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Roger Yonchien Tsien (pronounced , "'' CHEN''"'';'' February 1, 1952 – August 24, 2016) was an American
biochemist Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. They study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. Biochemists study DNA, proteins and cell parts. The word "biochemist" is a portmanteau of "biological ch ...
. He was a professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the
University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego is ...
and was awarded the
Nobel Prize in Chemistry ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then "M ...
for his discovery and development of the
green fluorescent protein The green fluorescent protein (GFP) is a protein that exhibits bright green fluorescence when exposed to light in the blue to ultraviolet range. The label ''GFP'' traditionally refers to the protein first isolated from the jellyfish '' Aequore ...
, in collaboration with organic chemist Osamu Shimomura and
neurobiologist A neuroscientist (or neurobiologist) is a scientist who has specialised knowledge in neuroscience, a branch of biology that deals with the physiology, biochemistry, psychology, anatomy and molecular biology of neurons, neural circuits, and glial c ...
Martin Chalfie. Tsien was also a pioneer of
calcium imaging Calcium imaging is a microscopy technique to optically measure the calcium (Ca2+) status of an isolated cell, tissue or medium. Calcium imaging takes advantage of calcium indicators, fluorescent molecules that respond to the binding of Ca2+ ions b ...
.


Early life

Tsien was born to a
Chinese American Chinese Americans are Americans of Han Chinese ancestry. Chinese Americans constitute a subgroup of East Asian Americans which also constitute a subgroup of Asian Americans. Many Chinese Americans along with their ancestors trace lineage from ...
family in New York, in 1952. He grew up in Livingston, New Jersey and attended Livingston High School. Tsien traces his family ancestry to
Hangzhou Hangzhou ( or , ; , , Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), also Chinese postal romanization, romanized as Hangchow, is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang, China. It is located in the northwestern part of the prov ...
,
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
. His father
Hsue-Chu Tsien Hsue-Chu Tsien, COL (H.C. Tsien, 1914–1997; ), was a Chinese-born American aeronautical and mechanical engineer who played important roles in aircraft building in both China and afterward the United States. Biography Tsien was born in 1914 i ...
, an MIT and Shanghai Jiao Tong University alumnus, was a
mechanical Mechanical may refer to: Machine * Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement * Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations ...
engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considerin ...
and had excelled academically, graduating at the top of his university class. Tsien suffered from asthma as a child, and as a result, he was often indoors. He spent hours conducting chemistry experiments in his basement laboratory. When he was 16, he won first prize in the nationwide Westinghouse Talent Search with a project investigating how metals bind to thiocyanate.Nicole Kresge, Robert D. Simoni, and Robert L. Hill
"The Chemistry of Fluorescent Indicators: the Work of Roger Y. Tsien"
''
Journal of Biological Chemistry The ''Journal of Biological Chemistry'' (''JBC'') is a weekly peer-reviewed scientific journal that was established in 1905., jbc.org Since 1925, it is published by the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. It covers research i ...
'', September 15, 2006. Accessed September 18, 2007. "At age 16, Tsien won first prize in the nationwide Westinghouse talent search with a project investigating how metals bind to thiocyanate."


Education

Tsien attended
Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher ...
on a National Merit Scholarship, where he was elected to
Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ...
as a junior. He graduated
summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...
with a Bachelor of Arts in
chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the elements that make up matter to the compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions: their composition, structure, proper ...
and
physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which ...
in 1972. According to his freshman-year roommate, economist and Iowa politician Herman Quirmbach, "It's probably not an exaggeration to say he's the smartest person I ever met ... d I have met a lot of brilliant people." After completing his bachelor's degree, Tsien joined the Physiological Laboratory at the
University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
in
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
,
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
with the aid of a
Marshall Scholarship The Marshall Scholarship is a postgraduate scholarship for "intellectually distinguished young Americans ndtheir country's future leaders" to study at any university in the United Kingdom. It is widely considered one of the most prestigious sc ...
, and resided at
Churchill College, Cambridge Churchill College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. It has a primary focus on science, engineering and technology, but still retains a strong interest in the arts and humanities. In 1958, a trust was establis ...
. He received his Ph.D. in
physiology Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemic ...
in 1977 for research on ''The Design and Use of Organic Chemical Tools in Cellular Physiology'' formally supervised by Richard Adrian in the Department of Physiology and assisted by Andy Holmes, Gerry Smith and Jeremy Sanders in the Department of Chemistry.


