Researchers at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) developed a novel technology which allows genomic DNA and RNA sequencing to be carried out simultaneously in single cells of both frozen and fresh tissues, and identified rare brain tumor cell "spies" disguised as normal cells with this method. This breakthrough facilitates cancer research for some of the most complex and rare tumors, opening new directions for drug target discovery in the future.
The study of microRNAs (miRNAs), small RNAs that play important roles in gene regulation in animals and humans alike, have long been a topic of interest to many. How these miRNAs control and regulate gene expression, a subject of great importance in biology and medicine, is often believed to hold the keys to providing effective cures, or strategies, to different phenomenon and symptoms, such as cancer, a result of cell mutations.
In April to May 2019, the coral reefs near the French Polynesian island of Moorea in the central South Pacific Ocean suffered severe and prolonged thermal bleaching. The catastrophe occurred despite the absence of El Niño conditions that year, intriguing ocean scientists around the world.
Damages to the central nervous system (CNS), for example in the case of spinal cord injury, can result in permanent loss of sensory and motor function. It is because the severed axons are unable to regenerate. As of today, there are very limited options to help these patients regain their motor abilities. Scientists have been exploring ways to enable the regeneration of severed axons, with a view to developing viable treatments in the long term.
CO2 in the deep Earth may be more active than previously thought and may have played a bigger role in climate change than scientists knew before, according to a study by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST).
Aging, and the struggle against it, has long been a popular theme in classic and modern literature in human history. From the ill-fated Qin Shi Huang’s expedition to the sea searching for eternal life to Count Dracula’s popularity in the West, aging is a mystery that has captured the world's imagination for thousands of years and yet remains unsolved.
An international research team, led by Prof. Nancy IP, The Morningside Professor of Life Science at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) and Director of the Hong Kong Center for Neurodegenerative Disease (HKCeND), has identified a blood protein that plays a key role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Their findings reveal an innovative strategy in reducing the risk of AD development and ameliorating disease pathologies in individuals living with AD.
A research team at HKUST has developed a new electrode design that is set to enable the rechargeability of alkaline zinc batteries, one of the most common types of non-rechargeable batteries used in our daily lives, shedding light on a wider application of rechargeable batteries.
Structural biologists at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) together with researchers at the AIDS Institute, The University of Hong Kong (HKU), Department of Microbiology, School of Clinical Medicine, the LKS Faculty of Medicine of The University of Hong Kong (HKUMed) and the State Key Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases, HKU have demonstrated that ZCB11,
A research team led by Prof. GAN Jianping, director of the Center for Ocean Research Hong Kong and Macau (CORE) at the HKUST, carried out field observations and conducted numerical simulations in the South China Sea (SCS) recently and revealed the never-before-seen characteristics of the three-dimensional ocean motion in the SCS through geophysical fluid dynamic theory.
