For release 28 June 1996
HKUST-CAS JOINT LABORATORY PROJECT SUPPORTED BY ITDC A joint laboratory set up by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has received a grant of $2.3 million from the Industry and Technology Development Council (ITDC) for biotechnology research. This is the first research project undertaken by the Life Science and Biotechnology Joint Laboratory since it was set up earlier this year.
Prof Jerry Wang, head of HKUST’s Biochemistry Department and one of the laboratory directors, says that the aim of the project is to find efficient ways to produce protein reagents. Besides Prof Wang, project participants include Prof Shengli Yang, director of CA% Shanghai Research Centre of Biotechnology, Prof Zhizhen Wang of CAS’s Institute of Biophysics in Beijing, and Dr Mingjie Zhang, Assistant Professor of Biochemistry at HKUST.
Protein reagents are chemicals used in many phases of protein research, including analysis, synthesis and cloning of protein molecules. Protein researchers must often synthesize the required reagents themselves, a tedious and time- consuming process. If these reagents were available commercially, researchers would be able to concentrate their time and effort on the target research.
“When the technology we develop to produce reagents is transferred to local industry,“ says Prof Wang, “Hong Kon
protein researchers around the world. k T will be able to supply reagents needed by the biotechnology field.” ‘s will make Hong Kong very prominent in
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