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Liang Dongcai

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In this Chinese name, the family name is Liang.
Liang Dongcai
梁栋材
Born (1932-05-29) 29 May 1932 (age 92)
Nanhai County, Guangdong, China
Alma materSun Yat-sen University
Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union
Children2
Scientific career
FieldsMolecular biophysics
InstitutionsChinese Academy of Sciences
Academic advisorsDorothy Hodgkin
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese梁栋材
Traditional Chinese梁棟材
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinLiáng Dòngcái

Liang Dongcai (Chinese: 梁栋材; born 29 May 1932) is a Chinese molecular biophysicist, politician, and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

He was an alternate member of the 12th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and a member of the 13th and 14th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party.[1]

Biography

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Liang was born into a poor family in Nanhai County (now Liwan District of Guangzhou), Guangdong, on 29 May 1932.[2][3] He was the sixth of nine children.[2] Two of the nine children in the family died prematurely due to poverty.[2]

Liang attended Guangzhou No. 1 High School.[2] In 1951, he enrolled at Sun Yat-sen University, majoring in chemistry.[2][3] After university in 1956, he was sent to study at the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union on government scholarships, where he earned his vice-doctorate degree in 1960.[2][3]

In April 1960, after returning to China, Liang and the scientific researchers of the Institute of Computing Technology started the research on the calculation program. On the basis of the 104 electron tube computer built by China, he established the first set of calculation program for small molecule structure analysis, and successfully determined the crystal structure of a batch of organic compounds by using the program, which has laid an important foundation for the development of single crystal structure analysis of small molecules and the study of crystal structure of biological macromolecules in China.[2]

At the end of 1965, the Chinese Academy of Sciences sent Liang to study in the United Kingdom, becoming the first researcher in China to contact and enter the field of X-ray crystallography.[2] He first studied at the Royal Institution, and then transferred to Oxford University to study with Dorothy Hodgkin, a famous crystallographer and Nobel Prize-winner.[2]

Liang returned to China in early 1967, with the support of Marshal Nie Rongzhen and other researchers, he set up the Beijing Insulin Crystal Structure Research Collaboration Group (北京胰岛素晶体结构研究协作组). At the end of 1969, he successfully solved the high-resolution structure of insulin and completed the determination of the crystal structure of porcine insulin with a resolution of 2.5 angstroms, making China officially enter the ranks of international X-ray crystallography.[2]

In 1983, he became director of the Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and served until 1986, when he was appointed deputy director of the National Natural Science Foundation of China.[2] In 1989, he co-founded the State Key Laboratory of biomacromolecules with Chen-Lu Tsou and Yang Fuyu, and served as its deputy director.[2]

Personal life

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Liang has two sons.[2]

Honours and awards

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References

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  1. ^ 梁栋材教授荣获首届贝时璋奖. ebiotrade.com (in Chinese). 26 August 2009. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r 《南海院士风采录》系列—梁栋材（中国科学院院士、 结构生物学家）. nanhai.gov.cn (in Chinese). 15 September 2020. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d 梁栋材. casad.cas.cn (in Chinese). 20 June 2009. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
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