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Emerging Pathogens and an Emerging Market

Jun 27, 2011

A news item in Science reports on the rise of biotech in Hong Kong, which in recent years has dedicated hundreds of millions of dollars to attract translational scientists and research centers to the area. In an anecdote of an up-and-coming biotech company, Science profiles Albert Cheung-Hoi Yu and his company, Hai Kang Life, which "rolled out a novel chip that binds target DNA strands and coats them with nanoparticles for identification." The chip is currently being tested for pathogen detection. Yu is also important in the broader picture: "When he's not in the lab, Yu ... promotes biotech here as inaugural chair of the Hong Kong Biotechnology Organization," the article notes.

Breaking News
The Scan

Pig Organ Transplants Considered

The Wall Street Journal reports that the US Food and Drug Administration may soon allow clinical trials that involve transplanting pig organs into humans.

'Poo-Bank' Proposal

Harvard Medical School researchers suggest people should bank stool samples when they are young to transplant when they later develop age-related diseases.

Spurred to Develop Again

New Scientist reports that researchers may have uncovered why about 60 percent of in vitro fertilization embryos stop developing.

Science Papers Examine Breast Milk Cell Populations, Cerebral Cortex Cellular Diversity, Micronesia Population History

In Science this week: unique cell populations found within breast milk, 100 transcriptionally distinct cell populations uncovered in the cerebral cortex, and more.