[March 30, 1979] 39 years ago today, the inspirational scientist Tong Dizhou, who went from penultimate to first in the order, died of illness
The First Round of Children (May 28, 1902 - March 30, 1979)
【From penultimate to first】
Tong Dizhou was born on May 28, 1902 in present-day Yinzhou, Ningbo, Zhejiang. At the age of 17, he entered Ningbo Xiaoshi Middle School as the last transfer student, and after hard work, he finally graduated with the first place and was admitted to the Psychology Major of the Department of Philosophy of Fudan University.
In 1927 (at the age of 25), after graduating from university, he became an assistant professor in the Department of Biology of Chuo University. In 1930, he was funded by relatives and friends to study at the Free University of Brussels in Belgium, and began research in embryology in the laboratory of A. Brachet, with extraordinary results. In 1934, he received his doctorate.
The primary school Chinese text "Must Fight for Qi" tells the story of diligent study and hard work during the first week of childhood.
【Sanjin Shandong University】
In 1934 (at the age of 32), after returning to China, Tong Dizhou became a professor in the Department of Biology of Shandong University. When the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression broke out, Tong Dizhou moved with the school to Wanxian County, Sichuan. In 1938, Shandong University was dissolved, and he taught at the School of Medicine of Central University, Tongji University, and Fudan University.
In 1946 (at the age of 44), after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Shandong University was re-established in Qingdao, and Tong Dizhou was again appointed as a professor and head of the Biology Department. In 1948, he was elected a member of the Academia Sinica and was invited to Yale University as a visiting researcher.
In 1949 (at the age of 47), he returned to Shandong University again as the head of the Department of Zoology. In 1951, he became the vice president of Shandong University. In 1955, he was elected as a member (academician) of the Faculty of chinese Academy of Sciences, and successively served as the director of the Qingdao Institute of Marine Biology and the director of the Biology Department of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
【The first scientist to "clone" fish】
In a study of the early development of sea squirts, it was demonstrated that organ-forming substances were already present in fertilized eggs, and that sperm entry had no decisive effect on this. The research was groundbreaking and made him one of the founders of experimental embryology in China.
The nucleic acid of the purified crucian carp egg is injected into the cytoplasm of the goldfish fertilized egg. As these surgically fertilized eggs grow up, 106 of the 320 juveniles change from double-tailed to single-tailed. This shows that it is not only the nucleus that controls the genetic traits of organisms, but also the cytoplasm plays a very important role, and then puts forward the theory of nuclear-plasma relations. Later, the international biological community named this fish as "baby fish".
(Comparison of child fish and ordinary crucian carp)
In 1963, Tong Applied the technique of nuclear transplantation to transplant the nuclei of goldfish into the eggs of horned fish with denucleated cells, and some of the traits of the fish when they grew up were between the two kinds of fish. He became the first scientist to "clone" fish and also proposed a new and possible way for animal breeding.
(Tong Di Zhou with his wife)
【Advanced workers of cleaning】
During the Cultural Revolution, he worked as a sanitation worker at the college. In 1977, he was appointed director of the Cytogenetics Research Laboratory of the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. In 1978, at the National Science Congress, Tong Dizhou was awarded the title of National Advanced Worker in Science and Technology. In the same year, he was appointed Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
He died in Beijing on March 30, 1979.
(Mao Zedong meets with Tong Dizhou and other scientists)