biology

Wu Dechang

Wu Dechang is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Wu Dechang rather than just read about it. In short: Wu Dechang (Chinese: 吴德昌; 22 October 1927 – 10 May 2018) was a Chinese physician and toxicologist. He established China's first laboratory for radiation toxicology, and is considered a founder of radiation toxicology and radiation protection studies in the country.

Key takeaways

Wu Dechang belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Wu Dechang to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Wu Dechang from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Wu Dechang (Chinese: 吴德昌; 22 October 1927 – 10 May 2018) was a Chinese physician and toxicologist. He established China's first laboratory for radiation toxicology, and is considered a founder of radiation toxicology and radiation protection studies in the country. He was a professor and president of the Academy of Military Medical Sciences, and served as president of the China Toxicology Society, deputy representative of China to the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation, and as a committee member of the International Commission on Radiological Protection. He was elected an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering in 1995.

Life and career Wu was born in Beijing, Republic of China on 22 October 1927, with his ancestral home in Wujin, Jiangsu. After graduating from Peking University in 1949 with a degree in chemistry, he taught as an assistant professor and later lecturer at Peking Union Medical College. In 1956, Wu was selected by the Ministry of Health to study in the Soviet Union for a year. After returning to China, he taught at the Academy of Military Medical Sciences (AMMS) as an associate professor. He was later promoted to professor, Chair of the Department of Toxicology, Dean of the AMMS Institute of Radiation Medicine, and eventually President of AMMS. Outside of the AMMS, Wu served as President of the China Toxicology Society, China's deputy representative to the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR), and as a member of Committee 1 (Radiation Effects) of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP). On 10 May 2018, Wu died at the People's Liberation Army General Hospital in Beijing, at the age of 90.

Contributions Wu established China's first laboratory for radiation toxicology. He demonstrated the contamination patterns and hazards of nuclear fallouts and proposed corresponding measures of protection. In the 1970s, he studied the toxicology of plutonium and discovered the mechanism of carcinogenesis in the lung cells and the lymph nodes. In 1976, a failed Chinese nuclear test caused large-scale plutonium contamination at the test site. Wu, who was in charge of training medical personnel to prepare for a potential fallout, managed the emergency response after the accident to protect the health of the workers. In the 1980s, he oversaw a systematic study of the emergency medical response to the accident, which won the Special Prize of the State Science and Technology Progress Award. He was later involved in designing radiation protection measures at the Qinshan and Daya Bay nuclear power plants. From the 1990s, Wu studied the molecular mechanism of carcinogenesis by alpha particle radiation. He published more than 210 scientific papers and 7 books.

Honours and recognition Wu was conferred the State Science and Technology Progress Award three times (Special Prize in 1985, and Second Prizes in 1993 and 1995), the Ho Leung Ho Lee Prize in Medical Sciences (2003), and many military or ministerial awards. He was elected an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering in 1995.

References

External links Wu Dechang at the National Museum for Modern Chinese Scientists (in Chinese)

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Wu Dechang

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Wu Dechang claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Wu Dechang before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Wu Dechang ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Wu Dechang

In research: Wu Dechang appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Wu Dechang in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Wu Dechang is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1927 births, 2018 deaths, Academic staff of Peking Union Medical College, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Wu Dechang outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Wu Dechang in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Wu Dechang means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Wu Dechang out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Wu Dechang in simple terms?

Why does Wu Dechang matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Wu Dechang?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Wu Dechang.