Bulletin Autumn‧Winter 1992

CITATIONS P r o f , T s u i L a p - C h e e, OC, D C L , D.Sc., F RS C o n v e n t i o n a l l y w h en a patient seeks medical attention, treatment is based o n t he patient's s ymp t oms. H o w e v e r, in recent years the me d i c al and b i o l o g i c al sciences have advanced so far that one can actually go beneath s ymp t oms and l o ok f or the r o ot causes of v a r i o u s complaints. Prof. T s ui L a p - Ch e e 's w o rk is concerned w i th the latter approach as he has been credited w i th o p e n i ng one o f the secret doors to the mysteries of genetic disorders. Cy s t ic fibrosi is a chronic disease o f the glands o f external secretion. I t affects respiratory passages, pancreas, l i v er and sweat glands. B e t we en one a nd 10 i n every thousand c h i l d r en b o rn i n the U n i t ed States alone are i n f l i c t ed w i th this hereditary disease w h i ch results i n respiratory infection, i n f e r t i l i ty amo ng ma le patients a nd early death. T r a c k i ng d o wn the deadly gene is, h owe v e r, no easy task, It has been likened to l o o k i ng for aneedle in ahaystack or, to use amo re c o n t emp o r a ry phraseology, a house w i t h o ut a n umb er and w i t h o ut even its street name i n a t o wn that the scientist has never set f o ot in. T he o n ly t h i ng the scientist has t o go o n is that patients o f cystic fibrosi tend t o have h i gh s o d i um chloride i n their sweat, b ut i d e n t i f y i ng this a b n o r mal gene that b l o c ks the mo v eme nt o f c h l o r i de i n and out o f cells — causing water t o be d r a wn i n to the cells, and so the cel surface t o be covered w i th mu c o us requires state-of- the-art expertise, perseverance and o r i g i n a l i t y. Prof. T s ui has been hailed r i g h t ly as one of the pioneers to i d e n t i fy the gene. Furthermore, the technique used i n his research also ha s significant i mp l i c a t i o ns f o r other hereditary diseaseas we l l. Sma ll w o n d er that Science Year chose Prof. T s u i 's f i n d i n gs as one o f the most memo r a b l e, x c i t i n g, and i mp o r t a nt discoveries o f the year (1990). 44TH CONGREGATION 6