A prestigious Taiwanese researcher specializing in anti-aging protein research was found dead in his office yesterday morning surrounded by injection bottles of sedatives and muscle relaxants.
Lin Yu-yi (林育誼), 38, who also served as an assistant professor at National Taiwan University College of Medicine’s Graduate Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, was rushed to a hospital after being found in his office with no signs of life at about 11am yesterday. He was later pronounced dead after efforts to resuscitate him failed.
A preliminary examination of Lin’s body found a pinhole on his left arm and a fresh bruise on his forehead. Needles were also found at the scene along with sedatives and muscle relaxants, police said.
Police ruled out suicide as no suicide note was found at the scene and, according to Lin’s family members, everything was going well with his wife and family.
However, Lin’s family said he may have injected the muscle relaxants due to overwhelming work-related pressure, which raised suspicions that Lin’s death could have been an accidental overdose. Ruling on the cause of death is on hold until the results of Lin’s blood analysis are given, police said.
According to Lin’s assistant, no visitors were seen entering Lin’s office that morning and no strange sounds were heard coming from it.
With a doctoral degree from the medical school of Johns Hopkins University in the US, Lin was one of the few researchers in Taiwan studying anti-aging proteins. A research team he led was featured in the scientific journal Nature in February for their discovery of the key mechanism for maintaining cell energy balance — believed to be linked to cellular aging and cancer.
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