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Rising star of science
颜宁：“科学家”前不加“女”字
What is the image of a typical female scientist? Perhaps you imagine a pair of thick glasses, messy hair and a few wrinkles on the forehead? With her high-heeled shoes and graceful posture, Ning Yan (or Nieng Yan), may break that stereotype.
女科学家通常会是什么样的呢？在你的印象中，她或许会戴着一副厚厚的眼镜，发型凌乱，额头还上有几条皱纹。而穿着高跟鞋、举止优雅的颜宁或许会打破这样的刻板印象。
Dubbed "the goddess scientist", Yan, 42, is a leading biology researcher at Princeton University in the US. On April 30, she was included among 100 new members and 25 foreign associates into The National Academy of Sciences, a famous scientific institution that aims to recognize outstanding research in the US.
人称“科研女神”的颜宁今年42岁，是美国普林斯顿大学一位杰出的生物学家。4月30日，美国国家科学院公布了100名新成员以及25名外籍院士名单，颜宁位列其中。这一享誉盛名的科研机构旨在嘉奖全美杰出的科研成果。
You may not know Yan's contribution to biology, but she is a rising star in the science world and her resume is impressive. After graduating from Tsinghua University and Princeton, she was invited to set up her own laboratory at Tsinghua in 2007. At age 30, she became one of China's youngest-ever female professors.
你或许不知道颜宁对生物学界所做出的贡献，但她却是科学界一颗冉冉升起的新星，个人履历也相当亮眼。从清华大学和普林斯顿大学毕业后，她于2007年受邀到清华大学成立了自己的实验室。30岁时，她已是全国最年轻的女教授之一。
It was a long road to get where she is now. She told People magazine that she always believes that scientists need to have a pure mind and perseverance.
颜宁花了很长时间，才有了今天的成就。她在接受《人物》杂志采访时表示，她一直都相信，科学家需要拥有纯粹的想法和毅力。
Yan likes to work at night. She says it's because she can focus when the outside is quiet. She also works at least 14 hours a day, but she's energetic, because research is the most "comfortable" job for her, according to an interview with People magazine.
颜宁喜欢晚上工作。她认为夜深人静时能够集中注意力。她在接受《人物》杂志的采访中表示，自己每天至少工作14个小时。但她总是精力充沛，因为对她而言科研是最“舒服”的工作。
This dedication to her work probably helped Yan in her research to identify the structures of proteins in cells' plasma membranes, which puzzled scientists for half a century. Her achievements got her listed among the journal Nature's Science Stars of China in 2016.
对工作如此投入或许是帮助她鉴定细胞膜蛋白结构的原因。此前，这一谜题已经困扰科学家们半个世纪之久。她所做出的成就也令她入选2016年《自然》杂志评选的“中国科学之星”。
Apart from scientific research, Yan enjoys TV dramas and classic novels. Surprisingly, the novel Journey to the West inspired her to become a structural biologist. In the book, the Monkey King transforms into other animals. She wondered what it would be like to change herself. Luckily, Yan now lives in that world every day, exploring how proteins work at the level of atoms. "It was almost destined that I would become a structural biologist," she said in an interview with Nature.
除了科研之外，颜宁还喜欢看电视剧和古典小说。令人感到意外的是，《西游记》这部名著让她有了成为结构生物学家的想法。书中的孙悟空能变身成其他动物。她想知道自己变身会是什么样子。幸运的是，颜宁如今每天都生活在那样的一个世界里，探索着蛋白质在原子层面的工作原理。“我几乎是命中注定要成为一名结构生物学家的，”她在接受《自然》杂志采访时如此表示。
As she realizes her own dreams, Yan tries to encourage more women to pursue careers in science. In her eyes, there is no difference between men and women in the scientific fields.
颜宁实现了自己的梦想，而她也在尽力鼓励更多女性投身科研事业。在她看来，男性和女性在科研领域并无差别。
"Women can work as excellently as men and live the way they choose to," she said in a public interview.
“女性能和男性干的一样好，并且过上自己所选择的生活，”她在一场公开采访中曾如此表示。
