News & Stories

HKUST President Prof. Nancy IP (sixth right), Head of Charities (Positive Ageing and Elderly Care) of The Hong Kong Jockey Club Mr. Bryan WONG (fifth left), HKUST Provost Prof. GUO Yike (fourth left), and other senior management of HKUST inaugurate the three JC STEM Labs with three HKUST Global STEM Professors, namely Prof. ZHOU Xiaofang, Prof. XIE Ting and Prof.

Scientists from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), The University of Hong Kong (HKU) and Institut Curie, France have jointly uncovered a new mechanism of the human MCM2-7 complex in regulating replication initiation, which can be used as a novel and effective anticancer strategy with the potential for selective killing of cancer cells. The findings were recently published in the Cell journal (link to publication).

HKUST researchers have unravelled the genomic riddles of the tubeworms that thrive deep in the ocean, paving the way for previously unthinkable biological applications.

An inter-disciplinary team of researchers led by Prof. Qian Peiyuan, Chair Professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST)’s Department of Ocean Science and Division of Life Science has unraveled how a novel microbial small molecule released by Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans) – a bacterium commonly found in the human oral cavity – is connected to dental caries development using a synthetic biology approach, offering new insights to the health impact of the human oral microbiota and facilitating future research on the prevention of tooth decay. The research findings were recently published in the prestigious scientific journal Nature Chemical Biology and reported by Nature as one of the research highlights.

Gigantopelta aegis (Photo credit: Dr. CHEN Chong from JAMSTEC) A research team led by Prof. QIAN Peiyuan, Head and Chair Professor from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST)’s Department of Ocean Science and David von Hansemann Professor of Science, has published their cutting-edge findings of symbiotic mechanisms of a deep-sea vent snail (Gigantopelta aegis) in the scientific journal Nature Communications.

Researchers from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKSUST) and the University of Hong Kong (HKU) recently demonstrated that the selectivity determinant of Origin Recognition Complex (ORC) for DNA binding lies in a 19-amino acid insertion helix in the Orc4 subunit, which is present in yeast but absent in human. Removal of this motif from Orc4 transforms the yeast ORC, which selects origins based on base-specific binding at defined locations, into one whose selectivity is dictated by chromatin landscape (genomic nucleosome profile), a characteristic feature shared by human ORC. Further understanding of the preferred DNA shapes and nucleosome positioning requirements will provide new insights for the plasticity of the human ORC in selecting replication initiation sites during programmed development and disease transformation, and also help identify potential targets for anti-cancer drug screening and therapy design.

STEM has been a “buzzword” in Hong Kong’s educational scene in recent years with schools investing resources in technology gadgets, but for Prof. King CHOW of Division of Life Sciences, the efforts do not seem to be on the right track. Hong Kong is a city known for rote learning, a key element of STEM education - trying to solve problems in an interdisciplinary approach - is missed out. This not only results in a cul-de-sac in science education but also an impediment to nurture innovators or scientists that Hong Kong needs. “STEM is really about allowing students to learn about methodology, approach and principles, and rules in application. Unfortunately, in many high schools and universities in Hong Kong, students learn information but miss out on logic and the analytical aspect of it,” comments Prof. Chow.

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) received a HK$500 million donation from Li Ka Shing Foundation (LKSF) yesterday for the establishment of Hong Kong’s first institute of synthetic biology – a best-in-class research platform focuses on synthetic biological technologies.   The new academic and research building of the “Li Ka Shing Institute of Synthetic Biology” (The Institute) will provide the most advanced facilities, aiming to attract the world’s top scholars in a move to steer Hong Kong into a global pioneer in synthetic bio-technologies.