Ray Wu
{{Short description|American geneticist (born 1928–2008)}}
{{Family name hatnote|Wu|lang=Chinese}}
{{Use American English|date=June 2023}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2023}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Ray Jui Wu
| native_name = {{Nobold|吴瑞}}
| image = Wurui.png
| birth_name = Jui Wu
| birth_date = {{birth date|1928|08|14}}
| birth_place = Beijing, Republic of China
| death_date = {{death date and age|2008|02|10|1928|08|14}}
| death_place = Ithaca, New York, U.S.
| resting_place =
| resting_place_coordinates =
| other_names = Wu Rui, Wu Jui
| residence =
| citizenship =
| nationality = American
| fields =
| workplaces =
| patrons =
| alma_mater = University of Pennsylvania
| thesis_title = Studies on the Mechanisms of Pyrimidine Biosynthesis
| thesis_url =
| thesis_year = 1955
| doctoral_advisor = D. Wright Wilson
| academic_advisors =
| doctoral_students = Jack W. Szostak
| notable_students =
| known_for =
| author_abbrev_bot =
| author_abbrev_zoo =
| influences =
| influenced =
| awards =
| signature =
| signature_alt =
| website =
| footnotes =
| spouse =
| children =
}}
Ray Jui Wu ({{zh|c=吴瑞|p=Wú Ruì|w=Wu Jui}}, 14 August 1928 – 10 February 2008) was a Chinese-born American geneticist and served as Liberty Hyde Bailey Professor of Molecular Genetics and Biology at Cornell University.{{Cite web |title=Ray Wu, Cornell's acclaimed pioneer of genetic engineering and developer of widely grown, hardy rice, dies at 79 |url=https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2008/02/ray-wu-acclaimed-pioneer-genetic-engineering-dies-79 |access-date=2023-03-27 |website=Cornell Chronicle |language=en}}
In 1970, Wu created the first approach for DNA sequencing,{{Cite journal |last=Wu |first=Ray |date=1970-08-14 |title=Nucleotide sequence analysis of DNA: I. Partial sequence of the cohesive ends of bacteriophage λ and 186 DNA |url=https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0022-2836%2870%2990004-5 |journal=Journal of Molecular Biology |language=en |volume=51 |issue=3 |pages=501–521 |doi=10.1016/0022-2836(70)90004-5 |issn=0022-2836 |pmid=4321727|url-access=subscription }} earlier than the Frederick Sanger's method in 1975 {{Cite journal |last1=Sanger |first1=F. |last2=Coulson |first2=A. R. |date=1975-05-25 |title=A rapid method for determining sequences in DNA by primed synthesis with DNA polymerase |url=https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0022-2836%2875%2990213-2 |journal=Journal of Molecular Biology |language=en |volume=94 |issue=3 |pages=441–448 |doi=10.1016/0022-2836(75)90213-2 |pmid=1100841 |issn=0022-2836|url-access=subscription }} and Walter Gilbert's chemical procedure in 1977.{{Cite journal |last1=Maxam |first1=A M |last2=Gilbert |first2=W |date=February 1977 |title=A new method for sequencing DNA. |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |language=en |volume=74 |issue=2 |pages=560–564 |doi=10.1073/pnas.74.2.560 |issn=0027-8424 |pmc=392330 |pmid=265521 |bibcode=1977PNAS...74..560M |doi-access=free }} Wu's contributions on DNA sequencing are fundamental to the general sequencing methods today.{{Cite web |title=Geneticist Ray Wu dies |url=https://www.the-scientist.com/the-nutshell/geneticist-ray-wu-dies-45441 |access-date=2023-01-12 |website=The Scientist Magazine® |language=en}}
Biography
Wu was the son of Hsien and Daisy Yen Wu, both biologists who pioneered biochemical studies in China.{{cite journal |last1=曹 (Cao) |first1=育 (Yu) |editor1-last=屈 (Qu) |editor1-first=宝坤 (Baokun) |title=最早在国内从事生物化学研究的女学者——吴严彩韵 |journal=中国科技史料 |date=7 March 2008 |url=http://news.sciencenet.cn/htmlnews/20083717459705203031.html?id=203031 |accessdate=4 October 2020 |trans-title=Daisy Yen Wu—The First Woman Scholar in China Engaged in Biochemical Research |publisher=Institute of the History of Natural Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120910021647/http://news.sciencenet.cn:80/htmlnews/20083717459705203031.html |archivedate=10 September 2012 |location=Beijing |language=Chinese |id=Chinese Library Classification Number K826.1}} Wu was born in Beijing in China; his ancestral hometown was Fuzhou of Fujian Province. Wu was educated in the United States and obtained his Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Pennsylvania in 1955.[http://www.sciencenet.cn/htmlnews/2008214102012343201177.html CUSBEA创始人吴瑞因病去世 享年79岁 (Founder of CUSBEA Ray Wu dies at 79)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111031120727/http://www.sciencenet.cn/htmlnews/2008214102012343201177.html |date=2011-10-31 }}, from ScienceNet.com News
