To advance precision medicine, Professor Guo has developed innovative diagnostic technologies and identified novel molecular markers for major diseases. In particular, he has made significant contributions to digital PCR (dPCR), a key enabling technology in precision diagnostics. His work in this area has led to more than 60 patents and seven NMPA-approved products, including the first Chinese dPCR product to enter the international market. These products have twice received the China IVD Excellent Innovative Product Gold Award.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Professor Guo conducted pioneering research on dPCR-based SARS-CoV-2 detection, publishing a series of influential studies. This work led to the development of the first NMPA-approved dPCR-based SARS-CoV-2 detection reagent, which is also the world’s first regulatory-approved dPCR assay for infectious disease. The product has been widely adopted in leading COVID-19 diagnostic and treatment centers. It also supported the development of national SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid reference standards and was used in the evaluation of two COVID-19 therapeutics. His contributions received extensive media coverage.

In addition, Professor Guo has made important advances using microarray technology. He was the first to identify microRNA signatures for the diagnosis and prognosis of esophageal cancer. He also discovered microRNA biomarkers for early lung cancer detection and identified microRNAs that promote hepatitis B virus replication. Furthermore, he developed microarray-based assays for identifying 17 mycobacterial species and detecting multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (including resistance to rifampicin and isoniazid), resulting in two NMPA-approved medical devices.

With approval from Tsinghua University, Professor Guo’s research achievements have been successfully translated into commercial products that are now widely used in clinical practice.

1. Tan C, Dai P, Zhao Z, Chen X, Wang D, Ren X, Zhu L, Yan T, Lou J, Kong X, Guo Y*. A digital PCR assay for fetal fraction quantification using multiplex SNP and Y chromosome detection. Clinical Chemistry. 2026: hvag017. DOI: 10.1093/clinchem/hvag017.

2. Li R, Wang N, Guo J, Xue B, Liu C, Guo Y*, Zhou X*. Validation of methods for enriching and detecting SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater. Environmental Chemistry Letters. 2025;23(6):1461–6.

3. Tan C, Yan Y, Guo N, Wang F, Wang S, Zhu L, Wang Y, Ma Y*, Guo Y*. Single-tube multiplex digital polymerase chain reaction assay for molecular diagnosis and prediction of severity of spinal muscular atrophy. Analytical Chemistry. 2022;94(8):3517–25.

4. Tan C, Fan D, Wang N, Wang F, Wang B, Zhu L, Guo Y*. Applications of digital PCR in COVID‐19 pandemic. View. 2021;2(2):20200082.

5. Yu F, Yan L, Wang N, Yang S, Wang L, Tang Y, Gao G, Wang S, Ma C, Xie R, Wang F, Tan C, Zhu L, Guo Y*, Zhang F*. Quantitative detection and viral load analysis of SARS-CoV-2 in infected patients. Clinical Infectious Diseases. 2020;71(15):793–8.

6. Chen H, Wu R, Xing Y, Du Q, Xue Z, Xi Y, Yang Y, Deng Y, Han Y, Li K, Luan Y, Zhang Y, Wei X, Yu T, Li H, Zhu L, Su S, Lian H, Lu L, Tan C, Zheng H, Chen B, Yu P, Guo Y*, Ma C*. Influence of different inactivation methods on severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 RNA copy number. Journal of Clinical Microbiology. 2020;58(8):10.1128/jcm. 00958–20.

7. Zhu X, Liu B, Su S, Wang B, Bai Y, Huang H, Liu X, Cheng X, Wang X, Zhu L, Cheng J, Guo Y*. A “quasi” confocal droplet reader based on laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) cytometry for highly-sensitive and contamination-free detection. Talanta. 2020; 206: 120200.

8. Su S, Jing G, Zhang M, Liu B, Zhu X, Wang B, Fu M, Zhu L, Cheng J, Guo Y*. One-step bonding and hydrophobic surface modification method for rapid fabrication of polycarbonate-based droplet microfluidic chips. Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical. 2019; 282: 60–8.

9. Wang F, Zhu L, Liu B, Zhu X, Wang N, Deng T, Kang D, Pan J, Yang W, Gao H*, Guo Y*. Noninvasive and accurate detection of hereditary hearing loss mutations with buccal swab based on droplet digital PCR. Analytical Chemistry. 2018;90(15):8919–26.

10. Tan X, Qin W, Zhang L, Hang J, Li B, Zhang C, Wan J, Zhou F, Shao K, Sun Y, Wu J, Zhang X, Qiu B, Li N, Su S, Feng X, Zhao S, Wang Z, Zhao X, Chen Z, Mitchelson K, Cheng J, Guo Y*, He J*. A 5-microRNA signature for lung squamous cell carcinoma diagnosis and hsa-miR-31 for prognosis. Clinical Cancer Research. 2011;17(21):6802–11.

Academic Honors & Awards

Beijing Nova of Science and Technology

Leader in China's In Vitro Diagnostic (IVD) Industry

Beijing Science and Technology Second-Class Award

Courses Taught

Translational Biomedical Engineering

Human Structure and Physiology

Biomedical Detection - Devices and Reagents

Other Social Positions

Member of the National Technical Committee for Standardization of Biochips

Member of the National Technical Committee for Biometrology

Member of the Academic Committee, Key Laboratory of In Vitro Diagnostic Reagent Quality Evaluation, National Medical Products Administration (NMPA)