Professor Xie is a biophysical chemist. He is the Lee Shau-kee Professor at Peking University. He was the Mallinckrodt Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard University until 2018. As a pioneer of single-molecule biophysical chemistry, coherent Raman scattering microscopy, and single-cell genomics, he made major contributions to the emergence of these fields. In particular, his inventions in single-cell genomics have been used in vitro fertilization to benefit thousands of couples in China by avoiding the transmission of monogenic diseases to their newborns. He is a member of the US National Academy of Sciences, US National Academy of Medicine, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a foreign member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.