The Miracle Yeast

By Nancy W. Y. Ho

This book is about an award-winning woman scientist, Dr. Nancy Ho, who devoted herself for nearly a quarter of a century to successfully developing the breakthrough technologies for the production of renewable transportation fuel from cellulosic biomass (such as wood, grasses, straws, etc.). She shares her lifes story detailing the hard work that lead to her accomplishments. From an unremarkable childhood to being awarded the prestigious United States National Medal of Technology and Innovation, she hopes to inspire the young people of the world to work hard on whatever they wish to achieve in life and to contribute to society.

• Language: English
• Publisher: LifeRich Publishing
• Release date: Sep 6, 2018
• ISBN: 9781489719287

Nancy W. Y. Ho

Dr. Nancy Ho was born in mainland China in 1935. Although she had humble beginnings as a sickly child, she strived to make the most of her abilities by working hard. Before the Communists took over mainland China, her family moved to Taiwan, where her health improved considerably as she grew up. Despite still having considerable self-doubts, she became a very good student in high school and college. With a bachelors degree in Chemical Engineering from National Taiwan University, she came to the US to pursue graduate studies. Her interests changed to science, and she completed her MS in Organic Chemistry at Temple University, and her Ph.D. at Purdue University. She taught herself recombinant DNA technology when the field was nascent and became one of the leading experts of this new technology in the country. She was invited to join the Laboratory of Renewable Resources Engineering (LORRE) to lead the development of a genetically engineered Bakers yeast that could convert renewable cellulosic biomass (wood, grasses, straws, etc.) to ethanol as transportation fuel, a technology many scientists worldwide had pursued but failed. In 1993, Dr. Ho was the first in the world to successfully develop such a genetically modified yeast. For this groundbreaking achievement, she received numerous honors. For example, she was recognized in 1999 by the Discover Magazine and given her their award for Technological Innovation. President George W. Bush and Mrs. Laura Bush invited her as an honored guest to attend the 2007 State of the Union Address, where she sat with Mrs. Bush and other honorees. Finally, in 2016, she received Americas highest honor in science and technology, the National Medal of Technology and Innovation. She was given her medal by President Barack Obama in a ceremony at the White House.

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Copyright © 2018 Nancy W. Y. Ho.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

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ISBN: 978-1-4897-1929-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4897-1928-7 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018952519

LifeRich Publishing rev. date: 09/05/2018

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This book is about a woman scientist who has devoted herself for more than a quarter of a century to successfully developing the crucial technology to convert the world’s largest non-food renewable resources (plants that grow and reproduce year after year, such as wood from trees, grasses, corn stalks, wheat and rice straws, collectively known as cellulosic biomass) to ethanol fuel, potentially also to other fuels and useful products such as chemicals for medicine and industry.

She wishes to share with young people part of her life’s story and the miraculous events leading to the successful development of this special yeast, which, she hopes, may help shape the lives of young people. She wants young people to know that they can overcome difficulties by working a little harder, no matter how difficult their lives may seem. She wishes to inspire young readers to know that working harder to achieve their goals does not mean they must give up having fun, being with friends, traveling and enjoying themselves.

CONTENTS

To

Acknowledgment

Preface

A Difficult Childhood

Starting A New Chapter Of My Life

A New Beginning

Why Miracle Yeast

How I have improved myself over the years

Unexpected recognitions

More tips to help young people improve themselves

Math & Science are not difficult

It is easy to become a good student and a good scientist

I did not accomplish it alone

I am not perfect as a Scientist

A final word to young people

The Appendix

TO

My grandchildren, Rachel, Charlton, and Lucy and all the young people in the world.

I wish you all a successful and joyful life!

May this book

help you to overcome difficulties and

inspire you to strive to make a difference to the world

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The author thanks her good friend Dr. Pei-Ling Lee for spending her valuable time editing and proof reading and particularly, for annotating all the Chinese cited in the book. Without Dr. Lee’s help, this book might never have been completed. The author also thanks her good friend, Sheri Helmkamp, for editing and advice.

PREFACE

A t best, I am an average person. I was not born smart or with special talents. I was quite unremarkable during my childhood. I often felt that kids around me were thinking I was stupid and lazy. Yet, luckily, I have been able to overcome the difficulties I experienced in my early years. Not only have I led a good life; I also have become a scientist and have developed a special yeast that can play an important role in solving the world’s liquid fuel for transportation problem as well as other problems. I want to share my story with young people, including