Wang Yinglai

Wang Yinglai (; 13 November 1907 – 5 May 2001), also 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. He became an orphan at the age of six when his mother died.

Wang's most significant contribution was the total chemical synthesis of insulin. He 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. His team successfully synthesized insulin in 1965, the first in the world to do so. It was a major breakthrough to produce a biologically active compound from inorganic chemicals. However, the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) intervened and the Chinese Communist government considered the Nobel Prize a symbol of Western decadence. Instead, Wang was held a virtual prisoner

Awards In 1988, William Joseph Whelan, the founder of the Miami Winter Symposium for Biotechnology, created the Special Achievement Award of the symposium and presented the first award to Wang. In 1996, he was nominated by many scientists for the Ho Leung Ho Lee Prize for Achievement in Science and Technology. When he won the award with its prize money of one million yuan, he used it to fund a scholarship for graduate students at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Wang died in Shanghai on 5 May 2001, aged 93. Academician Xu Genjun eulogized Wang with a quotation from the Tao Te Ching: "The top class of virtue is like water, which benefits ten thousand objects without any demands for return."

Selected publications

Yudkin J., Wang Y.L., "Assessment of the Level of Nutrition, Urinary Excretion of Aneurin at Varying Levels of Intake, Biochem. J., 1940; 34:343–352. Brit. J. Nutrition 1947, 1:53–64.

Wang J.Y., Tsou C.L., Wang Y.L., Studies on Succinic Dehydrogenase Isolation, Purification and Properties, Brussels, 3rd Int. Congress of Biochemistry, 1955 Scientia Sinica, 1956, 5:96–90.

Wang J.Y., Wang Y.L., "Studies on Succinic Dehydrogenase IV, The Effect of Some Chelation Agents on the Reconstitution of Succinic Axidase System, Acta Biochim et Biophys Sin, 1964, 4:222;Scientia Sinica, 1964, 13:1799–1809. Qi D.F., Wang Y.L., "Studies on Succinic Dehydrogenase V, The Linking between the Flavin Prosthetic Group and the Apoenzyme, Acta Biochim et Biophys Sin, 1964,4: 598; Scientia Sinica, 1965; 14:1193–1204.

Hsia C.C., Qi D.F., Wang Y.L., "Studies on Aldolase I, The Protective Action of Substrates on the Action of Trypsin on Aldolase, Acta Biochim et Biophys Sin, 1966,6:70, in Chinese; Kexue Tong Bao 1966, 17:216, in English.

Lin S.X., Shi J.P., Cheng X.D., Wang Y.L., Arginyl tRNA Synthetase from Escherichia Coli, Purification by Affinity Chromatography, Properties and Steady Stat e Kinetics, Biochemistry 1988, 27:6343. Lin S.X., Wang Q., Wang Y.L., Interactions between Escherichia Coliarginyl tRNA Sythetase and Its Substrates, Biochemistry, 1988, 27:6348.

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