Shao Feng, deputy director and senior fellow at the National Institute of Biological Sciences, has been awarded the 2026 WLF Prize Laureate in Life Science or Medicine, becoming the first Chinese scientist to receive such honor. Shao’s team made landmark discoveries in innate immunity and cell death by proving that cells can undergo an explosive self-destruction, known as pyroptosis, and identifying the Gasdermin protein family that executes this molecular mechanism.