The 48th Geneva Inventions Expo this year attracted approximately 1,000 inventions from about 40 countries and regions, showcasing their inventions, the results of their research, and their new products.
Professor Thomas LEUNG Yun-chung garnered widespread acclaim for his project “ABarginase: First-in-class Drug for Treatment of Multiple Obesity-related Metabolic Disease”, winning both the Prize of the International Federation of Inventors' Association and a Gold Medal with Congratulations of the Jury.
Likewise, Dr CHUA Song-lin and Dr LIU Yang's “MicroGlue: Microbial- derived Technology to Remove Microplastic Pollutants” also received a Gold Medal with Congratulations of the Jury in recognition of its potential to address the global microplastic pollution crisis.
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University remains committed to nurturing scientific discoveries and technological developments that can not only change the world for the better but set the standard for pioneering research with tangible social benefits. To learn more about The Hong Kong Polytechnic University's impactful innovations, please visit: https://polyu.hk/tqAvq
|
Project and description |
Principal Investigator(s) |
Award(s) |
|
ABarginase: First-in-class Drug for Treatment of Multiple Obesity-related Metabolic Disease ABarginase, an albumin- binding recombinant human arginase, is the world's first therapy that safely and effectively treats multiple metabolic diseases related to obesity and insulin resistance, including prediabetes, type 2 diabetes and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, via arginine starvation. Having a long circulating half-life and strong enzymatic activity, it starves the semi-essential amino acid arginine by maintaining it in circulation at low levels. Based on the research team’s breakthrough discovery that arginine starvation suppresses fat synthesis, promotes fat breakdown and sensitises cells to insulin, ABarginase was engineered using an advanced fusion protein strategy that enables an inexpensive and highly efficient fabrication process, making it affordable and widely adoptable for clinical applications. |
Prof. Thomas LEUNG Yun-chung Professor, Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology and Lo Ka Chung Charitable Foundation Professor in Pharmaceutical Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Prof. Alisa SHUM Sau-wun Associate Professor, School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong |
Prize of the International Federation of Inventors' Association – IFIA
Gold Medal with Congratulations of the Jury |
|
MicroGlue: Microbial- derived Technology to Remove Microplastic Pollutants This microbial biotechnology offers a safe, low-cost and efficient way to remove microplastics from water, using biodegradable microbial-derived polymers to aggregate hard-to-remove microplastic contaminants into clumps that are easily separable and removable from the environment. It can be integrated into the final purification stage of wastewater treatment, or used as a stand-alone solution for polluted sea water or fresh water. It is scalable, simple to install into existing processes, and has low operating costs, making it a convenient way to retrieve microplastics for resource recovery and plastic recycling, and mitigate the harmful effects of microplastics on humans and ecosystems. |
Dr CHUA Song-lin Assistant Professor, Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology
Dr LIU Yang GBA Startup Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology |
Gold Medal with Congratulations of the Jury |
Interview with Dr CHUA Song-lin and Dr LIU Yang from Wen Wei Po
- https://dw-media.tkww.hk/epaper/wwp/20231130/a09-1130.pdf
- https://www.wenweipo.com/a/202311/30/AP65679bebe4b0fdf828a876c6.html
- https://www.wenweipo.com/a/202311/30/AP65679bdce4b0fdf828a876c4.html
- https://www.wenweipo.com/a/202311/30/AP65679bd9e4b0fdf828a876c2.html
- https://www.wenweipo.com/a/202311/30/AP65679bd5e4b0fdf828a876c0.html
