Over 30 Years in Biomedical Physics Research, Pioneering China’s Biochip Era

Cheng Jing is a Chair Professor and Doctoral Supervisor at the School of Biomedical Engineering, Tsinghua University. He is a Recipient of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, a Changjiang Scholar Distinguished Professor appointed by the Ministry of Education in 1999, and was elected a Member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) in 2009.

Born in Beijing in July 1963, Professor Cheng obtained his Bachelor of Engineering degree from Shanghai Tiedao University (now Tongji University) in 1983. He served as an Assistant Engineer at the Diesel Engine Branch of Ziyang Internal Combustion Locomotive Works, Ministry of Railways from 1983 to 1986, and as an Assistant Engineer and Researcher at the Forensic Identification Center of Southwest University of Political Science & Law from 1986 to 1999. During this period, he studied at the University of Strathclyde, UK from 1989 to 1992, where he earned a PhD in Forensic Biology. He then conducted postdoctoral research on molecular biology and biochips at the University of Aberdeen, UK, and the University of Pennsylvania, USA. From 1996 to 2000, he held positions as a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Chief Scientist at Nanogen, USA, and Technical Director at Tenglong Technology.

Returning to China in March 1999, he has successively taught at the Department of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, the Center for Systems Biology in Medicine, and the Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University. Since 2000, he has served as Director of the National Research Center for Biochip Beijing. His academic affiliations include Corresponding Editor of Human Mutation, Editorial Board Member of IET Nanobiotechnology, Member of the InnoHK Scientific Committee, Member of the Expert Committee of the 14th Five-Year Plan for National Development, and Chairman of the National Technical Committee for Standardization of Biochips.

Professor Cheng has long been engaged in biotechnology research related to basic medicine, preventive medicine, and clinical medicine, with significant achievements and innovations particularly in biochip research. Before returning to China, his research on "Lab on a Chip" was published in Nature Biotechnology in 1998, featured as the cover story under the title "Lab on a Chip", and cited in the "Biochip" entry among Science’s Top 10 Scientific and Technological Breakthroughs of that year. After returning to China, standing at the forefront of international biochip research and combining with national conditions, he led the establishment of an urgently needed molecular typing chip technology system for disease prevention, diagnosis, and prognostic evaluation, as well as an innovative drug R&D platform based on biochips. He directed the development of various biochips for genetic, protein, biochemical, and cellular analysis to meet the above requirements. Among them, the genetic testing chip for hereditary deafness and the fully integrated nucleic acid detection chip system for COVID-19 have obtained approvals from the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) for clinical use, and the localization of the entire supporting instruments required for biochips has been realized.

Over the past decade, he has taken the lead internationally in building a large health management platform centered on the modernization of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), including an AI-based intelligent TCM diagnosis and treatment system, an AI-based intelligent formula system for molecular Chinese herbal medicine, and emotional regulation. He has presided over the development of more than 70 biochip products and supporting instruments, obtained 161 medical device registration certificates (including filings) and 96 EU CE certificates, and approved 9 industry standards and 18 national standards for clinical diagnostic biochips. His products have been exported in bulk to hundreds of hospitals and research institutions in more than 20 countries in Europe and the United States, with cumulative sales exceeding 10 billion yuan.