Research and career

Following his Ph.D., Tsien was a Research Fellow at
Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of t ...
from 1977 to 1981. He was appointed to the faculty at the
University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant un ...
, from 1982 to 1989. Beginning in 1989, he worked at the
University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego is ...
, as Professor of Pharmacology and Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and as an investigator of the
Howard Hughes Medical Institute The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) is an American non-profit medical research organization based in Chevy Chase, Maryland. It was founded in 1953 by Howard Hughes, an American business magnate, investor, record-setting pilot, engineer, fi ...
. Tsien contributed to the fields of cell biology and neurobiology by discovering genetically programmable fluorescent tags, thereby allowing scientists to watch the behavior of molecules in living cells in real time. He also developed fluorescent indicators of
calcium Calcium is a chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. As an alkaline earth metal, calcium is a reactive metal that forms a dark oxide-nitride layer when exposed to air. Its physical and chemical properties are most similar ...
ions and other ions important in biological processes. In 2004, Tsien was awarded the
Wolf Prize in Medicine The Wolf Prize in Medicine is awarded annually by the Wolf Foundation in Israel. It is one of the six Wolf Prizes established by the Foundation and awarded since 1978; the others are in Agriculture, Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics and Arts. The ...
"for his seminal contribution to the design and biological application of novel fluorescent and photolabile molecules to analyze and perturb cell signal transduction." In 2008, Tsien shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Osamu Shimomura and Martin Chalfie for "the green fluorescent protein: discovery, expression and development."


