Native of Li county, Hunan Province. Geneticist. Former Director of Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.  

July 1965, graduated from the Department of Biology of Peking University (6-year program).  

Dec 1980, graduated from the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology of Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences.  

Since 1965, he has successively served as Research Assistant, Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, Professor and Director of the Institute of Hydrobiology (CAS).  

In 1988, Hill-Visiting Professor of University of Minnesota. 1986-1988, served as a faculty member at the Center of Marine Biotechnology, University of Maryland; during the same period, served as a member in the expert group of the Ministry of Science and Technology of China.  

After his return to China, Prof. Zhu once served as a research expert of the soft task for the National S-863 Program (National High-tech R&D Program), a reviewer committee member and the group leader of the Research Group on Cell and Developmental Biology of the National Science Foundation of China, the Judge of the National Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, and a member of the Expert Association on Biotechnology of Chinese Academy of Sciences. He also worked in the Academic Committee of the Open Laboratory on Experimental Marine Biology (CAS), and served as Vice Chairman of the committee. In addition, he was an academic committee member of the Open Laboratory on Aquaculture Research of the State Education Committee, Vice President of China Society of Fisheries, and Vice President of China Genetics Society, Hubei Branch.  

In October 1997, Prof. Zhu was elected as Academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences. 

In 1998, Prof. Zhu was elected as Academician of the Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS). In 2007, he received the honorary degree of Doctor of Science conferred by the University of Aberdeen.  

Currently, Prof. Zhu still works at IHB and serves as President of China Association for International Science and Technology Cooperation. Since 2008, he has been the chief editor of Science in China and Chinese Science Bulletin.  

Prof. Zhu’s major research interests are in the fields of genetics and developmental biology and biotechnology. He has accomplished several research achievements with pioneering significance and laid theoretic foundation for fish genetic breeding. He has published more than 100 papers, three of which have been regarded as classic works in the field of transgenic fish. Prof. Zhu has been awarded for six times the scientific achievement awards at both national and ministry level.  

　　1. Zhu ZY, Li GH, He L, Chen SP. Novel gene transfer into the fertilized eggs of goldfish (Carassius auratus L. 1758). Journal of Applied Ichthyology. 1985; 1(1): 31-34. 

　　2. Zhu ZY, Xu KS, Xie YF, Li GH, He L. A model of transgnic fish. Scientia Sinica (Ser B). 1989; 19(2): 147-155. 

　　3. Zhu ZY, He L, Chen TT. Primary-structural and evolutionary analyses of the growth-hormone gene from grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idellus). European Journal of Biochemistry. 1992; 207(2): 643-648. 

　　4. Sun YH, Chen SP, Wang YP, Hu W, Zhu ZY. Cytoplasmic impact on cross-genus cloned fish derived from transgenic common carp (Cyprinus carpio) nuclei and goldfish (Carassius auratus) enucleated eggs. Biology of reproduction. 2005; 72: 510-515. 

　　5. Luo Daji, Hu Wei, Chen Shangping, Xiao Yi, Sun Yonghua, Zhu Zuoyan. Identification of differentially expressed genes between cloned and zygote-developing zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos at the dome stage using suppression subtractive hybridization. Biology of Reproduction, 2009，80: 674-684. 

　　6. Xiong F, Wei ZQ, Zhu ZY, Sun YH. Targeted expression in zebrafish primordial germ cells by Cre/loxP and Gal4/UAS systems. Marine biotechnology. 2013; 15: 526-539. 

　　7. Lian H, Hu W, Huang R, Du FK, Liao LJ, Zhu ZY, Wang YP. Transgenic Common Carp Do Not Have the Ability to Expand Populations. Plos one. 2013; 8(6): e65506. 

　　8. Wei CY, Wang HP, Zhu ZY, Sun YH. Transcriptional factors smad1 and smad9 act redundantly to mediate zebrafish ventral specification downstream of smad5. The Journal of biological chemistry. 2014; 289: 6604-6618. 