He has edited 4 monographs each in Chinese and English, and published more than 180 SCI papers in journals such as Nature Biotechnology and Nature Communications, with over 9,800 citations. He has twice won the Second Class National Award for Technological Invention as the first completed person (2007, 2018), and has received numerous other honors including the Achievement Award for Returned Overseas Chinese Scholars (2003), Qiushi Outstanding Youth Achievement Transformation Award (2004), China Youth Science and Technology Award (2004), Tan Jiazhen Life Science Innovation Award (2008), Ho Leung Ho Lee Prize for Scientific and Technological Innovation (2008), China Overseas Returnee Entrepreneurship Take-off Award (2010), Top 10 Scientific and Technological Figures Promoting "Beijing Creation" at the Capital Science and Technology Grand Ceremony (2012), Guanghua Engineering Science and Technology Award of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (2014), China’s First Outstanding Engineer Award (2014), First Class National Maternal and Child Health Science and Technology Award (2015), Tan Jiazhen Life Science Achievement Award (2016), First Class Huang Jiasi Biomedical Engineering Award, Second Class Beijing Science and Technology Award (2017), Second Class Chinese Medical Science and Technology Award (2017), First Translational Medicine Outstanding Contribution Award (2018), Shulan Medical Award (2018), Second National Innovation and Excellence Award (2020), Advanced Individual in Beijing’s Fight Against COVID-19 (2020), 2021 CAETS Communications Prize for Engineering Success Stories (awarded by the International Council of Academies of Engineering and Technological Sciences), First Class Huang Jiasi Biomedical Engineering Award (2023), Second Class National Award for Progress in Science and Technology (2024), First Class International Contribution Award for TCM - Science and Technology Progress Award (2024), Second Class Huaxia Medical Science and Technology Award (2024), and First Class Huang Jiasi Biomedical Engineering Award (2025). He enjoys the Special Government Allowance of the State Council.

At the Forefront of International Biochip Research: Tackling Longstanding Challenges in Biochip Design and Fabrication through Systematic Innovation

Academician Cheng Jing has been engaged in biomedical physics research for over 30 years. In the fields of chip design principles, fabrication processes, lab-on-a-chip system integration, and supporting instruments, he aimed to address the longstanding challenge of meeting the "three highs and one low" requirements—high detection accuracy, high repeatability, high throughput, and low cost—in biochip design and fabrication. He conducted in-depth research on key technologies such as new mechanisms of chip affinity reactions, surface chemistry, microfabrication, and uniformity of micro-sample printing, and established 5 categories of generic innovative technologies:① Protein activity detection technology based on oligonucleotide chips;② Competitive immunoassay technology for protein chips detecting small-molecule drugs;③ Hybridization cover slip and special spotting solution technologies for improving chip detection accuracy and repeatability;④ Allele-Specific PCR Universal Microarray (ASPUA) technology and isothermal amplification disc-type microfluidic chip technology;⑤ Fully integrated microfluidic lab-on-a-chip technology and a complete set of production processes.

Based on these five technologies, he led the establishment of a rapid, high-throughput molecular typing chip technology system for disease prevention, diagnosis, and personalized medication. This system covers birth defect intervention, major chronic disease prevention and control, infectious disease diagnosis and treatment, and personalized diagnosis and treatment of other diseases. He has made outstanding contributions to disease prevention in major national public health emergencies and earthquake relief efforts on multiple occasions.

During the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, entrusted by Tsinghua University, Academician Cheng quickly took the lead in establishing a technical team for rapid viral nucleic acid detection to carry out research and tackle key problems. He coordinated research backbones from multiple departments of the university to form a collective strength, and successively achieved a series of anti-epidemic scientific research results, including the "respiratory multi-virus nucleic acid detection chip system", "fully integrated lab-on-a-chip system", and "mobile laboratory for COVID-19 nucleic acid detection".

As Chairman of the National Technical Committee for Standardization of Biochips, Academician Cheng has organized the formulation of 14 national standards:

Basic Terminology for Biochips;

General Technical Requirements for DNA Microarray Chips;

General Technical Requirements for Protein Microarray Chips;

Basic Requirements for Identification of Mycobacterium Species by Gene Chips;

Gene Chips for Detection of Human Disease-Susceptible DNA Polymorphisms;

Aldehyde-Based Substrates for Microarray Chips;

Technical Requirements for Laser Confocal Biochip Scanners;

Technical Requirements for Area Array Fluorescence Imaging Microarray Chip Scanners;

Technical Requirements for Microarray Biochip Spotters;

Genetic Testing Method for Hereditary Deafness Based on Microarray Chips;

General Technical Requirements for Gene Chips for Chromosomal Abnormality Detection;

Technical Requirements for Microarray Biochip Washers;

Technical Requirements for Microarray Biochip Reactors;

Basic Requirements for Detection of Drug-Resistant Genes of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis by Gene Chips.

He also participated as a core compiler in the compilation of two standards: Aldehyde-Based Substrates for Microarray Chips and General Technical Requirements for Gene Chips for Chromosomal Abnormality Detection.