Fluorescent proteins

The multicolored
fluorescent proteins Fluorescence is the emission of light by a substance that has absorbed light or other electromagnetic radiation. It is a form of luminescence. In most cases, the emitted light has a longer wavelength, and therefore a lower photon energy, tha ...
developed in Tsien's lab are used by scientists to track where and when certain genes are expressed in cells or in whole organisms. Typically, the gene coding for a protein of interest is fused with the gene for a fluorescent protein, which causes the protein of interest to glow inside the cell when the cell is irradiated with ultraviolet light and allows microscopists to track its location in real time. This is such a popular technique that it has added a new dimension to the fields of molecular biology, cell biology, and biochemistry. with the Nobel lecture ''Constructing and Exploiting the Fluorescent Protein Paintbox'' Since the discovery of the wild type GFP, numerous different mutants of GFP have been engineered and tested. The first significant leap forward was a single point mutation (S65T) reported by Tsien in 1995 in ''Nature''. This mutation dramatically improved the fluorescent (both intensity and photostability) and spectral characteristics of GFP. A shift of the major excitation peak to 488 nm with the emission peak staying at 509 nm thus can be clearly observed, which matched very well the spectral characteristics of commonly available FITC facilities. All these then largely amplified the practicality of using GFP by scientists in their research. Tsien mainly contributed to much of our understanding of how GFP works and for developing new techniques and mutants of GFP. Former trainees of Roger Y. Tsien include Atsushi Miyawaki and Alice Y. Ting. Timelines of GFP-development involved by Tsien: * 1994: Tsien showed the mechanism that GFP
chromophore A chromophore is the part of a molecule responsible for its color. The color that is seen by our eyes is the one not absorbed by the reflecting object within a certain wavelength spectrum of visible light. The chromophore is a region in the mo ...
is formed in a chemical reaction which requires
oxygen Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements ...
but without help from the other proteins. * 1994–1998: Tsien and collaborators made various GFP mutants by genetic modification and structural tweaking. Newly created variants of GFP can shine more brightly and show different colours, such as yellow, cyan, and blue. * 2000–2002: Tsien produced monomeric variants of DsRED, which can glow in shades of red, pink, and orange. Remarkably, since then complicated marcromolecular networks of living organisms can be labelled or marked by using "all the colours of the rainbow". Other detailed highlights involved by Tsien: * 2002: The critical structural difference between GFP and DsRed was revealed. One extra double-bond in the chromophore of DsRed extends its conjugation thus causes the red-shift. * 2002: Monomeric DsRed (mRFP) was first developed. * 2004: New "fruit" FPs were generated (by ''in vitro'' and ''in vivo'' directed evolutions). In 2009, a new kind of Infrared Fluorescent Protein (IFP) was developed by Tsien's group, and further reported and described by ''
Science Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence ...
''. The new IFPs are developed from
bacterial Bacteria (; singular: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one biological cell. They constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria were amon ...
phytochromes instead of from
multicellular organism A multicellular organism is an organism that consists of more than one cell, in contrast to unicellular organism. All species of animals, land plants and most fungi are multicellular, as are many algae, whereas a few organisms are partially uni ...
like
jellyfish Jellyfish and sea jellies are the informal common names given to the medusa-phase of certain gelatinous members of the subphylum Medusozoa, a major part of the phylum Cnidaria. Jellyfish are mainly free-swimming marine animals with umbre ...
. Under normal conditions, bacterial phytochromes absorb light for signaling instead of fluorescence, but they can be turned fluorescent after deleting some of the signaling parts by genetic means such as site-directed mutagenesis. In order to fluoresce, IFPs require an exogenous
chromophore A chromophore is the part of a molecule responsible for its color. The color that is seen by our eyes is the one not absorbed by the reflecting object within a certain wavelength spectrum of visible light. The chromophore is a region in the mo ...
,
biliverdin Biliverdin ( latin for green bile) is a green tetrapyrrolic bile pigment, and is a product of heme catabolism.Boron W, Boulpaep E. Medical Physiology: a cellular and molecular approach, 2005. 984-986. Elsevier Saunders, United States. It is the ...
. In 2016, a new class of fluorescent protein was evolved from a
cyanobacteria Cyanobacteria (), also known as Cyanophyta, are a phylum of gram-negative bacteria that obtain energy via photosynthesis. The name ''cyanobacteria'' refers to their color (), which similarly forms the basis of cyanobacteria's common name, bl ...
l (''
