Deng Hongkui, a professor with the school of life science at Peking University, was selected one of the 10 most influential people in science in 2019 by Nature. He is the only Chinese scientist on this year's list.

Deng, born in 1963, earned his bachelor's degree in cell biology from Wuhan University and PhD in Immunology from the University of California, Los Angeles. The Changjiang Scholar's research focuses on somatic cell reprogramming and lineage specific differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells. His lab also explores chemical biological approaches for manipulating cell fate and function.

Nature, a British scientific journal, hailed him as a CRISPR translator for his research that shows CRISPR gene editing can be used safely in adults with HIV.

Deng and his team used this technology to treat a person infected with both HIV and leukemia for the first time. After taking immunologically matched blood-forming stem cells from the bone marrow of a donor, they edited the gene and transplanted it to the patient.