High-schooler published in famed ‘Nature’ journal

CANCER RESEARCH:Szu Fu-en’s biology teacher at Jianguo High School praised his achievement, saying it was like receiving the Nobel prize in scientific journals

By Liang Pei-chi and Jake Chung  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

Taipei Municipal Jianguo High School student Szu Fu-en smiles in Taipei on Thursday. Szu is the coauthor of “Structures of human phosphofructokinase-1 and atomic basis of cancer-associated mutations,” a paper published in the scientific journal Nature.

Photo provided by Szu Fu-en

A Taiwanese senior-high student has the distinction of being listed as a second co-author of a research paper published by the science journal Nature that could prove helpful to developing a new target drug to treat cancer.

Szu Fu-en (司福恩), a student at Taipei Municipal Jianguo High School, said he was invited to participate in research led by Columbia University professor Farhad Forouhar when he visited the US during the summer before his second year of high school.

The paper, “Structures of human phosphofructokinase-1 and atomic basis of cancer-associated mutations,” was published on May 18 by the scientific journal.

Szu said he spent six to eight hours every day at the Columbia University lab observing DNA in various solutions and factors, such as temperature and solution ratios, which led to protein crystallization.

Sometimes it would take two to three days before crystallization occurred, Szu said.

While attributing his findings in part to luck, Szu said he was thankful to Forouhar for allowing him to participate in the research.

“Dr Forouhar had said the structure I noticed was promising, but I had not expected it to become the key component,” Szu said.

The paper had six authors, led by Forouhar, with Szu listed as a second co-author.

Lin Tsung-hui (林聰慧), Szu’s biology teacher at the Taipei high school, said she had “goosebumps” when she heard of Szu’s achievement.

“[Having your name in] the journal Nature is [like receiving] the Nobel prize in scientific journals,” Lin said.

National Taiwan University (NTU) biology professor Juang Rong-huay (莊榮輝) commended Szu for having his name listed in the journal, saying that Szu’s finding is a cog in the machine.

Juang said that the spirit Szu had put into the project deserved special commendation because experiments for protein crystallization involve a process of trial and error, and hard work may not result in success.

Szu has been accepted into NTU’s school of forestry and resource conservation.

After finishing his course at NTU, Szu said he hoped to continue his studies in the US, preferably at Columbia University, majoring in chemistry or biology.