Bulletin No. 1, 2023

Eye on excellence The research team has recently discovered unexpectedly long cell-free DNA in plasma. “The longest I’ve seen is 24,000 base pairs on cell-free DNA. Previously, most researchers mainly focused on those of around 160 base pairs,” says Professor Lo. The breakthrough has shown the feasibility of making a genomic map with far fewer molecules by using superlong cell-free DNA. “It’s like we were used to short messages like WhatsApp to work out the foetal and cancer genomes. But now we can peruse the genomic map, like reading Word documents.” With the founders’ proven 20-plus-year track records in genomics and diagnostics research, the Centre for Novostics plans to extend its work to single gene disease and other pregnancy-associated conditions. It will employ a combination of genomic, epigenomic, transcriptomic and fragmentomic technologies to tackle bottlenecks in cancer diagnostics and investigate the tissue origin of malignancy by circulating nucleic acid analysis, particularly for cancer types prevalent in Hong Kong, mainland China and Asia. These research areas will accelerate the application of liquid biopsy and promote Hong Kong as a leading global molecular diagnostic centre. Leveraging the city’s well-developed public healthcare system and its strategic location, with easy access to other major cities, Novostics envisages creating a conducive environment for collaborations with other renowned research institutes and universities. For instance, it collaborates with Oxford University to investigate whether a plasma nucleic acid test can identify toxaemia in pregnant women. Stepping up for the innovation tango As a clinician scientist and entrepreneur, Professor Lo finds innovation and entrepreneurship highly correlated. “When I’m doing research, I envisage its future clinical applications and how it may benefit Observing an Illumina flow cell 26 Chinese University Bulletin No. 1, 2023