Scilight Press

We are excited to announce that Prof. Hong Zhang, an Editorial Board Member of Ubiquitylation & Atg8ylation, has received the Future Science Prize in life sciences for his pioneering contributions to the mechanism and physiological function of autophagy specific in multicellular organisms.

Hong Zhang Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Professor Hong Zhang has made seminal discoveries regarding the molecular mechanisms unique to autophagy in multicellular organisms. Autophagy (“self-eating”) is a term first proposed by Christian de Duve in 1963. It is an important cellular degradation-recycling mechanism that involves the formation of autophagosome, a double membrane vesicle that encloses and transports cellular proteins, organelles, and pathogens, to lysosome for degradation. The core autophagy (ATG) genes were identified in unicellular organism yeast by Yoshinori Ohsumi. Dr. Zhang pioneered the use of Caenorhabditis elegans to understand the molecular mechanism of autophagy in multicellular organisms. Through his landmark 2010 Cell paper and subsequent research, he identified a suite of multicellular organism-specific autophagy genes, termed EPGs. By elucidating the complex molecular pathways unique to animal autophagy, Dr. Zhang has revealed fundamental insights into their roles in development, physiology, and human disease, deepening our understanding of autophagy regulation in multicellular organisms.

The Future Science Prize, commonly known as the "Chinese Nobel Prize," recognized Prof. Hong Zhang’s significant contributions to the research of the mechanism and physiological function of autophagy specific in multicellular organisms.

For more details on their award and contributions, please visit the official announcement here.

Please join us in congratulating Prof. Hong Zhang on this exceptional achievement!

Ubiquitylation & Atg8ylation Editorial Office