《科学不应关在玻璃盒里》：一个中国少年的不平等观察笔记

FEATURE STORY丨“Biology Lives in People”: A Chinese Teen Rethinks the Science of Inequality By Youying International Education Correspondent

At first glance, Hai Ruining might seem like any bright, earnest teenager from Xi’an—a vice president of his school’s student council, captain of the football club, and a top student at Gaoxin No.1 High School. But when he took the stage at the 20th Low-Carbon Youth Environmental Forum, he did not talk about grades, medals, or science fair wins.

He talked about inequality.

And he did so not with slogans, but with a scientist’s calm precision—and a humanist’s quiet urgency.

“Why do some communities in the same city live longer and healthier lives, while others fall sick earlier?” he asked. “It’s not just luck. And it’s not just genetics.”

Standing before an audience of policy experts, researchers, and educators, the teenager laid out a bold thesis: that biology, once confined to laboratories and textbooks, must now step into the street. Into food stalls. Into crowded apartments. Into the bodies of children born into stress.

Citing cutting-edge research in epigenetics, Hai explained how long-term poverty and environmental stressors don’t just affect mood—they literally change gene expression. “Inequality,” he said, “is not just something we see. It’s something our cells remember.”

From Lab Coats to Street Corners

What sets Hai apart is not just his fluency in science, but his refusal to let it remain abstract. His awakening, he says, began in the cold of last winter, while volunteering in a fire-safety campaign across low-income neighborhoods.

“I met elderly people living alone without heating. Children doing homework under flickering lights. That’s when I realized—biology isn’t only in test tubes. It’s written in the way people live.”

That experience triggered a shift in his understanding of science. “What’s the point of learning about DNA,” he asked, “if we don’t use it to help actual people?”

A Citizen-Scientist in the Making

After his speech, we met Hai in a quiet room offstage. No parents. No teachers. Just him, a notebook, and an idea he couldn’t stop turning over in his mind.

He told us about his next move: a student-led Health Equity Research Group that will map environmental and biological risk factors across urban communities—from food deserts to stress hormones. The goal? To use data not as decoration, but as a compass for social repair.

As part of this initiative, he will serve as Youth Ambassador for the Youying Low-Carbon Base, helping to design peer education workshops, youth health surveys, and bilingual public awareness campaigns.

中文版 | 特稿报道《科学不应关在玻璃盒里》：一个中国少年的不平等观察笔记

乍看之下，海睿宁就是一个典型的“别人家的孩子”：西安高新一中南校区学生会副主席、橄榄球社社长、成绩优异。但在第20届“低碳环保·绿色未来”青年论坛的舞台上，他并未谈论奖项、竞赛，也没有炫耀数据与技术。他谈的是不平等，是那些“活在空气里的差距”。

他声音平稳，不煽情、不造势，却在座无虚席的会场里，制造了一种罕见的沉默。

“为什么同一座城市，有些社区的人更早患病、更少就医？原因不只是运气，也不仅是基因。”

他说，生物学不能只存在于实验室，也必须存在于街头，存在于被忽略的家庭、污染的街角、过度应激的孩童身体中。

他引用“表观遗传学”中的研究，指出：长期的压力与贫困，不仅改变我们的情绪，也悄然改变了我们的基因表达方式。换句话说，不平等不仅“看得见”，还“写进了我们的细胞”。