"Using nanozymes to benefit hometown is my dream"
- Interview with Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Director of the Academic Committee of the Henan Provincial Academy of Medical Sciences, and Director of the Central Plains Nanozyme Laboratory, Yan Xiyun
“用纳米酶造福家乡是我的梦想”
——访中国科学院院士、省医学科学院学术委员会主任、中原纳米酶实验室主任阎锡蕴
Starting work as early as 7 in the morning and still in discussions past 10 at night, the work rhythm of Yan Xiyun, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Director of the Academic Committee of the Provincial Academy of Medical Sciences, and Director of the Central Plains Nanozyme Laboratory (CPNL), is always at full throttle.
早上7点多就已开工，晚上10点多还在讨论，全天工作时间经常超过12小时。自农历正月初七到郑州后，中国科学院院士、省医学科学院学术委员会主任、中原纳米酶实验室主任阎锡蕴的工作节奏总是拉满状态。
"It is my responsibility and mission to establish the laboratory, and with the strong support and guidance from the Provincial Committee, Provincial Government, and the Provincial Academy of Medical Sciences, I cannot let down their trust and support," said Yan Xiyun, softly yet firmly, on February 28th.
“把实验室建好是我的责任和使命，省委和省政府这么重视、省医学科学院尽最大力度指导帮助，我不能辜负大家的信任和支持。”2月28日，阎锡蕴温婉而坚定地说。
Known as the "Goddess of Science", Yan Xiyun is also the discoverer of nanozymes. Her research achievements were selected for the "Top Ten Advances in Chinese Science" twice, in 2007 and 2012, which paved the way for a new field in medical catalysis with nanozymes. Technological innovation is the key to enhancing new productive forces, and in Henan, where talents are eagerly sought, there has long been anticipation for a laboratory leader like her.
被称为“科研女神”的阎锡蕴，也是纳米酶的发现者，其研究成果于2007年和2012年先后两次入选“中国科学十大进展”，开拓了纳米酶催化医学新领域；科技创新是提升新质生产力的关键，对人才求贤若渴的河南，对这样一位新兴领域的实验室“掌门人”期盼已久。
Why come to Henan? Her answer is simple: "Moved by the heart, then action."
为什么要来河南？她的答案很简单：“心动加感动，然后行动。”
It all started more than four months ago. On October 15th last year, the plaque for CPNL was unveiled by Lou Yangsheng, the Henan Provincial Party Secretary. Yan Xiyun, who was brought in full-time by the Provincial Academy of Medical Sciences, officially took over as the director of CPNL. Since then, the goal of "leading the way for the development of the nanozyme industry in Henan" has been set.
事情要从4个多月前说起。去年10月15日，省委书记楼阳生为中原纳米酶实验室揭牌，被省医学科学院全职引进的阎锡蕴正式接过中原纳米酶实验室主任的聘书。从那时起，“带领河南纳米酶产业实现开道领跑”的目标就已定下。
Everything made her excited.
一切都让她心潮澎湃。
"The call from my hometown for scientific talent moved me deeply, and the emphasis placed on scientific talent here touched me even more," Yan Xiyun said emotionally. She told reporters that she came across a video posted on the Henan Daily App by chance. "In that video, the Provincial Party Secretary Lou Yangsheng called on talents from home and abroad, especially those from Henan, to return and display their talents, achieve success, and benefit the people in this fertile land."
“家乡对科研人才的呼唤让我很心动，这里对科研人才的重视更令我感动。”阎锡蕴感慨。她告诉记者，一次偶然的机会她看到了河南日报客户端发布的一个视频，“在那个视频上，省委书记楼阳生两次盛情呼唤海内外人才尤其是河南籍人才归来，在家乡的这片沃土上施展才干、成就自己、造福人民。”
A call to "come back" stirred Yan Xiyun's long-standing aspiration. The simple desire to study far and contribute to one's hometown is the humble aspiration of a researcher.
一声“归来吧”，唤起了阎锡蕴内心多年的期盼，求学万里报效乡梓，这是一位科研工作者的朴素情怀。
"Using technology to benefit the people is the belief of scientists. I am a daughter of the people of Henan, and using nanozyme technology to benefit my hometown is my dream," Yan Xiyun said.
“用科技造福人民是科学家的信仰，我是河南人民的女儿，用纳米酶技术造福家乡是我的梦想。”阎锡蕴说。
In 1974, after graduating from high school, Yan Xiyun worked as a sand casting worker in a car parts factory in Kaifeng. In 1977, she became one of the first batch of university students to be admitted after the resumption of the college entrance examination and graduated from the original Henan Medical College. After being assigned to work in a hospital, a chance encounter led her to switch from medicine to biology. While at the Institute of Biophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, she received mentorship from Academician Bei Shizhang. Later, she pursued her doctorate at the University of Heidelberg in Germany. In 1997, she was selected for the "Hundred Talents Program" of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and returned to China to pursue her own research career...
1974年，高中毕业的阎锡蕴在开封一家汽车配件厂做翻砂工。1977年，她作为恢复高考后第一批大学生考入原河南医学院，毕业后被分配到了医院工作。一个偶然的机会，她从医学转向生物学，在中国科学院生物物理研究所师从贝时璋院士，后又攻读德国海德堡大学博士，1997年入选中国科学院“百人计划”回国创业……
A chance experiment led her to discover the mystery of enzymes. Yan Xiyun's team found that when iron oxide nanoparticles are reduced to the nanoscale, they exhibit catalytic activity similar to "natural enzymes". This was the first time in the world that the enzymatic properties contained in nanomaterials were explored from the perspective of enzymology.
