Chinese scientist Wang Xiaodong has been elected to America's National Academy of Science, one of the highest honors attainable by American scientists. Moreover, Prof. Wang thus becomes the academy's youngest member.

41-year-old Wang graduated from Beijing Normal University and now works as a professor of biochemistry at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.

Wang Xiaodong was honored for his remarkable contribution to the discovery of the biochemical pathway responsible for cell death.

His continuing research could lead to treatments for cancer and to therapies targeting the abnormal cells in neurological diseases, such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

(CRI April 22, 2004)