Molecular biology, China and the West

More than 15 years ago, in November 1985, I travelled to China for the first time. I joined a symposium on developmental biology in the Shanghai Institute of Cell Biology (CBI), organised by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Max‐Planck‐Gesellschaft in Germany. The symposium was meant to provide perspectives for the future of the Max Planck Guest Laboratory, just founded in the CBI. When I attended, I did not anticipate that my visit to Shanghai would initiate a long‐term commitment to China. I did not even expect to return to China in the near future. But early in 1987, my colleague Uli Schwarz from the Max Planck Institute of Developmental Biology in Tubingen, who was and still is in charge of the Guest Laboratory, asked if I could hold a lab course at short notice. I was attracted by the challenge of teaching under these unusual conditions, and in April 1987, I returned to Shanghai accompanied by my PhD students Hannie Kremer and Peter Huijser for physical and mental support.> In 1985, it would have been impossible to obtain any missing item at short notice in China, so we had to carry everything—from the chemicals to the laboratory equipment—to ShanghaiFor 4 weeks we taught 10–12 Chinese students the basic techniques of nucleic acid investigation and gene manipulation. The lab course included experiments and a lecture series. Clearly, it was an adventure in almost every respect. We had to carry everything—from the chemicals to the laboratory equipment—to Shanghai, a total of >450 kg excess baggage at horrendous cost. At that time, it would have been impossible to obtain any missing item at short notice in China. I also remember the lectures, as they had to be given without any optical support since the bulb of the only overhead projector …