Tan Jiazhen, male, Han nationality, is a native of Ningbo, Zhejiang Province. He graduated from Dongwu University in 1930 and obtained a master's degree from the Research Institute of Yanjing University in 1932. Tan then acquired a doctorate degree from California Polytechnic Institute of 1936. He is a senior academician and geneticist.
Since the 1930s, Tan has studied hereditary variation of the splash of Asian Harmoria axyridis and the evolution of cellular hereditary gene maps and intraspecies. His discovery about the allel mosaic dominance hereditary of Harmoria axyridis and polygene hereditary generated tremendous international attention.
His academic contributions have led to recognition from international research academies. He is a foreign academician with the American National Academy of Science and the Italian National Academy of Science. In 1999, he became an honorary lifelong academician of the New York Academy of Science.
In China, he was elected an academician of the Third World Academy of Science in 1985. He is also an academician at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.