Ray Wu

Ray Jui Wu (Chinese: 吴瑞; pinyin: Wú Ruì; Wade–Giles: Wu Jui, 14 August 1928 – 10 February 2008) was a Chinese-born American geneticist and served as Liberty Hyde Bailey Professor of Molecular Genetics and Biology at Cornell University.[1]

In this Chinese name, the family name is Wu.

Ray Jui Wu
吴瑞
Born
Jui Wu

(1928-08-14)August 14, 1928
Beijing, Republic of China
DiedFebruary 10, 2008(2008-02-10) (aged 79)
Ithaca, New York, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Other namesWu Rui, Wu Jui
Alma materUniversity of Pennsylvania
Scientific career
ThesisStudies on the Mechanisms of Pyrimidine Biosynthesis (1955)
Doctoral advisorD. Wright Wilson
Doctoral studentsJack W. Szostak

In 1970, Wu created the first approach for DNA sequencing,[2] earlier than the Frederick Sanger's method in 1975 [3] and Walter Gilbert's chemical procedure in 1977.[4] Wu's contributions on DNA sequencing are fundamental to the general sequencing methods today.[5][6][7]

Biography

Wu was the son of Hsien and Daisy Yen Wu, both biologists who pioneered biochemical studies in China.[8] Wu was born in Beijing in China; his ancestral hometown was Fuzhou of Fujian Province. Wu was educated in the United States and obtained his Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Pennsylvania in 1955.[9]

Wu was a pioneer in DNA sequencing[5][6] and genetic engineering, and is regarded as one of the founding fathers of plant genetic engineering.

Wu also was an active educator, and created the CUSBEA (China-US Biochemistry Examination and Application). In 1999, at Cornell, Wu donated US $500,000 to establish the Ray Wu Graduate Fellowship in Molecular Biology and Genetics to support biology graduate students.[10]

Wu spent most of his scientific career at Cornell. Wu was an Academician of Academia Sinica (Taiwan), and a Foreign Member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.[11] Wu's former student Jack W. Szostak was awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.[12]

Ray Wu Memorial Fund

The Ray Wu Memorial Fund (RWMF) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, also the now Chinese Biological Investigators Society or CBIS. RWMF administers the annual Ray Wu Prize for Excellence in Life Sciences that is established to inspire Asia's most promising young Ph.D. students to become future leaders in life sciences.

References
  1. "Ray Wu, Cornell's acclaimed pioneer of genetic engineering and developer of widely grown, hardy rice, dies at 79". Cornell Chronicle. Retrieved March 27, 2023.
  2. Wu, Ray (August 14, 1970). "Nucleotide sequence analysis of DNA: I. Partial sequence of the cohesive ends of bacteriophage λ and 186 DNA". Journal of Molecular Biology. 51 (3): 501–521. doi:10.1016/0022-2836(70)90004-5. ISSN 0022-2836. PMID 4321727.
  3. Sanger, F.; Coulson, A. R. (May 25, 1975). "A rapid method for determining sequences in DNA by primed synthesis with DNA polymerase". Journal of Molecular Biology. 94 (3): 441–448. doi:10.1016/0022-2836(75)90213-2. ISSN 0022-2836. PMID 1100841.
  4. Maxam, A M; Gilbert, W (February 1977). "A new method for sequencing DNA". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 74 (2): 560–564. Bibcode:1977PNAS...74..560M. doi:10.1073/pnas.74.2.560. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 392330. PMID 265521.
  5. Onaga, Lisa A. "Ray Wu as Fifth Business: Deconstructing Collective Memory in the History of DNA Sequencing." Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences 46 (June 2014): 1–14. doi:10.1016/j.shpsc.2013.12.006
  6. Xue, Yu; Wang, Yongbo; Shen, Hui (July 1, 2016). "Ray Wu, fifth business or father of DNA sequencing?". Protein & Cell. 7 (7): 467–470. doi:10.1007/s13238-016-0271-8. ISSN 1674-8018. PMC 4930765. PMID 27301256.
  7. "Geneticist Ray Wu dies". The Scientist Magazine®. Retrieved January 12, 2023.
  8. 曹 (Cao), 育 (Yu) (March 7, 2008). 屈 (Qu), 宝坤 (Baokun) (ed.). "最早在国内从事生物化学研究的女学者——吴严彩韵" [Daisy Yen Wu—The First Woman Scholar in China Engaged in Biochemical Research]. 中国科技史料 (in Chinese). Beijing: Institute of the History of Natural Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Chinese Library Classification Number K826.1. Archived from the original on September 10, 2012. Retrieved October 4, 2020.
  9. CUSBEA创始人吴瑞因病去世 享年79岁 (Founder of CUSBEA Ray Wu dies at 79) Archived 2011-10-31 at the Wayback Machine, from ScienceNet.com News
  10. Molecular biologist Ray Wu's gift will endow a graduate fellowship
  11. Szostak, Jack (2009). "Ray Wu, as remembered by a former student". Science in China Series C: Life Sciences. 52 (2): 108–110. doi:10.1007/s11427-009-0023-6. PMID 19277516. S2CID 22028369.
  12. The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2009
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