Trichodesmium erythraeum ''Trichodesmium erythraeum'' is a species of cyanobacteria that are unique in being visible to the naked eye. This species is also known as " sea sawdust". It was originally discovered in 1770 by Captain Cook off the coast of Australia. Anatomy ...
'')
phycobiliprotein Phycobiliproteins are water-soluble proteins present in cyanobacteria and certain algae ( rhodophytes, cryptomonads, glaucocystophytes). They capture light energy, which is then passed on to chlorophylls during photosynthesis. Phycobiliproteins ...
, α- allophycocyanin, and named small ultra red fluorescent protein (
smURFP Small ultra red fluorescent protein (smURFP) is a class of far-red fluorescent protein evolved from a cyanobacterial ('' Trichodesmium erythraeum'') phycobiliprotein, α-allophycocyanin. Native α-allophycocyanin requires an exogenous protein, kno ...
).
smURFP Small ultra red fluorescent protein (smURFP) is a class of far-red fluorescent protein evolved from a cyanobacterial ('' Trichodesmium erythraeum'') phycobiliprotein, α-allophycocyanin. Native α-allophycocyanin requires an exogenous protein, kno ...
autocatalytically self-incorporates the
chromophore A chromophore is the part of a molecule responsible for its color. The color that is seen by our eyes is the one not absorbed by the reflecting object within a certain wavelength spectrum of visible light. The chromophore is a region in the mo ...
biliverdin Biliverdin ( latin for green bile) is a green tetrapyrrolic bile pigment, and is a product of heme catabolism.Boron W, Boulpaep E. Medical Physiology: a cellular and molecular approach, 2005. 984-986. Elsevier Saunders, United States. It is the ...
without the need of an external
protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, res ...
, known as a
lyase In biochemistry, a lyase is an enzyme that catalyzes the breaking (an elimination reaction) of various chemical bonds by means other than hydrolysis (a substitution reaction) and oxidation, often forming a new double bond or a new ring structu ...
.
Jellyfish Jellyfish and sea jellies are the informal common names given to the medusa-phase of certain gelatinous members of the subphylum Medusozoa, a major part of the phylum Cnidaria. Jellyfish are mainly free-swimming marine animals with umbre ...
- and
coral Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and se ...
-derived fluorescent proteins require
oxygen Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements ...
and produce a stoichiometric amount of
hydrogen peroxide Hydrogen peroxide is a chemical compound with the formula . In its pure form, it is a very pale blue liquid that is slightly more viscous than water. It is used as an oxidizer, bleaching agent, and antiseptic, usually as a dilute solution (3 ...
upon
chromophore A chromophore is the part of a molecule responsible for its color. The color that is seen by our eyes is the one not absorbed by the reflecting object within a certain wavelength spectrum of visible light. The chromophore is a region in the mo ...
formation.
smURFP Small ultra red fluorescent protein (smURFP) is a class of far-red fluorescent protein evolved from a cyanobacterial ('' Trichodesmium erythraeum'') phycobiliprotein, α-allophycocyanin. Native α-allophycocyanin requires an exogenous protein, kno ...
does not require
oxygen Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements ...
or produce
hydrogen peroxide Hydrogen peroxide is a chemical compound with the formula . In its pure form, it is a very pale blue liquid that is slightly more viscous than water. It is used as an oxidizer, bleaching agent, and antiseptic, usually as a dilute solution (3 ...
and uses the
chromophore A chromophore is the part of a molecule responsible for its color. The color that is seen by our eyes is the one not absorbed by the reflecting object within a certain wavelength spectrum of visible light. The chromophore is a region in the mo ...
,
biliverdin Biliverdin ( latin for green bile) is a green tetrapyrrolic bile pigment, and is a product of heme catabolism.Boron W, Boulpaep E. Medical Physiology: a cellular and molecular approach, 2005. 984-986. Elsevier Saunders, United States. It is the ...
.
smURFP Small ultra red fluorescent protein (smURFP) is a class of far-red fluorescent protein evolved from a cyanobacterial ('' Trichodesmium erythraeum'') phycobiliprotein, α-allophycocyanin. Native α-allophycocyanin requires an exogenous protein, kno ...
has a large extinction coefficient (180,000 M−1 cm−1) and has a modest quantum yield (0.20), which makes it comparable biophysical brightness to eGFP and ~2-fold brighter than most red or far-red fluorescent proteins derived from
coral Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and se ...
.
smURFP Small ultra red fluorescent protein (smURFP) is a class of far-red fluorescent protein evolved from a cyanobacterial ('' Trichodesmium erythraeum'') phycobiliprotein, α-allophycocyanin. Native α-allophycocyanin requires an exogenous protein, kno ...
spectral properties are similar to the organic dye
Cy5 Cyanines, also referred to as tetramethylindo(di)-carbocyanines are a synthetic dye family belonging to the polymethine group. Although the name derives etymologically from terms for shades of blue, the cyanine family covers the electromagnetic ...
.


