How a Marine Biology Student Became a Pioneering RNA Splicing Scientist

Why study biology

Before graduating in 2013, Wan Ruixue was a top student in marine biology at Sun Yat‑sen University, excelling academically.

She later switched to fundamental medicine and biology research, driven by a long‑standing fascination with cells and a desire to cure diseases like her grandmother’s diabetes.

I felt stupid

After contacting Prof. Shi Yigong, she was invited to join his renowned lab at Tsinghua University and was directly admitted to a PhD program.

She felt anxious, believing she was “the dumbest” in a high‑efficiency, fast‑paced environment, but supportive senior colleagues and Prof. Shi’s mentorship helped her adapt.

She worked long hours, often 14 hours a day, and after months of perseverance succeeded in producing high‑quality yeast spliceosome samples.

In 2015, she co‑first‑authored two papers in Science that revealed the structure of the spliceosome, a breakthrough made possible by advances in cryo‑EM.

2016 – Selected for the “Future Female Scientist Program”. 2018 – Won the Science & SciLifeLab Prize for Young Scientists. 2019 – Listed in Forbes China “30 Under 30”.

I dreamed of doing experiments

Despite the difficulty of the world‑class spliceosome problem, she persisted, repeatedly repeating experiments until success.

Hope young scholars have ambition

She emphasizes the importance of choosing an interesting research direction, maintaining ambition, and receiving external support for young researchers.

She believes that while equipment and funding are necessary, personal determination is equally crucial, describing research as a marathon where the true competitor is oneself.