News & Stories

Scientists from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) have recently discovered a non-classical nucleation process that can greatly facilitate ice formation on foreign surfaces. This finding lays the foundation to predict and control crystallization processes.

A novel brain-wide genome-editing technology offers immense potential to be translated as a novel long-acting therapeutic treatment for Alzheimer’s patients.

A group of researchers at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) and Xiamen University has revealed new understandings of how surface ruthenium atoms can improve the hydrogen evolution and oxidation activities of platinum. This discovery opens a new venue for rational design of more advanced catalysts for electrolyzer and fuel cell applications. 

Researchers from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) decoded for the first time the chromosomal-level genome of a deep-sea gutless tubeworm and how the worm’s co-living bacterial partners manufacture organic nutrients for its host so it can survive the extreme habitat. The discovery lays foundation for potential applications such as biomaterial production and microbial growth control.Living in deep-sea hydrothermal vents and cold seeps ecosystems characterized by darkness, high pressure and often high concentrations of toxic substances, submarine tubeworms - common living organisms of such extreme environments, were known to owe their survival and fast growth to sulphide-oxidising symbiotic bacteria that live inside their body. However, the success behind such a complementary “marriage” between the tubeworms and their co-living bacteria had remained unknown due to the lack of genomic resources.

A research team led by HKUST's VPRD Prof. Nancy IP has developed a simple yet highly effective Alzheimer’s blood test from Chinese patient data for the first time.

HKUST researchers have uncovered a new gene mutation responsible for a brain vascular disorder which inflicted about 10~30 million people in the world.

A group of researchers at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has uncovered the mechanism of how DNA is being melted to start bacterial gene transcription and how one class of antibiotics inhibits this process – an important way in killing bacteria. This discovery provides useful insight on the development of new antibiotics for bacteria that is antimicrobial resistance.

In a new study, scientists at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) have revealed that most T cell epitopes known to be targeted upon natural infection are seemingly unaffected by current SARS-CoV-2 variants. In their latest research, the team compiled and analysed data from 18 immunological studies of T cell responses involving over 850 recovered COVID-19 patients from across four continents who are well-distributed in age, gender, disease severity and blood collection time. They demonstrated that T cells in these patients targeted fragments (epitopes) of almost all of the virus' proteins, including the spike protein that is a main target of many existing vaccines. As an important finding, based on analysis of over 850,000 SARS-CoV-2 genetic sequences from around the world, most of these epitopes appeared to be unaffected by the current variants of concern.