This undated scanned photo shows Wu Mingzhu in a field. (Hami Melon Research Center, Xinjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences/Handout via Xinhua)
URUMQI, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- Eleven years after being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, 91-year-old Wu Mingzhu sometimes fails to recognize her former colleagues or even her family members who live by her side.
But her memory of the melon varieties she developed while working in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region lingers.
"Although my mom had to retire due to the disease, she would tell me that she was going to return to the melon farms in Xinjiang to help pollinate the melons," said Yang Xia, Wu's son.
Wu, an academician with the Chinese Academy of Engineering who is proficient in melon breeding, has made cultivating the fruit a lifelong career through six decades of practice.
"As the first chief scientist of China's melon industry, Wu has set an example for us. I hope I will also be able to make some achievements in the field," said Ling Yueming, a post-90s researcher with Hami Melon Research Center, Xinjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences. Enditem
This undated scanned photo shows Wu Mingzhu (L) and her students in a field. (Hami Melon Research Center, Xinjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences/Handout via Xinhua)
