Education
| 1973 | Ph.D. University of Wisconsin-Madison |
| 1970 | M.Phil. University of Hong Kong |
| 1968 | B.Sc. Sp. Hon., University of Hong Kong |
| 1966 | B.Sc. Cum laude, Chinese University of Hong Kong |
Position
- Research Professor of Biology, School of Life Sciences
- Professor Emeritus, School of Biological Sciences
- Director, State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology (CUHK)
- Director, Institute of Plant Molecular Biology and Agricultural Biotechnology
- Master, S.H. Ho College
Research Interests
- Plant Molecular biology: plant gene structure, expression and regulation
- Plant and agriculural biotechnology: crop improvement on rice yield and nutritional quality and development of an efficient plant seed bioreactor including downstream purification of recombinant proteins
Representative Publications
- Lam HM, Xu X, Liu X, Chen W, Yang GH, Wong FL, Li MW, He WM, Qin N, Wang B, Li J, Jian M, Wang J, Shao GH, Wang J, Sun SSM, Zhang GY:2010. Resequencing of 31 wild and cultivated soybean genomes identifies patterns of genetic diversity and selection. Nat Genet 2010,42:1053-1059.
- Lau OS, Ng WK, Liu WL, Chang SP, Sun, SSM: Production of the 42-kDa fragment of Plasmodium falciparum merozoite surface protein 1, a leading malaria vaccine antigen, in Arabidopsis thaliana seeds. Plant Biotech J 2010, 8:994-1004
- Lau OS, Sun, SSM: Plant seeds as bioreactors for recombinant protein production. Biotech Advances (Invited Review) 2009, 27:1015-1022.
- Sun SSM: Application of agricultural biotechnology to improve food nutrition and healthcare products (Review Article). Asia Pac J Clin Nutr 2008,17(S): 87-90.
- Yuan DY, Duan MJ, Tan YN, Yi ZL, Yuan LP, Sun SSM: Generating marker-free transgenic homozygous rice restorer lines with PEPC and PPDK genes by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation using super binary vector. Hybrid Rice 2007, 22:57-63.
- Xiao GY, Yuan LP, Sun SSM: Strategy and utilization of herbicide resistance gene in two-line hybrid rice. Mol Breeding 2007, 20:287-292.
- Duan MJ, Sun SSM: Profiling the expression of genes controlling rice grain quality Plant. Plant Mol Biol 2005, 59:165-178.
- Altenbach SB, Pearson KW, Meeker G, Staracy L, Sun SSM: Enhancement of the methionine content of seed protein by the expression of a chimeric gene encoding a methionine-rich protein in transgenic plants. Plant Mol Biol 1989, 13:513-522.
- Sun SSM: Methionine enhancement in plants.In: Plant Amino Acids: Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Singh BK ed, Marcel Dekker Inc, N.Y. 1999, pp. 509-522.
- Sun SSM, Slightom JS, Hall TC: Intervening sequence in a plant gene: comparison of the partial sequence of cDNA and genomic DNA of French bean phaseolin. Nature 1981, 289:37-41.
