A research team at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has demonstrated that the growth and development of two marine invertebrates – the pollution-tolerant slipper limpets and the commercially-harvested bristle worms (a common fish bait which recycles nutrients in the ecosystem) – are prone to suffer irreversible damage under exposure to a high concentration of microbeads.
The findings – discovered by a team of undergraduate and postgraduate students led by Prof. Karen CHAN, Assistant Professor from the Division of Life Science at HKUST – have shown for the first time that the detrimental effects of microplastics - tiny plastic pellets found in many health, beauty and household products, are not confined to only upscale, commonly consumed marine invertebrates like abalones and oysters, but also take a toll on tough invasive and nuisance species like the slipper limpets. Read More...
(From right) Prof. Karen CHAN and her research team members Abby LO, NG Pui-lam and Julia LEUNG discover microbeads’ (bottled) impact on bristle worms (in the Petri dish) and slipper limpets.
An interdisciplinary team of scientists from HKUST has discovered the mechanism of how human brains turn on and off neuronal activities...
A research team led by Prof. ZHANG Mingjie (Life Science) has recently reached a breakthrough unveiling the fundamental mechanism that causes schizophrenia...