Science star has his name in the heavens

It never occurred to Gu Yuzhou that he could win a top prize in an international youth innovation contest, let alone have a planet named after him.

But the 18-year-old high school student has received a letter and a certificate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory, announcing a minor planet had been named in Gu's honor for his outstanding scientific research performance.

Gu, a graduating student at the No. 2 High School affiliated to East China Normal University, has been awarded second prize at the 2007 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair.

"I was extremely excited when I received the letter," the Jiangsu-native student told Shanghai Daily yesterday.

"It was such a once-in-a-lifetime great honor not only for me, but my parents and the whole school."

Since 2006, Gu has been devoted to a research program to extract substances from dogbane oleander, a poisonous plant, to make an environmentally-friendly pesticide.

The program was entered in the international science and engineering contest in the United States on behalf of China last May and won the highest-ever prize for a Chinese contestant, according to Gu's teacher, Shi Hongliang. The minor planet that has been named "Yuzhou Gu" was discovered by the institute in 1998.

Gu, who has been admitted to Fudan University's school of economics says he wants to continue with his pesticide research.