一次偶然的实验让她发现了酶的奥秘。阎锡蕴团队发现，当四氧化三铁小到纳米尺度时，自身会出现一种如同“天然酶”一样的催化活性，这是全世界第一次从酶学视角探究纳米材料所蕴含的酶学特性。
The original discovery, made in the blink of an eye, opened up a new interdisciplinary field—the birth of nanozymes, bridging the gap between nanomaterials, chemical catalysis, and enzymology. In 2007, this achievement was published in Nature Nanotechnology, hailed as the foundation of the nanozyme field, and opened up a new domain.
毫厘之间的原创发现，开启一个全新的交叉学科领域——纳米酶的问世，在纳米材料、化学催化和酶学之间架起了一座桥梁。2007年，这项成果在《自然·纳米技术》上发表，被誉为纳米酶领域的奠基之作，开拓了一个新领域。
Experts in the industry generally believe that nanozymes are a new field opened up by Chinese scientists, and Chinese nanozyme research leads globally from basic research to applied research. More importantly, nanozymes, as a new material, have shown promising prospects in many fields such as medical catalysis, sensing detection, green synthesis, new energy, pharmaceuticals, and environmental governance. Today, more than 400 laboratories in over 40 countries worldwide are engaged in nanozyme research. New varieties, new technologies, and new products emerge in endless succession, forming a new emerging interdisciplinary field of nanozymes. In 2022, nanozymes were selected as one of the top ten emerging technologies by International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC).
业内专家普遍认为，纳米酶是我国科学家开辟的新领域，从基础研究到应用研究，中国纳米酶研究引领全球。更重要的是，纳米酶作为一种新材料，在催化医学、传感检测、绿色合成、新能源、制药、环境治理等多个领域展现出可喜的应用前景。如今，全球40多个国家400多个实验室都在从事纳米酶研究，新品种、新技术和新产品不断涌现，形成了纳米酶新兴交叉学科。2022年，纳米酶被国际组织IUPAC评为十大新兴技术之一。
"To translate the achievements of the laboratory into downstream applications is a more challenging path, but only in this way can we fully tap into the application potential of nanozymes." From the discovery of nanozymes to the application of nanozymes in tumor biology research and disease diagnosis and treatment, Yan Xiyun and her team are working hard to transform the research achievements of nanozymes into new materials, new technologies, and new products.
“把实验室的成果，引向转化下游，这是一条更难走的路，但只有这样才能充分挖掘纳米酶的应用潜力。”从发现纳米酶到将纳米酶引入肿瘤生物学研究并应用于疾病诊断治疗，阎锡蕴和她的团队正在努力把纳米酶的研究成果转化为新材料、新技术和新产品。
So, what can CPNL bring to Henan? Nanozymes, known as the new generation of "chemical magicians", will wield greater "magic" in fields such as medicine, chemical industry, and food in our province.
那么，中原纳米酶实验室能为河南带来什么？被称为新一代“化学魔术师”的纳米酶，将在我省医学、化工、食品等领域施展更大的“魔法”。
Yan Xiyun said that CPNL will focus on key issues in the nanozyme field, with the goal of building an internationally leading innovation hub for nanozymes. It will promote theoretical research on nanozymes, the development of Generic Technology, and the construction of enterprise incubation platforms. Focusing on the needs of industrial upgrading in Henan Province and leveraging the unique advantages of nanozymes, the laboratory will create new technologies, promote demonstration applications of nanozymes in biomedicine, green agriculture, and green industry, foster nanozyme industry clusters, and inject new vitality into the transformation and upgrading of related industries in Henan Province.
阎锡蕴说，中原纳米酶实验室将聚焦纳米酶领域关键问题，以打造国际一流的纳米酶创新高地为目标，推动纳米酶的理论研究、共性技术研发和企业孵化平台建设。围绕河南省产业升级需求，结合纳米酶独特优势，以企业需求为导向，创造新技术，推进纳米酶在生物医药、绿色农业、绿色工业等领域示范应用，培育纳米酶产业集群，为河南省相关行业转型升级和产业发展注入新的活力。
"The ultimate goal of medical research is to safeguard the lives and health of the people." Yan Xiyun explained that CPNL places scientific and technological innovation at a high level of focusing on the lives and health of the people. Taking advantage of Henan's medical resources and the concentration of the biopharmaceutical industry, the laboratory will develop nanozyme catalytic medicine around local characteristic diseases such as esophageal cancer. This has become an innovative discipline in Henan Province, radiating throughout the country and even globally, establishing related disciplines related to nanozymes, and promoting the construction of "Double First-Class" disciplines in Henan.
“医学科研的最终目的是呵护人民群众生命健康。”阎锡蕴介绍，中原纳米酶实验室把科技创新置于面向群众生命健康的高度，将利用河南省医疗资源和生物医药产业集聚的优势，围绕食管癌等河南地方特色疾病，发展纳米酶催化医学，这已经成为河南省创新学科，并向全国乃至全球辐射，建立纳米酶相关学科，推动河南“双一流”学科建设。
Daring to challenge, constantly resetting. Yan Xiyun frankly said that from being a sand casting worker to going to university, from studying medicine to nano-biology... every step she has taken has been a climb amidst constant resets. In several important choices in life, boldly breaking through and stepping out of the comfort zone, she has faced greater challenges and achieved more breakthroughs.
敢于挑战、不断清零。阎锡蕴直言，从翻砂工到上大学，从学医转到纳米生物学……她一路走来的每一步都是在不断清零中爬坡过坎。在人生的几次重要选择中勇敢突围跳出舒适圈，她迎来更大挑战也赢得更多突破。
This time, this scientist from Henan will witness the blooming of her dream in her hometown.
这一次，这位河南的女科学家将在自己的家乡见证梦想花开。（中文来源：河南日报 记者：李倩 李晓敏 编译 审校：宋根成 周金淼）