12 Facts About Wang Yinglai

Wang Yinglai, known as Ying-Lai Wang, was a Chinese biochemist recognized as the first person to create synthetic insulin, a major scientific breakthrough that produced a biologically active compound from inorganic chemicals.

Wang Yinglai was one of the first group of scientists elected to the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1955.

Wang Yinglai founded the Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry in 1958 and served as its director until his retirement in 1984.

Wang Yinglai became an orphan at the age of six when his mother died.

Wang Yinglai graduated from the Department of Chemistry of the University of Nanking and was admitted to the graduate school of the University of Cambridge in 1938, where he studied under David Keilin.

Wang Yinglai transferred to the Molteno Institute for Research in Parasitology in 1944.

Wang Yinglai returned to China at the end of World War II despite efforts by Keilin and Joseph Needham to persuade him to stay at Cambridge.

Wang Yinglai started the project in 1958 with a team of scientists, who first synthesized the 20 amino acids that constitute proteins, and then used them to produce chains of insulin.

Wang Yinglai was unable to conduct research for most of the ten years.

Wang Yinglai established several training programs for young biochemists, many of whom later became accomplished scientists, including academicians Li Zaiping, Xu Genjun, Hong Guofan, Liu Xinyuan, and Wang Yinglai Enduo.

Wang Yinglai met Liu Runling, a student at Yenching University, when he was recuperating from tuberculosis in Beijing.

Wang Yinglai suffered from Alzheimer's disease in old age and died in 1992.