A year has passed, and we should remember this true backbone of China
Ordinary Hero
Ordinary Hero
Chen Xiaochun
00:00/04:11
You may not know this person
His name is Zhong Yang
He was a professor at the School of Life Sciences at Fudan University in our country and a renowned botanist
On the morning of September 25, 2017, he was in a car accident
and tragically passed away
at the young age of 53
Since 2001
30,000 km every year
for 16 consecutive years
he traveled across the high-altitude, low-oxygen regions of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau
For the national seed bank, he collected 40 million seeds from over a thousand plant species
storing up a rich "genetic" treasure trove that will endure for generations to come
He firmly believed
that a single gene can bring hope to a nation,
and a single seed can benefit countless living beings.
When one day a species disappears,
through these seeds, it will sprout and grow again.
To collect samples, we travel at least 30,000 km every year, searching for the traces of biological evolution; on the road to collect seeds, all kinds of dangers often occur. There are about 17 kinds of altitude sickness, and over the past dozen years, I have experienced one or two of them every time. Dizziness, nausea, weakness and diarrhea are all commonplace. Scientific research itself is a challenge to humanity!
-- Zhong Yang
For each plant species, 5,000 seeds must be collected. To avoid the problem of genetic hybridization, since different individuals and different varieties may crossbreed, the distance between two samples must be no less than 50 km. And the various altitude sickness caused by the long-term, huge altitude differences of the plateau means the boundary between life and death.
He said: Suppose that more than a hundred years from now cancer still exists, and a plant is found that can fight cancer, but perhaps due to climate change, this plant has already disappeared in Tibet. People will remember that more than a hundred years ago, a professor named Zhong seemed to have collected it. "Maybe someone will say, a hundred years from now, this seed will be useless? I look forward to seeing the day when the seeds are useless, because that means that plant is still here. How wonderful that would be!"
Zhong Yang, "Seeds of the Future"
Teacher Zhong Yang once said, "A single gene can save a nation, and a single seed can benefit countless living beings." "Life has no absolutes. You do not have to wait until you are on your deathbed to look back on your life. As long as you do what you should do at every stage of life, you will not fail to live it well." With over thirty years of teaching and sixteen years of aiding Tibet, that stretch of mangrove by the sea -- how many people have reread all of this with tears, missing Teacher Zhong, who pushed his limits only to sow the future!
However, his life came to an abrupt end at the age of 53...
Teacher Zhong Yang's last words:
"Every life has a day when it ends, but I am not afraid at all. Because my students will carry on the path of scientific exploration; and the seeds we collected may take root and sprout on some day hundreds of years from now. By then, who knows how many people's dreams will be fulfilled..."
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