15 Facts About Zhang Youshang

Zhang Youshang was a Chinese biochemist, professor and vice-president of the Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology.

Zhang Youshang was a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and served as chief editor of the peer-reviewed journal Acta Biochimica et Biophysica Sinica.

Zhang Youshang's research was focused on protein structures and insulin.

Zhang Youshang's father, Zhang Xiaoqian, was a founder of gastroenterology in China and a professor at Peking Union Medical College.

Zhang Youshang studied at the Sino-French Comte School in Beijing, and when the Second Sino-Japanese War began in 1937, he moved with his family to Changsha, where he studied at Yali School run by Yale-in-China.

Zhang Youshang graduated from Zhejiang University in 1948, and earned a master's degree from the Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry in 1961, where he studied under Professor Cao Tianqin.

Zhang Youshang was the only student at Cambridge from mainland China at the time.

Zhang Youshang returned to China just before the start of the Cultural Revolution, during which he was persecuted for his association with Cambridge scientist Joseph Needham, who was accused of being a British spy.

Zhang Youshang died in Shanghai on 23 December 2022, at age 97.

Zhang Youshang's research was focused on protein structures and insulin.

Zhang Youshang separated re-synthesised insulin in pure crystal form and demonstrated that it had an identical three-dimensional structure with natural insulin.

Zhang Youshang was a longtime professor at the Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology and formerly served as vice-president of the institute.

Zhang Youshang taught as a visiting professor at ETH Zurich in Switzerland and the University of York in England.

Zhang Youshang was elected as a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2001.

In 2015, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Press published his biography entitled The Pioneer of Insulin: The Biography of Zhang Youshang, written by Du Yanyong.