Research Grants
- 2007-2011, UGC-AoE, Plant and Agricultural Biotechnology Centre, Sun SSM, PI/Director, HK $25,000,000
- 2009-2011, 國家重大轉基因專項 (National Transgenic Project), 作物產量、抗逆和高營養相關功能基因的發掘與機理研究 (Identification and mechanistic study of genes related to crop yield, nutrition and stress tolerance), 人民幣 295萬(RMB 2.95M)
- 2000-2006, UGC-AoE, Plant and Fungal Biotechnology, Sun SSM, PI/Director, HK $38,800,000
- 2006-2011, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Improving rice for high beta-carotene, vitamin E, quality protein and iron and zinc bio-availability, Sun SSM, Consortium member, US $1.0M
- 2005-2008, GRF, The biology of vacuolar sorting receptor proteins and their applications in plant, HK $1,446,675
- 1998-2001. GRF, Engineering in Brazil nut Met-rich protein for reduced allergenic activity, HK$1,211,000
- 1998-2001, ITF, Production of high value pharmaceutical proteins in transgenic seeds, HK $5,292,000
- 1999-2002, RGC Central Allocation, Automated Microbial Identification system, HK $2,980,000,
- 1997-1999, GRF, Genetic engineering of sweet protein mabinlin for increased stability, HK $656,640
- 1996-1998, GRF, Genetic engineering of rapeseed for enhanced nutritional quality, HK $722,000
Patents
Granted:
- Sun SSM and Chen DM: Epitope identification and modification for reduced allergic activity in proteins targeted for transgenic expression (US patent # 7,399,597; Appl # 11/099,856), 2008
- Sun SSM and Liu QQ: Method to produce desired proteins in plants.” (US patent # 7,425,667), 2008
- Sun SSM, Lam HM and Fung MC: Transgenic plant product comprising human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor and method for preparing the same (HK patent # 1071908), 2007
- Sun SSM, Lam H.M and Fung MC: Transgenic plant product comprising human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor and method for preparing the same (Chinese patent # 200410037474.X), 2007
Pending:
- Sun SSM and Tian L: A cost-effective method for expression and purification of recombinant proteins in plants (US patent # 61/425,703), filed 2010
- Sun SSM and Liu QQ: Method to produce desired proteins in plants (HK patent # 09102272.6), filed 2009
- Sun SSM and Liu QQ: Method to produce desired proteins in plants (Chinese patent # 200680041156.8), filed 2006
- Sun SSM, Lam HM and Fung MC: Transgenic plant product comprising human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor and method for preparing the same (US patent# 10/611,226), filed 2003
Awards
- Member, the Chinese Academy of Engineering, 2003
- Member, the International Eurasian Academy of Sciences, 2008
- Leader of the Year 2005 (Education/Research), Hong Kong, 2005
- Distinguished Alumnus Award of Science Faculty at the University of Hong Kong, 2009
- Honorary Fellow of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2010.
- Friendship Medal: Awarded by the State Government of China to experts making outstanding contributions to the modernization of China, 1996
- Greatwall Friendship Award: Awarded by the People’s Government of Beijing Municipality, for contribution to Beijing’s construction and friendly cooperation in science and technology, 2000
- Science and Technology Award, 2nd Class, by the People’s Government, Zhejiang Province, China, for development and application of a high efficient, safe, and large scale rice transformation platform, 2007.
- ARCO Distinguished Research Award, 1984
Professional Activities
- Member, University Grants Council, Hong Kong SAR, 2007-2010
- Member, Academic Council on Biotechnology, National Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology, China Agricultural University, China, 1990-present
- Member, Academic Committee, National Key Lab on Rice Biology, China Rice Research Institute and Zhejiang University, China, 2005 - 2010
- Member, Advisory Committee, Institute of Plant and Microbial Biology, Academia Sinica, Taiwan, 2001-2007
- Professor/Honorary/Adjunct/Visiting Professor at: Tsinghua University, 2004-present, China Agricultural University, 1989-present; Nankai University, 1999-present; University of Science and Technology of China, 1999-present; Wuhan University, 1999-present; Huazhong Agricultural University, 2002-present; Zhejiang University, 2003-present; Yangzhou University, 2004-presen; Northwestern Agricultural University, 1997-present; Tianjin University of Science and Technology, 2009-present; Ocean University of Zhanjiang, China, 2001-present
- Board of Editors, Acta Agronomica Sinica, China, 2002-present
- Editorial Board, Tropical Plant Biology, 2007-present
- Editorial Board, Science and Technology in China, 2004-2007
- Biology and Medicine Panel, Research Grants Council, Hong Kong, 1996-2001
- Member, Innovation and Technology Fund (Biotechnology Projects) Vetting Committee, Hong Kong, 2000
- Convenor, Coordination Committee of the 3rd (2001) and 6th (2007), and member of Organization Committee (since 1999), Cross-Strait Symposium on Plant Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, China, Taiwan and Hong Kong