In memory of Professor Biao Ding （1960-2015）

It is with profound sadness that we mourn the loss of Dr.Biao Ding,a full-professor in the Department of Molecular Genetics,Ohio State University(OSU),and a world-renowned plant biologist with leading authority in viroid research.He died suddenly on June 26,2015 in Prague,Czech Republic,while attending the International Conference on Viroids and Viroid-Like RNAs as a Keynote Speaker.Dr.Ding was born in 1960,in Kunming,Yunnan Province,China.He received his B.S.from Beijing Forestry University in1982,and was then selected as one of the first group of