On October 12th, the 15th Annual Chinese Society for Stem Cell Research (CSSCR) successfully concluded in Chongqing. Professor Yang Yongguang, Dean of the Norman Bethune Medical Transformation and Innovation Research Institute at Jilin University, was honored with the CSSCR Research Innovative Award for his groundbreaking achievement in successfully constructing a humanized pig model of the immune system.
This pioneering work represents the first successful humanization of the immune system through transplantation of human hematopoietic stem cells into a self-developed, severely immunodeficient pig model lacking T, B, and NK cells, with macrophages tolerant to human cells. The chimerism rate reached 90%, and the differentiated human immune cells demonstrated normal phenotype and function (Nat Biomed Eng, 2025). This achievement marks a significant advancement in human tissue and organ regeneration research and biomedical translation.
The CSSCR Research Innovative Award was established to recognize scientists who have made outstanding contributions to stem cell and regenerative medicine in China. Selection emphasizes breakthrough innovation, requiring candidates to be jointly recommended by at least two branch committee members. Eligible research must demonstrate academic originality, technological leadership, and peer recognition, making this award a prestigious honor for domestic stem cell research.
Professor Yang has devoted 35 years to transplantation immunology, focusing on xenotransplantation and humanized animal models. He has proposed new theories of immune rejection in xenotransplantation and innovative gene-editing strategies, overcoming critical bottlenecks in the field. He has also developed a series of technologies for humanized animal models, providing effective platforms for disease research and drug development.
Yang has published 206 papers in top journals, including Cell, Nature Reviews Immunology, Nature Biomedical Engineering, Science Translational Medicine, Nature Immunology, and PNAS, and has been recognized as a Highly Cited Researcher and globally top-ranked scientist. The construction of a humanized immune system in a large animal—a project nearly 20 years in the making—demonstrates China’s international leadership in this field and, for the first time, highlights the potential of humanized pigs as living bioreactors to produce highly functional immune cells for clinical therapy.
