LIU Chenli Elected EMBO Associate Member, Following 14 Scientists from Mainland China Previously Elected by EMBO over the Past 60 Years

On June 30, the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) announced its newly elected Members and Associate Members. LIU Chenli, Professor at the Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Founding Director of the State Key Laboratory of Quantitative Synthetic Biology, has been elected as an EMBO Associate Member.

Professor LIU has made systematic contributions to the study of rational design principles for synthetic biological systems. His research has uncovered quantitative relationships that bridge population-level phenotypes, single-cell phenotypes, and genotypes in cell populations, and has applied these insights to guide the rational design and construction of functional biological systems. Building on these advances, he proposed the research paradigm of "quantitative synthetic biology", promoting a shift in synthetic biology from empirical trial-and-error toward more predictive and rational design.

LIU has also led the development of one of the world’s largest fully automated, high-throughput Shenzhen Synthetic Biology Infrastructures, substantially strengthening the capacity to build, test, and optimize synthetic biological systems. He is also leading the establishment of the National Industrial Innovation Center for Biomanufacturing, the only national-level innovation center of its kind in China’s biomanufacturing sector. The center focuses on bridging fundamental research and industrial application, connecting key stages from laboratory discovery to large-scale production.

LIU has received numerous honors, including the Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation Prize for Scientific and Technological Progress, the Tan Jiazhen Life Science Innovation Award, the CAS Young Scientist Award, the First Prize of the Guangdong Natural Science Award, and the Agilent Thought Leader Award. In 2025, he was listed as a candidate for election as an Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

EMBO is one of the most influential academic organizations in the international life sciences community. Founded in 1964 and headquartered in Heidelberg, Germany, EMBO promotes excellence, collaboration, and development in the life sciences. Each year, EMBO elects outstanding scientists who have made significant contributions to life science research as Members or Associate Members. EMBO membership is a lifelong honor, conferred through nomination and election by existing members, and represents international recognition of a scientist's research excellence and outstanding achievements.

This year, EMBO's newly elected members come from 23 countries. A total of 60 new Members were elected from EMBO's 32 member states, while 11 scientists from non-member states were elected as Associate Members.

Before Chenli LIU's election, only 14 scientists from Chinese mainland had been elected as EMBO Associate Members since EMBO's founding: Professors Huanming Yang, elected in 2006; Jiayang Li and Yigong Shi, elected in 2013; Xiaodong Wang, elected in 2014; Feng Shao and Xuetao Cao, elected in 2015; Fu Gao and Hong Wu, elected in 2016; Duanqing Pei, elected in 2018; Le Kang, elected in 2022; Nieng Yan, elected in 2023; Zihe Rao and Zhenbiao Yang, elected in 2024; and Caixia Gao, elected in 2025.

LIU Chenli

The new EMBO Members and Associate Members