Ray Wu
Ray Wu (born August 14, 1928 in Beijing as Wú Ruì, Chinese 吳瑞 / 吴瑞 ; † February 10, 2008 in Ithaca , New York ) was a molecular biologist and geneticist who had been researching at Cornell University since 1966 . He was considered one of the pioneers of so-called green genetic engineering . He was mainly concerned with the development of genetically modified rice varieties , which should be more resistant to heat , drought , pests and salinity than conventionally grown rice.
Ray Wu was the son of molecular biology pioneer Hsien Wu ( Chinese 吳憲 / 吴宪 , Pinyin Wú Xiàn , 1893-1959). In 1948, at the height of the Chinese Civil War , he moved from China to the USA , where he received his academic training. In 1950 he passed the bachelor's examination in chemistry at the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa , followed in 1955 by the doctoral examination in biochemistry at the University of Pennsylvania . In 1961 he became a US citizen. From 1966 he was a member of Cornell University, first as an associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biology and from 1972 as a full professor. In 2004 he was appointed Liberty Hyde Bailey Professor of Molecular Biology and Genetics. Parallel to his obligations in the USA, he had held teaching positions in both Taiwan and the People's Republic of China from the beginning of the 1990s and was an advisor to the governments of both countries.
By 1970 he had developed the first method to DNA for sequencing and cloning . Frederick Sanger continued to develop Wu's method, for which he won the 1980 Nobel Prize in Chemistry . The methods commonly used today for analyzing genes through to the human genome project and the large number of sequenced organisms are based on Wu's early preparatory work .
Wu died on February 10, 2008 at Cayuga Medical Center in Ithaca, NY at the age of 79. The Chinese Biological Investigators Society (CBIS) announced after his death, to establish a foundation under Wu's name, which is to promote scientific exchange between Asia and the West.
Web links
- www.news.cornell.edu Cornell University obituary
- www.mbg.cornell.edu ( Memento from December 10, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Former personal website of the Liberty Hyde Bailey Professorship
Individual evidence
- ↑ The English Wikipedia has an article on Hsien Wu
- ↑ Geneticist shaped hybrid rice strains obituary in the Los Angeles Times, February 28, 2008 (accessed December 25, 2009)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Wu, Ray |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Wu Rui |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American molecular biologist and geneticist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 14, 1928 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Beijing |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 10, 2008 |
| Place of death | Ithaca , New York |