NEWS CENTER

新闻中心

奥博资讯

媒体报道

体系论文

首页

The Confused Story of Tong Dizhou: Why the "Tong Fish" and Nuclear-Transplanted Fish Are Not the Same Thing

发布时间：

2026-07-26

The Confused Story of Tong Dizhou: Why the "Tong Fish" and Nuclear-Transplanted Fish Are Not the Same Thing

Sun Zuodong

Introduction

Numerous popular science books and media reports have long circulated a claim: Professor Tong Dizhou proved that cytoplasmic RNA determines organisms’ hereditary traits. This interpretation has taken deep root in public understanding.

Yet this widely known narrative harbors a decades-long misinterpretation in popular science. A review of original experimental records reveals that Tong Dizhou’s research team conducted two fundamentally distinct experiments, which the public discourse has long conflated into one.

I. A Decades-Long Misreading by Conflation

Popular science coverage frequently combines the two experiments into a single account:

1.The 1973 "Tong Fish": Injecting crucian carp mRNA into goldfish fertilized eggs without altering the cell nucleus. This only modified the shape of goldfish tail fins, amounting to minor adjustments to partial traits.

2.The 1963 nuclear-transplanted fish: Transferring embryonic cell nuclei from common carp into enucleated crucian carp eggs. The resulting offspring inherited mixed traits from both parent species across scales, mouth barbels, body shape and other whole-body features, achieving comprehensive remodeling of systemic traits.

This conceptual confusion has fostered a simplistic public belief that free cytoplasmic RNA can account for all variations in biological traits.

II. If RNA Were the Full Answer, How Do We Explain the Failure of Denuded Nuclei to Develop?

We fully acknowledge the observed phenomenon: exogenous mRNA acts as a signaling molecule capable of disrupting embryonic developmental pathways and inducing partial epigenetic modifications.

To draw a vivid analogy: RNA is comparable to soft furnishings in home renovation, only capable of tweaking local morphology.

Relying solely on free cytoplasmic nucleic acids fails to resolve a core puzzle: under the microscopic manipulation techniques available, fully denuded nuclei stripped of their nuclear envelopes can barely support normal embryonic development. Only when intact carp cell nuclei are transplanted into crucian carp eggs can the offspring fully express the full suite of carp species-specific traits.

This sufficiently demonstrates that free RNA cannot govern comprehensive, cross-species systemic remodeling of organismal traits.

III. The "Nuclear Envelope Barrier" Tong Could Not Fully Discern Due to the Limitations of His Era

Constrained by the microscopic equipment and observation technology of the 1960s, Professor Tong Dizhou centered his research on soluble cytoplasmic factors.

Given the experimental tools of his time, distinguishing clearly between cytoplasmic matrix and structures attached to the nuclear envelope was extremely challenging.

In reality, nuclear transfer procedures never involve perfectly bare nuclei completely stripped of their envelopes. Alongside each nucleus entering the recipient egg lie its nuclear envelope and embedded potassium ion channel protein complexes. The bioelectric field established by cell and nuclear membrane channel systems performs top-tier regulatory functions governing overall embryonic development.

The hypothesis of Cellular Bioelectrical Genetics was formulated on this foundation: it builds upon Tong Dizhou’s framework of "nucleus-cytoplasm interaction" by supplementing the critical missing link of nuclear envelope structures and bioelectrical regulation.

Conclusion

This analysis is not a refutation of the pioneering scholar, but an advancement in understanding enabled by progress across eras. Untangling these misinterpretations allows us to more clearly recognize the boundaries of scientific exploration as it unfolded.

How exactly do bioelectric fields "direct" cell fate through nuclear membrane ion channels? This will be the core mechanistic question unpacked in our next article—we leave this as a cliffhanger for future discussion.