The academician made a fool of himself, but the audience applauded. What happened?

Recently, a small incident that occurred during the recording of a CCTV program has caused heated discussion among netizens.

During the recording of the program, Wang Zhizhen, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a biochemist and molecular biologist, lost a lot of black residue on the stage due to aging of the shoes he was wearing. Facing this situation, Academician Wang laughed at himself for making a fool of himself, but the audience was moved by this scene and expressed their respect and admiration for Wang Zhizhen with applause.

Shoe residue dropped on the stage

Who is Wang Zhizhen?

She is an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, a researcher at the Institute of Biophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and a biochemist and molecular biologist. As one of the earliest visiting scholars to be sent abroad after the reform and opening up, Wang Zhizhen pioneered a new direction in the study of folding enzymes and molecular chaperones in China, breaking through the international scientific authorities' understanding of the laws of protein folding, and greatly promoting the pace of life science research in my country. For decades, Wang Zhizhen has focused on protein research. Her focus on science and her pursuit of a simple life are exactly the interpretation of the spirit of scientists of that era.

Wang Zhizhen during the program recording

It is a blessing to have research to do.

Wang Zhizhen was born in Shanghai in 1942. She was always among the top students in school. After taking the college entrance examination, Wang Zhizhen followed the advice of her brother who was working at the Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences at the time and decided to pursue scientific research as her future direction. She resolutely applied for the Department of Biophysics of the University of Science and Technology of China and became one of the earliest students in the interdisciplinary field.

"Mr. Hua Luogeng, Mr. Qian Xuesen, Mr. Guo Yonghuai... China's most famous and important scientists are all our part-time teachers. I am so lucky." Wang Zhizhen said frankly. During her four years at university, she worked tirelessly to absorb scientific research nutrition and accumulated rich experience in the field of biophysics.

Wang Zhizhen during college

In 1965, Chinese scientists completed the synthesis of bovine crystalline insulin, and this achievement deeply shocked Wang Zhizhen, who had just graduated from college. Inspired by the scientific research spirit of his predecessors, Wang Zhizhen decided to work at the Institute of Biophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences after graduating from college and devoted himself to research in related fields.

Around 1970, research on the molecular structure, function and synthesis mechanism of insulin was rapidly carried out in my country. By the mid-1970s, my country's scientific research environment began to become difficult, but even in that environment, Wang Zhizhen still did not give up her pursuit of scientific research. In the end, her "soft and hard" efforts successfully impressed the leader and allowed her to join the insulin crystal structure determination group to engage in scientific research. Reading literature, doing experiments, discussing with colleagues, writing articles together... Wang Zhizhen worked hard to make up for the lost time. She sighed: "The days when there is research to do are happy."

In February 1979, shortly after the reform and opening up, according to the agreement between China and the Humboldt Foundation of Germany, 33 Chinese scholars were selected to work and study in the Federal Republic of Germany. Wang Zhizhen was the only female scholar among them. She visited the German Wool Research Institute and conducted insulin research there.

Wang Zhizhen during her study visit in Germany

While working and studying in Germany, Wang Zhizhen came into contact with more advanced scientific research results in the field of biophysics. After continuous polishing and trials, Wang Zhizhen gradually emerged in the international scientific research community. All of this also laid a solid foundation for her subsequent scientific research work after returning to China.

From overcoming difficulties to challenging authority

In 1982, Wang Zhizhen returned to her motherland. When she returned, she also brought back a freeze dryer from Germany to support her subsequent research work. When she first returned, Wang Zhizhen learned that although scientists such as Zou Chenglu had completed the amazing feat of artificially synthesizing insulin, they did not know how the two peptide chains of insulin folded into the correct protein structure.

In order to figure out this scientific research problem that had troubled the team for a long time, Wang Zhizhen and his team members began to work together on "the interaction between insulin A and B chains" in 1983, and this work lasted for a full ten years. During the ten years, Wang Zhizhen and his colleagues conducted countless experiments and finally clarified the internal laws of the interaction between A and B chains from multiple levels.

After that, she successfully used "protein disulfide isomerase (PDI)" to catalyze the correct reorganization of insulin, and shifted the focus of her lifelong research to the study of enzyme and protein folding problems.

In 1993, Wang Zhizhen proposed the hypothesis that "PDI is both an enzyme and a molecular chaperone", which was contrary to the views of international authoritative scientists at the time. The scientists who proposed the concept of molecular chaperones at the time questioned Wang Zhizhen's views.

In this situation, Wang Zhizhen did not waver in his views. Through a large amount of experimental evidence, Wang Zhizhen and his colleagues finally made this hypothesis internationally recognized, and also broke through the international scientific authorities' understanding of the law of protein folding. Until now, this paper is still being cited.

After the 1990s, Wang Zhizhen continued to study this enzyme, which has lasted for more than 30 years. As the research deepened, they discovered more application prospects of this achievement. "Aging, neurodegenerative diseases, cardiovascular diseases, tumors, etc., these different life activities can all see this enzyme at work. If it is inhibited, tumors may not occur, or aging can be delayed."

Decades of youth have passed. At present, Wang Zhizhen, who is already in her 80s, is still working on the front line of scientific research, working and studying in the laboratory from morning to night every day. She said, "My life is very ordinary, but I feel pretty good, because only in the laboratory do I feel at ease, happy and happy."

Academician Wang Zhizhen (Photo taken by Yao Qin on December 31, 2016)

2023 is the 45th anniversary of reform and opening up. Wang Zhizhen, as one of the earliest visiting scholars sent abroad after the reform and opening up, appeared on CCTV. The "little accident" of shoe debris falling on the stage showed us Wang Zhizhen's daily life, allowing young people to see the vivid charm of this 82-year-old academician who has made countless contributions to the country's scientific and educational cause. Although the debris fell, his feet are still "shining".