Beijing, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) -- Tu Youyou, winner of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, has recently become a high-profile news figure in China. In the view of Chinese science and technology circles, Tu Youyou and her achievements bring a triple revelation.
The first revelation is that the goal of scientific research should be oriented to the major needs of the country and society.
At a symposium held in Beijing on Aug. 8 to congratulate Tu Youyou on winning the Nobel Prize in medicine, she recalled the process of discovering and extracting artemisinin for use in malaria treatment. The research, which originated in the battlefield to combat malaria, is still saving patients' lives today.
Hou Jianguo, vice minister of China's Ministry of Science and Technology, pointed out that scientific research topics should be oriented to the major needs of the country and society in order to highlight the significance of the research.
"What is the direction and goal of our scientific research? Especially if we do clinical medical research, we should shift our goal more toward the needs, toward solving the actual difficult clinical problems, improving the cure rate, reducing the mortality rate, and doing a good job in health care." Zhang Boli, president of the Chinese Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, holds the same view.
The reporter noted that the new policy of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) includes "three directions", namely, facing the world's scientific and technological frontiers, facing the country's major needs, and facing the main battlefield of the national economy. The ongoing deepening of the reform of the science and technology system, through the classification of scientific research institutes, talent evaluation classification and other initiatives, research and demand are closely linked.
Shi Yigong, vice president of Tsinghua University, said applied research topics targeting the country's major needs are different from basic research, and cannot be evaluated by the citation rate of published papers or impact factors. But he also cautioned that basic research should not be neglected just because the Nobel Prize was awarded to applied research, "China needs strong basic research, which is both a mechanism for training talents and a foundation for China's sustainable development."
The second revelation is that the spirit of scientific research needs to be "able to sit on the bench".
Hou Jianguo said that all major scientific research is arduous, and major scientific achievements are not achieved overnight, requiring scientists to work hard in long-term research. As he said, the Nobel Prize is also mostly awarded to those scientific achievements that stand the test of history.
From Tu Youyou's account, the reporter summarized a set of figures. She collected and summarized more than 2,000 malaria remedies, and then selected 640. 1971 extracted to the 191 (i.e., 191 experiments) drug samples, finally showed a 100% inhibition rate. She had done clinical observation on 30 malaria patients in 60 days, and had also tried the drug herself.
"Scientists who try drugs themselves have a great spirit of sacrifice." Shi Yigong lamented that although today's science and technology management model, funding allocation, and science and technology evaluation standards are different from those of his time, researchers should be in the same vein, "sitting on the bench, overcoming impatience, and working hard to innovate for a long time."
Li Jinghai, vice president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said the spirit of "encouraging a scientist to do one thing well in his life". He also emphasized that the soul of scientific research lies in originality, and that "it's not just about valuing results, but also having a keen sense of discovery of original ideas."
The third revelation is that the process of scientific research not only plays the role of individual scientists, but also promotes a cooperative atmosphere of collaborative research.
Just as Tu Youyou always talks about how "this is an honor for all scientists in China, and shows that Chinese scientists are further recognized by the international community," the artemisinin research team includes more than 500 researchers from seven provinces and cities, and more than 60 research institutes in China.
Zhang Bolei frankly said that teamwork is a strong guarantee for the success of this work, and that it is necessary to learn from the experience of joint research and collaborative innovation, and that the model of collective scientific and technological research is still applicable now.
Shi Yigong said the baton has been passed from China's older generation of scientists to the younger generation. Tu Youyou also expressed hope, saying, "I hope this Nobel Prize will become a new incentive mechanism to mobilize young people to do more for the world and China." (end)