STANDING at the “Member Passage” that was set up for the first time at the 19th CPC National Congress in Beijing, Du Yutao, Party chief of BGI, took an interview with media outlets from home and abroad Wednesday morning, the Shenzhen Special Zone Daily reported.

Du was one of the Party members representing Shenzhen at the national congress, which opened in Beijing on Wednesday. She is also the chief scientist at the Shenzhen-headquartered gene research institute.

The “Member Passage” is an aisle with designated interviewing spots where Party members introduce themselves to the media and answer questions. Du was one of the Party members who was arranged to join the first round of interviews at 7:30 to 8:45 a.m. Wednesday.

While answering questions posed by the media, Du said she hoped that innovations can be turned into positive results that bring better lives to all people as soon as possible.

The Shenzhen scientist explained that BGI has used its world-leading gene sequencing technology to provide prenatal screening for Down’s syndrome for over 2.4 million expectant mothers.

“It is our dream to bring a better life to human beings with gene technology and we are on the way to realizing that dream,” said Du in her brief self-introduction.

In 1999 when BGI was established, Du entered the research institute by chance while she was still a college student. After working at BGI for a few years, Du was recommended by the institute to study for a Ph.D. at Aarhus University in Denmark. Since then, Du has been fully engaged in the field of cloning.

Ten years later, Du led the establishment of BGI Ark Biotechnology, the world’s first company to promote Handmade Cloning technology. The company has mainly been studying the technology for cloning pigs.

Du said, during her interview, that she had a deep feeling about Shenzhen’s determination to pursue innovation-driven development over the past five years.

“Our country has largely increased its investment and support for scientific research, while also recruiting more talents from all around the world with alluring policies,” said Du. The scientist added that innovation development should focus on systematic projects that can eventually be brought into practice and lift people’s standards of living.

The BGI Party chief admitted that there will be difficulties and challenges along the road to achieve their ultimate goal and she hopes to see more breakthroughs in terms of policy-making in this field at the national congress. (Zhang Qian)