Next generation sequencing

Roger Tsien had built the foundation of next generation sequencing technology that is widely used today. On 26 October 1990, Roger Tsien ''et al.'' filed a patent of stepwise ("base-by-base") sequencing with removable 3' blockers on DNA arrays. Illumina integrated this concept with DNA cloning for their next generation sequencer.


Calcium imaging

Tsien was a pioneer of
calcium imaging Calcium imaging is a microscopy technique to optically measure the calcium (Ca2+) status of an isolated cell, tissue or medium. Calcium imaging takes advantage of calcium indicators, fluorescent molecules that respond to the binding of Ca2+ ions b ...
and known for developing various dyes which become fluorescent in the presence of particular ions such as calcium. One such dye, fura-2, is widely used to track changes of calcium concentration within cells. indo-1 and
fluo-3 Fluo-3 is a fluorescence indicator of intracellular calcium (Ca2+), developed by Roger Y. Tsien and colleagues. It is used to measure Ca2+ inside living cells in flow cytometry, and confocal laser scanning microscopy using visible light excitati ...
, other popular calcium indicators, were also developed by Tsien's group in 1985 and 1989 respectively. He has also developed fluorescent indicators for other ions such as magnesium, zinc, copper, iron, lead, cadmium, aluminum, nickel, cobalt, and mercury. Aequorin is also a useful tool to indicate calcium level inside cells; however, it has some limitations, primarily is that its prosthetic group coelenterazine is consumed irreversibly when emits light, thus requires continuous addition of coelenterazine into the media. To overcome such issues, Tsien's group also developed the
calmodulin Calmodulin (CaM) (an abbreviation for calcium-modulated protein) is a multifunctional intermediate calcium-binding messenger protein expressed in all eukaryotic cells. It is an intracellular target of the secondary messenger Ca2+, and the bin ...
-based sensor, named Cameleon.


FlAsH-EDT2

FlAsH-EDT2 is a biochemical method for specific covalent labeling inside live cells. It's a method based on recombinant protein molecules, and was developed by Tsien and his colleagues in 1998. * "FLASH-EDT2": Fluorescein arsenical helix binder, bis-EDT adduct, * "EDT": 1,2-ethanedithiol.


Fluorescence-assisted cancer surgery

Mouse experiments by Tsien's group suggest that cancer surgery can be guided and assisted by fluorescent
peptide Peptides (, ) are short chains of amino acids linked by peptide bonds. Long chains of amino acids are called proteins. Chains of fewer than twenty amino acids are called oligopeptides, and include dipeptides, tripeptides, and tetrapeptides. ...
s. The peptides are used as probes, and are harmless to living tissues and organs. Their lifetime in the body is only 4 or 5 days.
Clinical trial Clinical trials are prospective biomedical or behavioral research studies on human participants designed to answer specific questions about biomedical or behavioral interventions, including new treatments (such as novel vaccines, drugs, diet ...
s are awaited.


Industrial activities

Tsien was also a notable biochemical inventor and holds or co-holds about 100 patents till 2010. In 1996, Tsien co-founded the Aurora Biosciences Corporation, which went public in 1997. In 2001, Aurora was acquired by the Vertex Pharmaceuticals. Similarly, Tsien was also a scientific co-founder of
Senomyx Senomyx was an American biotechnology company that developed food additives. The company claimed to have "reverse engineered" human taste and aroma receptors. It was founded by Lubert Stryer and Paul Nevsky in 1998. On 17 Sept 2018, private Swis ...
in 1999. Tsien also promoted science education to promising young scientists through the first-ever San Diego Science Festival Lunch with a Laureate Program.


