Bulletin No. 1, 2023
It was over a cup at Pacific Coffee that gastroenterology professors Ng Siew Chien and Francis Chan Ka-leung shared a conversation five years ago, and sketched out their idea for Hong Kong’s next centre of innovation. In time-honoured fashion, their first plan was on the back of a napkin. At the time, genomics were all the fashion. But their concept is to design personalised treatments and analytics based on the gut microbiome weighs that call our body home. It transpires that our microorganisms’ DNA outnumbers our own DNA, which makes us more microbes than human. “We think this era is the era of the microbiome,” Professor Ng, who is an expert in inflammatory bowel disease and holds a post in CUHK’s Department of Medicine and Therapeutics. Because of the sheer volume of bacteria—gut microbiome weighs around 5 lbs in a human body— targeting the microbiome has the advantage that it can be manipulated. Whereas we inherit our genes and DNA as our birthright, our internal biome is influenced by our environment and behaviours. Professor Siew Ng Professor Francis Chan Envisioning a healthier future 17
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