contact
Email: beta@medpha.cn
Website: www.synaswell.com

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at

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