Wenkai Yi is a PhD student in Dr Jian Yan’s laboratory at the Department of Biomedical Sciences, College of Biomedicine, City University of Hong Kong. His research focuses on uncovering the molecular mechanism by which human endogenous retrovirus subfamily H (HERV-H) RNA mediates the maintenance of stemness in human embryonic stem cells. Human endogenous retrovirus subfamily H (HERV-H) represents a group of primate-specific retrotransposons integrated into the human genome. The transcriptionally active HERV-H is strongly associated with the pluripotent state of stem cells, serving as a key molecular feature of human embryonic stem cell identity. Nevertheless, the precise molecular mechanism through which noncoding RNA transcribed from HERV-H sustains pluripotency and regulates cellular stemness remains largely elusive. Wenkai has contributed to developing and applying innovative experimental approaches to investigate RNA-binding proteins in living cells, aiming to illuminate these fundamental processes.