Personal life

According to the Qian (Tsien) clan
genealogy book A genealogy book or register is used in Asia and Europe to record the family history of ancestors. Greater China It is the Chinese tradition to record family members in a book, including every male born in the family, who they are married to, ...
, Tsien is a 34th-generational descendant of King Qian Liu of the
Wuyue Wuyue (; ), 907–978, was an independent coastal kingdom founded during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (907–960) of Chinese history. It was ruled by the Haiyan Qian clan (海盐钱氏), whose family name remains widespread in th ...
Kingdom of ancient China. His family belongs to the line of King
Qian Hongzong Qian Hongzong (錢弘倧) (c. 928 – 971?), known as Qian Zong (錢倧) during Song, courtesy name Longdao (隆道), nickname Wanjin (萬金), formally King Zhongxun of Wuyue (吳越忠遜王), was the fourth king of the Chinese Five Dynasties and ...
. Tsien's parents Hsue-Chu Tsien and Yi-Ying Li (李懿颖) came from
Hangzhou Hangzhou ( or , ; , , Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), also Chinese postal romanization, romanized as Hangchow, is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang, China. It is located in the northwestern part of the prov ...
and
Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...
, respectively. Tsien had a number of engineers in his extended family, including his father
Hsue-Chu Tsien Hsue-Chu Tsien, COL (H.C. Tsien, 1914–1997; ), was a Chinese-born American aeronautical and mechanical engineer who played important roles in aircraft building in both China and afterward the United States. Biography Tsien was born in 1914 i ...
who was an MIT-educated
mechanical engineer Mechanical may refer to: Machine * Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement * Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations of ...
and his mother's brothers Y. T. Li (李耀滋) and Shihying Lee (李诗颖), who were engineering professors at MIT. Tsien's mother Yi-Ying Li was a nurse. The famous rocket scientist Tsien Hsue-shen, regarded as the co-founding father of the
Jet Propulsion Laboratory The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a Federally funded research and development centers, federally funded research and development center and NASA field center in the City of La Cañada Flintridge, California, La Cañada Flintridge, California ...
of the
California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...
and, later, the director of the Chinese Ballistic missile, ballistic-missile and Chinese space program, space programs, is a cousin of Tsien's father. Tsien was the younger brother of Richard W. Tsien, Richard Tsien, a renowned neurobiologist currently at New York University, and Louis Tsien, a software engineer. Tsien, who called his own work molecular engineering, once said, "I'm doomed by heredity to do this kind of work." He was married to Wendy Globe.


Death

Tsien died on August 24, 2016. Although the specific cause of death was not disclosed, it was reported that he died while on a bike trail in Eugene, Oregon. Prior to his death, Tsien had survived cancer and suffered a stroke in 2013. "He was ahead of us all," said Tsien's wife, Wendy. "He was ever the adventurer, the pathfinder, the free and soaring spirit. Courage, determination, creativity and resourcefulness were hallmarks of his character. He accomplished much. He will not be forgotten."


