The Institute of Biophysics (IBP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) held a colloquium on Oct 29 to discuss the contributions and research progress of the 2020 Nobel Prize winners. The IBP's Prof. Wang Zhizhen presided over the meeting, and Yuan Zhenghong, Professor at the Shanghai Medical College of Fudan University, and Deng Hongyu and Wang Yanli, Professors with the IBP, delivered lectures to the audience.

The 2020 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Harvey J. Alter, Michael Houghton and Charles M. Rice for their contributions to the discovery of the Hepatitis C virus (HCV). Yuan gave a presentation on the history and prospects of HCV research, which systematically outlined the great contributions the three scientists made in the discovery of HCV, the establishment of a system to study the virus in vivo and in vitro, and the development of HCV drugs, as well as interesting episodes from the research process.

Yuan also illuminated HCV's current situation at home and abroad and the difficulties in vaccine development. He underlined the importance of respecting the science and adhering to the spirit of collaboration, and encouraged scientific workers to strive to eliminate the public health threat caused by HCV by 2030.

Deng gave a report titled "Tumorigenic Viruses and Nobel Prize", which revealed the correlation between virus infection and tumorigenesis and reviewed the discovery process, perniciousness and research status of seven types of human oncoviruses (EBV, HBV, HTLV-1, HPV, HCV, KSHV, and MCV) since the discovery of the first human oncogenic virus in 1964.

Scientists at home and abroad have made important progress, including Baruch S. Blumberg and Harald Zur Hausen being awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1976 and 2008 for their research on HBV and HPV. This year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was conferred on three scientists who made a big step forward in HCV research, showcasing the high status of oncogenic virus research.

Deng also shared some interesting episodes behind the scientific research, and encouraged researchers to forge ahead in a down-to-earth way and make efforts to transform scientific research achievements into public welfare.

French scientist Emmanuelle Charpentier and US scientist Jennifer Doudna were honored with the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2020 for their contribution to developing methods of gene editing. As an expert in Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR), Wang made a vivid demonstration of the CRISPR research history and the application of CRISPR-Cas9, and discussed the research achievements of Nobel laureates Charpentier and Doudna.

In addition, Wang also mentioned other heroes behind the Nobel Prize: Maria Jasin, discoverer of the gene editing caused by DNA repair; Francisco Mojica, founder of early CRISPR; John Van der Oost, finder of the immune mechanism of type I CRISPR-CAS; Virginijus Siksnys, who discovered Cas9's gene editing function at the same time as Charpentier and Doudna; and Feng Zhang, who was the first to realize gene editing in eukaryotic cells. These distinguished scholars have worked together to write the history of research in CRISPR and gene editing.

Wang, also a structural biologist, explained the structure of Cas9 genetic scissors and the conformational changes to Cas9 after binding to RNA and DNA, and uncovered the molecular mechanisms of Cas9's gene editing function.

Since 2013, the IBP has organized seven similar colloquiums themed on Nobel Prize interpretation, a brand of its academic activities that is highly popular with teachers and students.

Wang Zhizhen presides over the colloquium on Oct 29.

Deng Hongyu gives a lecture on tumorigenic viruses at the colloquium on Oct 29.

Wang Yanli delivers a report on gene editing at the colloquium on Oct 29.

A student asks a question at the colloquium on Oct 29.

Wang Zhizhen (C), Deng Hongyu (R) and Wang Yanli pose for a group photo at the end of the event on Oct 29.