Lin Yao | Reaching more possibilities through scientific research

At the beginning of 2023, the Chronic Disease Management and Rehabilitation Forum was successfully held in Fuzhou. The experts present discussed the role of rehabilitation medicine in the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases, and shared a number of cutting-edge technologies and research results in chronic disease rehabilitation. Lin Yao, who has long been committed to exploring cancer kinase signaling pathways and related drug development through cell biology, molecular biology and biochemistry, also participated. From studying abroad and being exposed to the forefront of life sciences to growing into a professor at Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine and deputy director of the Center for Science and Technology Innovation and Transformation, he has never stopped exploring and innovating in the field of life sciences that is closely related to human life and well-being.

Inspiration from mentors and friends

Lin Yao's connection with life sciences was originally due to his interest - "I was interested in biology in high school, so I applied for the life science major in the college entrance examination." In his sophomore year, he read "The Selfish Gene" in the library. This book, which is of great significance in the history of biological development, not only answered his confusion about "what to study" to a certain extent, but also opened a door for him to understand life sciences and touch the frontiers of disciplines. Therefore, in-depth research in life sciences and answering various questions in related fields in a biological way became the only path for Lin Yao to strive for.

▲Lin Yao

After graduating from undergraduate school, the studious Lin Yao went to the UK to study for a master's degree and a doctorate at Abertay University and the University of Edinburgh. When he was actively exploring the specific focus of his research, a mentor's insightful advice pointed out the direction for Lin Yao: "The mentor told me that the essence of basic research in modern biology is to do research related to molecular biology." Therefore, under the guidance and recommendation of his mentor, during his master's degree, Lin Yao successfully entered the laboratory of David Lane, one of the discoverers of the p53 anti-cancer gene and a tumor researcher, and officially started his research in molecular biotechnology, especially cancer biology.

After completing his doctoral studies, Lin Yao worked as a postdoctoral assistant researcher and assistant researcher at the University of Edinburgh and the University of Cambridge in the UK. As his research became more specialized and his understanding of the subject deepened, Lin Yao gradually discovered that "applying molecular biology to the field of tumor treatment and expanding new diagnosis and treatment methods through in-depth understanding of the molecular signaling pathways in cancer cells is actually trying to answer the pathogenic mechanism of the disease at a microscopic level." Lin Yao explained, "Once we understand the pathogenic mechanism of a disease, especially how it starts and how it develops at a microscopic level, the disease will change from being 'unknowable and untreatable' to a problem that can be solved. It can be said that this is a key to understanding the 'true face' of the disease." Having been immersed in related research for many years, he has undoubtedly accumulated a deep first-mover advantage and provided the possibility for the development of more cross-disciplinary research in the future.

In this way, the young man who had been inspired by books, a "good friend", was fortunate to be able to walk steadily and make progress in his studies under the guidance of a good teacher. Seeing the importance and broad development prospects of the research content, the ideal of letting more people devote themselves to molecular biology research and expanding the scientific research team also sprouted and grew in the process of his study and work. At the same time, the strong homesickness also called for the wanderer to return as soon as possible. In 2013, Lin Yao, who had studied in the UK for 11 years, returned to his hometown of Fuzhou with rich molecular biology knowledge and the ideal of imparting knowledge. This time, he expects to produce more localized fruits in related research and practice fields.

"Do a good job in scientific research and teaching"

Adhering to the original intention of "doing scientific research well", Lin Yao quickly invested in the relevant research on finding biomarkers for tumor immunotherapy, represented by the key project of the National Key R&D Program, "Correlation between PD-L1 expression and KRAS signaling pathway and its clinical application" of the intergovernmental international scientific and technological innovation cooperation. However, due to factors such as the lack of clinical resources, the project faced the dilemma of a sharp drop in the number of samples and the subsequent delay in the progress of related work at the beginning. However, this setback did not repel Lin Yao's enthusiasm for scientific research. Instead, it inspired his fighting spirit to continue to explore and made him pay attention to the importance of clinical data support for research. Later, in the cooperation, he saw the similar "situation" between traditional Chinese medicine research and his research work-"Many traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions have good practical experience, but it is difficult to explain their working principles. We start from a microscopic perspective and also hope to solve the mystery of 'how to cure diseases' in traditional Chinese medicine. "In this regard, in 2021, Lin Yao joined Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, which has many affiliated hospitals, to carry out research in the direction of combining traditional Chinese and Western medicine for tumor research, in order to explore the working principles of traditional Chinese medicine and its role in the diagnosis and treatment of related diseases.

