He made important contributions to the synthesis of insulin, and was elected an academician of the CAS and The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS).

Tsou was a strong advocate against academic fraud and pseudoscience, and led a public campaign against what he called "unhealthy practices" such as administrators' interference in scientific research.

On the recommendation of Wang Yinglai, he was accepted by the University of Cambridge to study under David Keilin[3] at the Molteno Institute for Research in Parasitology.

[3] Tsou's doctoral thesis was on the properties of the haemprotein cytochrome c. According to Edward Slater, the research was the first step towards the eventual discovery of protein's structure.

[3] After he and his wife both acquired their Ph.D. degrees in 1951, they returned to the newly established People's Republic of China and Tsou became a research professor at the Shanghai Institute of Physiology and Biochemistry where Wang Yinglai served as a deputy director.

[4] In 1970, Tsou moved to Beijing to help look after his ailing father-in-law Li Siguang,[3][5] and transferred to the Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

[1] Asteroid 325812 Zouchenglu, discovered by astronomers with the PMO NEO Survey Program at the Purple Mountain Observatory in 2008, was named in his memory.

[8] Tsou was a strong advocate against academic fraud and pseudoscience, and led a public campaign against what he called "unhealthy practices" such as administrators' interference in scientific research.