Liu Xinyuan (; born November 1927), or Xin-Yuan Liu, is a Chinese

molecular biologist Molecular biology is a branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecule, molecular basis of biological activity in and between Cell (biology), cells, including biomolecule, biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactio ...

. He is a professor of the Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology and the founding director of the Xinyuan Institute of Medicine and Biotechnology at Zhejiang Sci-Tech University. His research is focussed on cancer, super

interferon Interferons (IFNs, ) are a group of signaling proteins made and released by host cells in response to the presence of several viruses. In a typical scenario, a virus-infected cell will release interferons causing nearby cells to heighten ...

therapy, and

gene therapy Gene therapy is Health technology, medical technology that aims to produce a therapeutic effect through the manipulation of gene expression or through altering the biological properties of living cells. The first attempt at modifying human DNA ...

. He is an academician of the

Chinese Academy of Sciences The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS; ) is the national academy for natural sciences and the highest consultancy for science and technology of the People's Republic of China. It is the world's largest research organization, with 106 research i ...

, the

National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine The National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (NASU; , ; ''NAN Ukrainy'') is a self-governing state-funded organization in Ukraine that is the main center of development of Science and technology in Ukraine, science and technology by coordinatin ...

, and

The World Academy of Sciences The World Academy of Sciences for the advancement of science in developing countries (TWAS) is a North–south research partnerships, merit-based science academy established for developing countries, uniting more than 1,400 scientists in some 1 ...

. He has won more than 30 awards including the

Ho Leung Ho Lee Prize The Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation (HLHL, ) is a Hong Kong–based non-government organisation which annually bestows prizes upon Chinese scientists. It was established on 30 March 1994, with funds donated from the charitable foundations of Ho Sin ...

Early life and education

Liu was born in November 1927 in

Hunan Hunan is an inland Provinces of China, province in Central China. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the Administrative divisions of China, province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to the east, Gu ...

Province. After graduating from the Department of Chemistry of

Nankai University Nankai University is a public university in Tianjin, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education of China. The university is part of Project 211, Project 985, and the Double First-Class Construction. Nankai University was establ ...

in 1952, he taught at Hebei Medical University. He was admitted to the Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry in 1957 as an "associate Ph.D." candidate, and stayed at the institute as a research scientist after graduating in 1963.

Career

From 1983 to 1984, Liu worked at the Roche Institute of Molecular Biology in the United States as a visiting scientist. He became a full professor of the Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology in 1985. In 2004, he was appointed founding director of the Xinyuan Institute of Medicine and Biotechnology at Zhejiang Sci-Tech University. Liu's research is focussed on cancer, super

therapy, and

. He has conducted projects in areas ranging from the structure-function of

RNA Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a polymeric molecule that is essential for most biological functions, either by performing the function itself (non-coding RNA) or by forming a template for the production of proteins (messenger RNA). RNA and deoxyrib ...

, the synthesis of RNA,

genetic engineering Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification or genetic manipulation, is the modification and manipulation of an organism's genes using technology. It is a set of Genetic engineering techniques, technologies used to change the genet ...

signal transduction Signal transduction is the process by which a chemical or physical signal is transmitted through a cell as a biochemical cascade, series of molecular events. Proteins responsible for detecting stimuli are generally termed receptor (biology), rece ...

gene therapy in Parkinson's disease Gene therapy in Parkinson's disease consists of the creation of new cells that produce a specific neurotransmitter (dopamine), protect the neural system, or the modification of genes that are related to the disease. Then these cells are transplante ...

, and gene therapy of cancer. He has published more than 360 research papers in scientific journals. His collected papers have been published in eleven volumes. Liu was elected as a member of the

in 1991, a foreign member of the

in 1992, and a member of

in 2001. He won more than 30 awards and honours, including the

for medical sciences and materia media.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Liu, Xinyuan 1927 births Living people Biologists from Hunan Chinese geneticists Chinese molecular biologists Educators from Hunan Members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Members of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Nankai University alumni People from Hengyang TWAS fellows Chinese expatriates in the United States