President Kang Le Elected as an Associate Member of EMBO

On July 6 local time, European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) announced that 67 researchers had been elected to its membership. Kang Le, a distinguished professor of Chinese Academy of Sciences, president of Beijing Institutes of Life Science, CAS, and president of Hebei University, was elected  associate member (fellow) 2022 of EMBO.

President Kang Le has focused research on ecological genomics, systematically researched adaptation of insects and phenotypic plasticity, and made such important breakthroughs in genomics, swarming mechanism, epigenetic modulation of locusts. In recent years, he discovered the pheromone that causes locusts to swarm, made innovative achievements in disclosing the molecular mechanisms, epigenetic modulation of locust phase changes and biocontrol technologies, revealed how locust outbreaks happen, contributing a lot to food security. He has authored over 260 articles in international journals, including Nature, Science, PNAS，Science Advances, Nature Communications，Cell Report, and exerted significant influence in the world. This year, the 58 new EMBO members are based in member states of the EMBC, the intergovernmental organization that funds the major EMBO programmes and activities, while nine new EMBO associate members reside in other countries. Furthermore, he is the only Chinese scientist in the directory.

Established in 1964, EMBO is an academic organization that enjoys reputation in the international biomedical community. Based in Heidelberg, Germany, it currently has more than 1,900 leading researchers, 90 of whom are winners of the Nobel Prize. New members are nominated and elected by the existing EMBO Membership each year. 85 to 90 percent of those new members are based in 29 member states of the EMBC, and 10 to 15 percent of them are associate members. In doing so, their outstanding contributions to scientific research are recognized. Associate membership is only available to a minority of leading scientists beyond Europe, aiming to highlight the importance of international exchanges among scientists.