　　9. Cao MX, Chen J, Peng W, Wang YP, Liao LJ, Li YM, Trudeau VL, Zhu ZY, Hu W. Effects of growth hormone over-expression on reproduction in the common carp Cyprinus carpio L. General and Comparative Endocrinology. 2014; 195: 47-57. 

　　10. Zhang YS, Chen J, Cui XJ, Luo DJ, Xia H, Dai J, Zhu ZY, Hu W. A controllable on-off strategy for the reproductive containment of fish. Scientific Reports. 2015; 5: 73-82. 

　　11. Huang R, Sun JX, Luo Q, He LB, Liao LJ, Li YM, Guo FH, Zhu ZY, Wang YP. Genetic variations of body weight and GCRV resistance in a random mating population of grass carp. Oncotarget. 2015; 6(34): 35433-35442. 

　　12. Wang YP, Lu Y, Zhang Y, Ning ZM, Li Y, Zhao Q, Lu HY, Huang R, Xia XQ, Feng Q, Liang XF, Liu KY, Zhang L, Lu TT, Huang T, Fan DL, Weng QJ, Zhu CR, Lu YQ, Li WJ, Wen ZR, Zhou CC, Tian QL, Kang XJ, Shi MJ, Zhang WT, Jang SH, Du FK, He S, Liao LJ, Li YM, Gui B, He HH, Ning Z, Yang C, He LB, Luo LF, Yang R, Luo Q, Liu XC, Li SS, Huang W, Xiao L, Lin HR, Han B, Zhu ZY. The draft genome of the grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idellus) provides genomic insights into its evolution and vegetarian diet adaptation. Nature Genetics. 2015; 47: 625-631. 

　　发明专利： 

　　1. Hu Wei, Zhang Yunsheng, Dai Jun and Zhu Zuoyan. Controllable on-off method for fish reproduction. 2015年获美国发明专利，专利号：US 9,187,764 B2 

　　2. Hu Wei, Zhu Z, Ma H, Guan B, Lin Z, and Hu R. Recombinant gene which enhances the ability of fish to tolerate low dissolved oxygen stress and the use thereof. 2013年获美国发明专利，专利号：US8546644 B2。 

　　3. Hu Wei, Zhu Zuoyan, Wang Yaping and Li Shuangfei. Method for preparing a sterile transgenic carp. United States Patent and Trademark Office，2007年获美国发明专利，专利号：US7,230,156B2. 

　　4. 胡炜，汤斌，汪亚平，朱作言，一种雌性鲤鱼性逆转为雄性鲤鱼的培育方法，2012年获中国发明专利，专利号：ZL:201110186519.X。 

　　5. 胡炜，张运生，戴军，朱作言。一种控制鱼类生殖的方法。2014年获中国发明专利，专利号：ZL201310049161.5。 

　　6. 孙永华, 朱作言, 熊凤, Ishtiaq Ahmed, Mike Waters. 一种鱼类持续激活生长激素受体基因及制备方法和用途. 2013年获中国发明专利，专利号：ZL 201110141084.7. 

　　7. 孙永华，庞少臣，康景轩，朱作言.一种提高鱼类omega-3多不饱和脂肪酸的方法及应用.2016年获中国发明专利，专利号：ZL 201410155088.4 

　　8. 孙永华，熊凤，魏志强，朱作言. 一种定向筛选同源重组PGC的载体及构建方法和应用. 2015年获中国发明专利，专利号：ZL 201310341471.4 

　　9. 胡炜，朱作言，汪亚平，黎双飞。不育转基因鱼的制备方法，2007年获中国发明专利，专利号：ZL031254551。 

　　10. 胡炜，朱作言，黎双飞，汪亚平。一种壳聚糖甲基睾酮缓释药条的制备方法，2007年获中国发明专利，专利号：ZL200510018148.9。 

　　11. 吴玉萍，朱作言，胡炜，徐安龙。鱼类基因原位修饰育种的方法，2006年获中国发明专利，专利号：ZL200410015247.7 

　　12. 朱作言，钟家玉。一种鱼类电脉冲精子转基因方法，2004年获中国发明专利，，专利号：ZL01114202.2