The morning of September 21 saw academician Yan Xiyun of the Chinese Academy of Sciences give an enthralling lecture on the “Nanozyme: New Strategy for Cancer Therapy” for our students and faculty members.

Professor Yan Xiyun was made an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2015 and is currently a researcher at the Institute of Biophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. She has published more than 150 research papers, and her research results in nano-enzyme applications won second prize of the National Natural Science Award.

In the lecture, Yan Xiyun first introduced the discovery process of nano-enzymes. She described it as a “cross-border” and “by chance” process. Inorganic nano-materials are multi-functional molecules, with enzyme activity and nano-effect, that is, the smaller the diameter, the higher the activity, and the activity is similar to the natural enzymes. She specifically mentioned that Fe₃O₄ is a class of mimetic peroxidase. This phenomenon was discovered in 1993, but in 2007 Yan Xiyun first published an article from the enzymatic point of view and established a systematic method. The use of the Fe₃O₄ nano-enzyme test strip to detect Ebola virus solves the problem of limited local conditions and is a hundred times more sensitive than the traditional method. Ferritin-loaded drugs can target tumor cells and cross the blood-brain barrier. For the first time, Yan Xiyun’s research group defined the nanozyme activity unit and established standardization. The nanozyme activity unit is the amount of enzyme required to catalyze the conversion of 1 μmol of the substrate to product per minute under optimal reaction conditions.

After the lecture, the teachers and students asked many questions, which Yan Xiyun answered professionally in the lively atmosphere.