Wu was a pioneer in DNA sequencingOnaga, Lisa A. "Ray Wu as Fifth Business: Deconstructing Collective Memory in the History of DNA Sequencing." Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences 46 (June 2014): 1–14. [http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S136984861400003X doi:10.1016/j.shpsc.2013.12.006]{{Cite journal |last1=Xue |first1=Yu |last2=Wang |first2=Yongbo |last3=Shen |first3=Hui |date=2016-07-01 |title=Ray Wu, fifth business or father of DNA sequencing? |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s13238-016-0271-8 |journal=Protein & Cell |language=en |volume=7 |issue=7 |pages=467–470 |doi=10.1007/s13238-016-0271-8 |issn=1674-8018 |pmc=4930765 |pmid=27301256}} and genetic engineering, and is regarded as one of the founding fathers of plant genetic engineering.
Wu also was an active educator, and created the CUSBEA (China-US Biochemistry Examination and Application). In 1999, at Cornell, Wu donated US $500,000 to establish the Ray Wu Graduate Fellowship in Molecular Biology and Genetics to support biology graduate students.[http://www.news.cornell.edu/Chronicle/99/12.2.99/Wu_gift.html Molecular biologist Ray Wu's gift will endow a graduate fellowship]
Wu spent most of his scientific career at Cornell. Wu was an Academician of Academia Sinica (Taiwan), and a Foreign Member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.{{cite journal | url=https://doi.org/10.1007%2Fs11427-009-0023-6 | doi=10.1007/s11427-009-0023-6 | title=Ray Wu, as remembered by a former student | year=2009 | last1=Szostak | first1=Jack | journal=Science in China Series C: Life Sciences | volume=52 | issue=2 | pages=108–110 | pmid=19277516 | s2cid=22028369 | url-access=subscription }} Wu's former student Jack W. Szostak was awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.[http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/2009/ The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2009]
Ray Wu Memorial Fund
The Ray Wu Memorial Fund (RWMF) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization. RWMF administers the annual Ray Wu Prize for Excellence in Life Sciences that is established to inspire Asia's most promising young Ph.D. students to become future leaders in life sciences.
Ray Wu Award
[https://www.cbisociety.org/awards.html Ray Wu Award] was established by the society to honor the late Dr. Ray Wu, who not only had a distinguished scientific career but also nurtured a new generation of Chinese scientists in life sciences through his tireless effort in promoting scientific and educational exchanges between China and the United States. The Award recognizes Chinese Biological Investigators Society (CBIS) members who have made fundamental discoveries in life sciences and/or significant contributions in promoting life sciences in China.
References
External links
- [http://www.cornell.edu/video/details.cfm?vidID=325&display=preferences Ray Wu Memorial Symposium]
- [http://mbg.cornell.edu/cals/mbg/faculty-staff/faculty/wu.cfm Ray Wu Faculty Profile] @ Cornell University Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wu, Ray}}
Category:20th-century American biologists
Category:20th-century American educators
Category:Biologists from Beijing
Category:Chinese emigrants to the United States
Category:Cornell University faculty
Category:Educators from Beijing
Category:Foreign members of the Chinese Academy of Engineering
Category:Members of Academia Sinica
Category:University of Pennsylvania School of Arts and Sciences alumni