A late bloomer in anatomy! He became a professor at the age of 60, was elected as an academician at the age of 72, and participated in manned space flight at the age of 80

On August 24, Zhong Shizhen, the founder of modern clinical anatomy in my country, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and professor of Southern Medical University, celebrated his 100th birthday one month ahead of schedule. He became a professor at the age of 60, was elected as an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering at the age of 72, started the "digital human" research program at the age of 76, and participated in manned space engineering projects at the age of 80... It seems that he is a "late bloomer", but if you savor Zhong Shizhen's life carefully, you will know that his success is by no means accidental.

Students send birthday wishes to Jong Se-jin

A blockbuster success in Guilin, Guangxi

Zhong Shizhen lives in a health care center at the foot of Maofeng Mountain in Guangzhou. Due to his allergy to pollen, he never puts fresh flowers in his room. Green leafy plants are the only embellishment. This seems to be a true portrayal of Zhong Shizhen's positioning in life, "I don't want to be a flower, but I am willing to be a green leaf; I don't want to be the protagonist, but I am willing to be a supporting role."

Zhong Shizhen once said that he was just a "supporting role" in the medical field. Because on all "stages" involving life and death, the "protagonists" are doctors, and no matter how good anatomy is, it is just a "supporting role". In fact, after being admitted to the Medical College of Sun Yat-sen University, Zhong Shizhen also dreamed of being a "protagonist" and yearned for the "surgeon's knife to cure the disease", but fate made Zhong Shizhen choose anatomy in the end.

Born in 1925, Zhong Shizhen had the idea of ​​joining the army since he was a child. When the full-scale Japanese invasion of China broke out, Zhong Shizhen gave up his literary career and joined the army. However, because he joined the army late, the invaders surrendered before he could fight in the battlefield. So he decided to give up his military career and return to his hometown to study hard. Later, he was admitted to the Medical College of Sun Yat-sen University with excellent results.

During his university years, Zhong Shizhen studied hard. In order to apply what he learned, he was going to work as an intern at a local hospital after graduation. However, the school was short of teachers at the time, so he was retained by the dean to help the school's teaching work and became an assistant teacher in the Medical Anatomy Laboratory of Sun Yat-sen University. He recalled: "At that time, I thought I could be a doctor serving the people and healing the wounded, but I didn't expect to embark on the path of anatomy and deal with the body all day long."

Zhong Shizhen checks the cardiovascular casting specimen

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Zhong Shizhen entered the laboratory of Sun Yat-sen University to conduct systematic research on anatomy. Following the famous anatomist Professor Ye Luming, Zhong Shizhen's basic skills started from sharpening knives, just like learning to stand in a horse stance before practicing martial arts. In addition, Ye Luming's hands-on teaching gave him the hands-on ability of "butchering an ox", which laid a solid foundation for his later career development.

In the autumn of 1978, the Chinese Anatomy Society, which had suspended its academic activities for 12 years, held a meeting in Guilin, Guangxi, to discuss the "Current Status and Prospects of Anatomy". At the meeting, Zhong Shizhen took out a cardiovascular cast specimen he had made by himself, which caused a sensation among experts and scholars.

After this conference, Zhong Shizhen gradually gained wide popularity and influence in the industry. During this period, he also proposed the idea of ​​"three combinations" of anatomy, namely "combining with clinical development needs, combining with specialties related to morphological structure, and combining with the application of new technologies and new methods", which won the recognition of his peers in the academic community.

With the advent of the "spring" of science, Zhong Shizhen has also opened up new fields of his own. As the pioneer of modern clinical anatomy in my country, the founder of medical biomechanics research, and the advocate of digital human and digital medical research, he has led my country's anatomical discipline into a new stage of comprehensive development and made outstanding contributions to the development of my country's medical research and medical undertakings.

Digital people can also be "flesh and blood"

In Zhong Shizhen's office, there is a photo of him and Yang Liwei. On October 15, 2003, the Shenzhou V launched its first manned mission, sending my country's first astronaut Yang Liwei into space. However, during the ascent and return phases of the spacecraft, the astronauts felt unwell. Therefore, the researchers were faced with the question of how to protect astronauts from damage caused by abnormal landings. Zhong Shizhen led his team to take on this task.

Without any reference, Zhong Shizhen conducted pathological injury analysis while conducting cockpit drop experiments. The team worked day and night to design and manufacture an adjustable angle drop platform, seats that can be used for repeated impacts, lifting mechanisms, and drop release mechanisms. They also established a data acquisition system, built a return capsule abnormal landing impact test tower, and tried to integrate "digital human" technology to conduct experiments. Finally, they found a precise solution, which provided strong protection for astronauts' voyages and survival in space.

Regarding the "digital human" technology, when Zhong Shizhen noticed that the West began to study the "human body database", he had an idea: China should also have its own human anatomy database. In 2002, the series of research on digital virtual humans was included in the national "863" project, and Zhong Shizhen served as the head of the research team. After continuous research, China became the third country to have its own virtual human database after the United States and South Korea.

Although the United States and South Korea established "digital humans" earlier than my country, the "digital human" slices they made at that time could only show bones and muscles, and could not distinguish the arteries and veins of the human body. In the process of building "digital humans" in China, Zhong Shizhen deliberately used the vascular casting technology he developed himself, making the "digital human" "flesh and blood" for the first time. In this way, in subsequent applications, doctors can clearly see the direction of blood vessels in the "digital human", which is of great significance for disease diagnosis, surgical simulation, new drug development, medical means development, high-risk experiments, etc.

Calligraphy work "Life of a Supporting Role" in Zhong Shizhen's office

Many people call Zhong Shizhen the "Father of Digital Human", but he politely declined: "Please don't call me the 'Father of Digital Human'. I am just an advocate. As an anatomist, I am just a 'supporting role' for surgeons who save lives and cure diseases with ease."

On the wall of Zhong Shizhen's office hang four characters: "Life of a Supporting Role". He believes that this is a true summary of his life. He once said: "In my nearly 70 years of teaching career, I have taught thousands of students. I am not a 'famous teacher with excellent students', but they are 'excellent students supporting famous teachers'." He has won the second prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award six times, but only one of them was the first author, and the other five were as a supporting role. In the face of others' confusion, he answered: "The protagonist and the supporting role are not important. In the field of science and technology, the era of individual heroes is over, and collaboration is the most important link."