"We currently have two main research directions: one is the application of Chinese herbal compound in tumor treatment and rehabilitation; the other is the research and verification of exercise methods." Lin Yao introduced, "At present, the positive role of exercise methods in the prevention and treatment of various cancers has been widely recognized, but most of the current research focuses on correlation or functional research, and the 'material basis of exercise anti-cancer' is still unclear. In response to this issue, we chose circulating factors as the research object, and comprehensively and systematically evaluated the research on the association between changes in circulating factors caused by adaptive homeostasis caused by exercise training and anti-cancer, found exercise-induced anti-cancer circulating factors at the protein, metabolite and miRNA levels, analyzed their biological mechanisms of action, and evaluated the differences in their regulation by different exercise methods, thereby laying a solid theoretical foundation for the clinical application of exercise anti-cancer, pointing out the direction for the design of precise anti-cancer exercise and molecular exercise prescriptions, and providing potential targets for the development of exercise-simulating anti-cancer drugs."

When it comes to another focus of work - teaching, Lin Yao fully emphasized the importance of students' independent learning and cultivating scientific research independence. "In the field of biology, which is developing rapidly and producing new results frequently, strong self-motivation and self-learning ability will be necessary conditions for students to take root and grow." At the same time, Lin Yao actively participates in discipline construction, and packages his own research results and thoughts into the course explanations in teaching, further strengthening the connection between scientific research and teaching. "The frequent emergence of new results in biology has made the biology textbooks update much faster than other subjects. When we bring front-line scientific research experience and results into the teaching process, we can enhance students' understanding of the subject and make them more 'participated'. In addition, the cooperative teaching model of the Chinese and Western colleges provides a foundation for students to be 'inclusive'."

Today, as a deputy to the National People's Congress, Lin Yao continues to pay attention to the inheritance and innovative development of traditional Chinese medicine, and regards the development of multidisciplinary integrated Chinese and Western medicine research as the key to achieving the inheritance and innovative development of traditional Chinese medicine and promoting the internationalization of traditional Chinese medicine. Building a research platform, cultivating outstanding talents, and playing the role of a link between Fujian compatriots overseas, and promoting the continuous development of the traditional Chinese medicine industry, are what he has been doing.

Wading through a fast-flowing river

The Science and Technology Innovation Center of Fujian University of Chinese Medicine is a large scientific research platform serving the entire school. It provides information-based and intelligent scientific research services for the daily scientific research of the entire school, and uniformly manages the sharing of achievements and technologies, providing scientific research assistance to teachers and researchers throughout the school, thereby improving the basic scientific research level of the entire school. As an important builder of the center, Lin Yao has made many attempts at "introduction + co-construction" in scientific research leadership: on the one hand, introducing a team of young scientists, and on the other hand, actively promoting the "joint construction" of various related methodological platforms within the platform. In Lin Yao's view, this is not only an innovation of Fujian University of Chinese Medicine in scientific research management, but also an important step in promoting the maturity of related scientific research results and ultimately their transformation - "our ultimate goal is to bring mature scientific research results to the market, let the market see better technology, and thus promote the 'mutual selection' of the two."

In fact, this is not the first time that Lin Yao has been involved in the field of achievement transformation. Prior to this, Lin Yao, who felt the market's demand for the transformation of biological technology, established Fuzhou Micronucleus Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Micronucleus Biotechnology"), and began to transform research results such as virus detection, serum biomarker development, and human disease treatment product development through core technologies such as protein screening, construction and expression. With rapid testing as the research purpose, Micronucleus Biotechnology screened African swine fever-specific antibodies and constructed a detection scheme, and developed an efficient African swine fever virus detection kit, which is about to be released as a mature product. In addition, Micronucleus Biotechnology has screened some specific tumor markers related to breast cancer, gastric cancer, etc., and is further verifying them. The medical testing laboratory under construction, which is jointly invested and established by Micronucleus Biotechnology and other companies, will also provide basic guarantees for the research of these tumor markers.

When talking about the relationship between scientific research and achievement transformation, Lin Yao said with emotion: "This is a very difficult process. In the process of transformation, there are countless details that need to be considered and polished, and there are many problems that need to be solved. Market demand, product technology, product specifications and even product pricing are all problems that need to be answered in the transformation process." Faced with numerous difficulties, Lin Yao chose to "let professionals do professional things" and make the road to product transformation faster and smoother through cooperation. At present, Micronucleus Biotechnology has formed two advantageous research and development fields of antibodies and functional peptides. The research and development of related diagnostic and therapeutic drugs and antigen detection in diseases, drugs, biology and even environmental monitoring are also being promoted. "To engage in scientific research with a more prudent attitude, to treat teaching with a more responsible attitude, to serve the public with more professional, accurate and high-quality testing and medical diagnosis, and to promote the development of disciplines and the big health industry will be the common goal of me and my team." Lin Yao said.