Recently, Jinci Li, a Class of 2021 undergraduate student majoring in Environmental Science in the Department of Life Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology of the Beijing Normal University-Hong Kong Baptist University United International College (UIC), published a paper titled “Bioeffects of Nanoplastics: DNA Damage and Mechanism” in the SCI journal Nano Letters as the first author. The corresponding author of the paper is Dr. Yingcan Zhao, assistant professor of Environmental Science at UIC and Jinci Li's thesis advisor.

Nano Letters is a CAS Region I TOP journal and a Nature Index journal with a 5-year impact factor of 10.2. Published by the American Chemical Society (ACS), Nano Letters is one of the top journals in the field of nanoscale science and technology and is dedicated to the rapid dissemination of high-quality, high-impact research results, high-impact research results.

Nanoplastics, as novel pollutants that may affect human health, have been one of the research hotspots in the field of environmental science in recent years. This paper finds that there are stronger interactions between aminated nanoplastics and DNA, and that size and surface ligands play an important role in the interaction between nanoplastics and DNA. This finding provides insights into the potential environmental risks and toxicity of nanoplastics in aquatic ecosystems.

Publishing academic papers by undergraduates has a high degree of difficulty, and it is especially rare to publish in high-quality SCI journals. In addition to her own hard work and study, Jinci Li's achievement is also attributed to the training of her professionalism and scientific research skills in the Environmental Science Program. During her college years, she always actively participated in the scientific research internship program and other academic activities in the Environmental Science major, and under the careful guidance of Dr. Yingcan Zhao, she carefully completed her thesis, and this published paper is an important achievement of her undergraduate thesis. In addition, she has applied for one national invention patent and has been invited to attend the 2nd World Materials Congress in July 2024. It is worth mentioning that Jinci Li has now been admitted to master's programs at the world's top universities such as Johns Hopkins University in the United States and the National University of Singapore. She said that she will continue her in-depth study and research in this field in the future to make her contribution to the cause of environmental protection.

Jinci Li(left) and her supervisor Dr. Yingcan Zhao(right) at the 2nd World Materials Conference

Source | Department of Life Sciences, Environmental Science Program

Text/Figure | Li Jinci

Editor | He Shimei

Review | SiuTai TSIM