Decoding the Secrets of Life Hiding in our Blood

The Chinese University of Hong Kong’s Professor Dennis Lo pioneers non-invasive DNA blood tests that are helping millions of pregnant women and could now provide a significant breakthrough in the fight against cancer.
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Imagine being able to look into the DNA of your unborn child, using a method that is completely safe for the child.

DNA research led by Professor Dennis Lo Yuk-ming at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) has opened the door to an extraordinary world of medical possibilities by unlocking the secrets contained in just a few drops of blood from a pregnant woman.

His team’s award-winning work has provided safe, non-invasive tests for Down syndrome and other disorders which are used by millions of women worldwide, and which may in future be used to detect other pregnancy-associated disorders.

Today, Professor Lo’s pioneering technology is being explored not only to safeguard the lives of unborn children but to save lives through the early detection of a number of major forms of cancer using simple blood tests.
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Greater Expectations
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Professor Dennis Lo and his team are the first to decode fetal genomic map from maternal blood.

Professor Lo’s breakthrough research began in Hong Kong more than 20 years ago when he returned from studies overseas where he dedicated himself at an early age to finding a safer, non-invasive test for Down syndrome.

Until then, pregnant women at relatively high risk of fetal chromosomal or genetic disorders were tested using amniocentesis in which fluid is extracted from the amniotic liquid surrounding a baby in the womb – a procedure using a needle that carries a one in 200 risk of miscarriage.

Professor Lo discovered that the DNA of an unborn baby can be found in the mother’s blood plasma and could be isolated and detected robustly.

With the help of leaps forward in DNA sequencing technology, his Down syndrome blood test was launched in 2011 and is today available in more than 90 countries and benefits millions of pregnant women every year.

Professor Lo said, “We have basically created a non-invasive window to the body.”

​Saving Lives
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A study by Professor Dennis Lo (right) and Professor Allen Chan confirms that blood tests are useful to detect nasopharyngeal cancer at an early stage.

Professor Lo’s blood tests and their ability to detect minute genetic abnormalities at an early stage are now being used in one of the greatest medical challenges of our time – the fight against cancer. “Our team has dreamt about the possibilities of catching multiple types of cancer early, when we can do something in a timely manner,” said Professor Lo.

Blood tests have been carried out by his team on more than 20,000 middle-aged men in Hong Kong to check for early signs of a type of cancer located at the back of the nose, near the upper throat, known as nasopharyngeal cancer. This form of cancer is typically detected in late stages.
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In particular, the three-year study focussed on detecting the DNA from a virus that is consistently associated with this cancer in China. Professor Lo believes the test has the potential to halve the mortality rate from this cancer.
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More than 800 cases of nasopharyngeal carcinoma are recorded in Hong Kong every year, making it the 10th most common cancer and the sixth most common among men. Professor Lo hopes the screening method he has pioneered will be widely used after the successful trials.
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International Acclaim
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The prenatal testing programme at CUHK has a host of international collaborators including the VU University Medical Center in the Netherlands, the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Imperial College London in the UK, and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in the US.

Professor Dennis Lo receives the Future Science Prize – Life Science Prize, widely regarded as China’s Nobel Prize.

Professor Lo has received numerous national and international awards for his revolutionary work in detecting cell-free fetal DNA in maternal plasma. In 2016, he was named Thomson Reuters Citation Laureate – Chemistry and was honoured with the Future Science Prize – Life Science Prize, widely regarded as China’s Nobel Prize. He was listed among the Top 20 Translational Researchers of 2016 by the authoritative scientific journal Nature Biotechnology.

 “We shall continue to strive to push forward the field of molecular diagnosis,” said Professor Lo. “We hope to further enhance the accuracy and broaden the applications of non-invasive prenatal testing and cancer detection.”

Our Mission for Research in Translational Biomedicine

Biomedicine has made great advances over the past two decades and CUHK has been at the forefront of this movement with our pioneering DNA research. The march of innovative technologies has led to the design and manufacturing of robotics and nano-scale medical devices which give us the ability to improve standards of care and detection of disease. Genome sequencing and the use of embryonic stem cells for research demand a parallel emphasis on the bioethics of biomedical research and its applications. Our team is engaged in cutting-edge research in stem cell biology and regenerative medicine, and brain and mind research including the application of genetic and genomic techniques to study behaviour and language acquisition. We believe that extending our focus on the use of biomedical research to enhance human life and integrate natural sciences and humanities will bring our collective knowledge to new horizons of opportunity. CUHK will continue to push forward with a strategic group of basic, translational and clinical research projects and will launch further ambitious research initiatives in biomedicine in the coming years.  Ideally positioned to promote the integration of Traditional Chinese Medicine and western medicine, CUHK is focussing on the authentication and standardisation of medicinal herbs for the application of Traditional Chinese Medicine and provision of effective integrative treatment to benefit patients.

Click to learn more:
Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences
Lui Che Woo Institute of Innovative Medicine
Brain and Mind Institute
Hong Kong Institute of Integrative Medicine 
Institute of Chinese Medicine