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3/29/2007 12:09:00 AM

Biochemist among most influential Chinese

BY JADE BOYD
Rice News staff

Rice biochemist Jane Tao is one of only 25 people nominated for one of China’s most prestigious Top 10 lists, an annual list of the world’s most influential Chinese people. The list is compiled by a consortium of China’s leading media outlets, and the contest is sponsored by 11 of China’s leading TV networks and news organizations, including Phoenix Satellite Television, China News Service, Asia Newsweek and World Journal.

TAO

Tao was among five scientists nominated for the 2006 list. Other nominees included athletes, movie stars and politicians. The final list will be based, in part, on Internet voting, which ended last Friday. Winners will be named at a ceremony sponsored by Phoenix TV at Beijing University March 31.

Tao and colleagues from the University of Texas–Austin published striking new research in December that revealed a potential target that drugmakers can use to attack multiple strains of influenza, including the H5N1 strains that cause avian influenza.

Tao’s research was widely publicized in China, where more than 20 human cases of avian influenza have been reported, including 13 in 2006.

Tao said she was surprised to learn she’d been nominated for the list and didn’t fully appreciate the level of recognition she’d received at home until early last week when she noticed that she’d gotten more votes that Houston Rockets superstar Yao Ming.

“Whether I am named to the final list or not, it is a great honor to be nominated,” Tao said. “I am looking forward to returning to my alma mater, Beijing University, for the award ceremony.”

More information is available at the contest’s Chinese-language Web site, <http://phtv.phoenixtv.com/hotspot/331/>.