Awards and honors

Roger Y. Tsien has received numerous honors and awards in his life, including: * National 1st Prize, Westinghouse Science Talent Search (1968) * National Merit Scholarship, USA (1968) * Detur Prize, Harvard College (1969) *
Marshall Scholarship The Marshall Scholarship is a postgraduate scholarship for "intellectually distinguished young Americans ndtheir country's future leaders" to study at any university in the United Kingdom. It is widely considered one of the most prestigious sc ...
, British government (1972) * Comyns Berkeley Research Fellowship,
Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of t ...
(1977) * Gedge Prize, University of Cambridge (1978) * Searle Scholar, Searle Scholar program (1983) * Lamport Prize, New York Academy of Sciences (1986) * Javits Neuroscience Investigator Award, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (1989) * Young Scientist Award, Passano Foundation (1991) * W. Alden Spencer Award in Neurobiology, Columbia University (1991) * Artois-Baillet Latour Health Prize#Health Prize Laureates, Artois-Baillet-Latour Health Prize, Belgium (1995) * Gairdner Foundation International Award, Canada (1995) * Basic Research Prize, American Heart Association (1995) * Elected to the United States Institute of Medicine (1995) * Doctorate ''honoris causa'', Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium (1995) * Faculty Research Lecturer, UC San Diego (1997) * Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1998) * Elected to the United States National Academy of Sciences (1998) * Award for Innovation in High Throughput Screening, Society for Biomolecular Screening (1998) * Pearse Prize, Royal Microscopical Society (2000) * ACS Award for Creative Invention, American Chemical Society (2002) * Christian B. Anfinsen#Christian B. Anfinsen Award, Christian B. Anfinsen Award, Protein Society (2002) * Dr A.H. Heineken Prize, Heineken Prize for Biochemistry and Biophysics, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (2002) * Max Delbrück Medal, Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine, Max Delbrück Centrum für Molekulare Medizin, Berlin (2002) *
Wolf Prize in Medicine The Wolf Prize in Medicine is awarded annually by the Wolf Foundation in Israel. It is one of the six Wolf Prizes established by the Foundation and awarded since 1978; the others are in Agriculture, Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics and Arts. The ...
, Israel (2004) * Keio Medical Science Prize, Japan (2004) * UCSD Chancellor's Associates Award for Excellence in Science & Engineering Research, UC San Diego (2004) * Perl-UNC Prize, Perl-UNC Neuroscience Prize, University of North Carolina (2004) * Associate EMBO Member of the European Molecular Biology Organization 2005. * J.Allyn Taylor International Prize in Medicine, Robarts Research Institute, Canada (2005) * Association of Biomolecular Resource Facilities#ABRF Award, ABRF Award, Association of Biomolecular Resource Facilities (2006) * Rosenstiel Award, Lewis S. Rosenstiel Award for Distinguished Work in the Basic Medical Sciences, Brandeis University (2006) * Elected a List of Fellows of the Royal Society elected in 2006, Foreign Member of the Royal Society (ForMemRS) in 2006 * BioPharma Leadership Award, the 6th Annual San Diego BioPharma Conference, San Diego (2007) * US Department of Defense (DoD) Breast Cancer Innovator Award *
Nobel Prize in Chemistry ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then "M ...
, Sweden (2008) * E.B. Wilson Medal, American Society for Cell Biology (2008) * Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (HonFRSC), UK (2008) * Honorary Academician, Academia Sinica (2008) * February 18, 2009, ''Roger Tsien Day'', in the City of San Diego, California, USA * Distinguished Science and Technology Award, The 2009 Asian American Engineers of the Year (AAEoY) Award (April 2009) * Lifetime Innovation Award, UC San Diego (May 20, 2009) * AHA Distinguished Scientists, American Heart Association (2009) * Molecular Imaging Achievement Award, Society of Molecular Imaging (2009) * Doctor of Science ''honoris causa'', University of Hong Kong, The University of Hong Kong (2009) * Doctor of Science ''honoris causa'', Chinese University of Hong Kong (2009) * General President Gold Medal, the 97th Indian Science Congress, India (January 3, 2010) * Spiers Memorial Award, Royal Society of Chemistry, UK (2010) * Golden Goose Award (2012) * Golden Plate Award of the Academy of Achievement, American Academy of Achievement (2012)


Named lectures and lectureships

* Bowditch Lectureship, American Physiological Society (1992) * Hans L. Falk Memorial Lectureship, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (1993) * Quastel Lectureship, Hebrew University of Jerusalem (1994) * President's Lectureship, American Thoracic Society (1994) * Roger Eckert Memorial Lecture, Göttingen Neurobiology Conference of the German Neuroscience Society (1995) * Melvin Calvin Lectureship, UC Berkeley (1999) * Herbert Sober Lectureship, American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (2000) * Keith Porter Lecture, American Society for Cell Biology (2003) * Konrad Bloch Lectureship, Harvard University (2003) * Grass Foundation Lectureship, Society for Neuroscience (2004) * The 1st Academia Sinica Lecturer (the highest honor of the academy), Dec 2009 * The 2010 National Lecturer of the Biophysical Society (the highest honor of the society) * The 2011 UCL Prize Lecture in Clinical Science (University College, London)


See also

*Quyen T. Nguyen


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tsien, Roger Y. 1952 births 2016 deaths American biochemists American Nobel laureates American people of Chinese descent Alumni of Churchill College, Cambridge Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Foreign Members of the Royal Society Harvard College alumni Howard Hughes Medical Investigators Livingston High School (New Jersey) alumni Marshall Scholars Members of the European Molecular Biology Organization Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Nobel laureates in Chemistry People from Livingston, New Jersey Tsien family University of California, Berkeley faculty University of California, San Diego faculty Winners of the Heineken Prize Wolf Prize in Medicine laureates Members of the National Academy of Medicine