Facing the worldwide population-based food and health problems especially in the densely populated China, our research in Plant & Agricultural Science aims to generate high-valued agricultural and health products, and to invent and transfer new technologies. Below are some examples of our research approaches:

 

Crop improvement of rice has been done in two ways: improvement of nutritional quality through enhancement of lysine content, and improvement of productivity by increasing photosynthetic efficiency.


 

 

 PAS 01

 

 

PAS 02 

 

 

 

Engineered minichromosomes in maize are constructed as plant artificial chromosome for future genetic engineering to create crops with novel properties.

 

 

 

Molecular mechanisms of protein trafficking in the plant secretory and endocytic pathways will provide hints for using plants as bioreactors for producing pharmaceuticals.  

 

  PAS 03
 

Research in Physiology and Developmental Biology investigates fundamental processes including cell and tissue differentiation and functioning of the body systems. Below are some examples of research in this field conducted in our school:

 

Zebrafish is used as the model in functional analyses of the brain-pituitary-ovary axis . Current interests include intrafollicular communication network in the ovary and the molecular biology of gonadotropins and their receptors.

 

 

 

 PDB 01

 

 

PDB 02 

 

 

 

Salinity adaptation in seabream is dependent on changes in kidney and gill function. In seawater, the kidney excretes excessive ions and retains water but switches to excrete water and conserve ions in freshwater. Gill chloride cells can act as either ion extrusion or absorption devices in seawater or freshwater respectively.

 

 

 

 

Advanced molecular biology and genetic engineering technology are used in studying mammalian embryonic developmental processes, with mouse as the model organism.

 

  PDB 03
 

 

During the past two decades we saw an increasing number of living organisms, including the humans, whose complete genomes were made available by the ever-improving DNA-sequencing technologies. Bioinformatics, also known as computational molecular biology, is a new area of research focusing on the sequence, structural, and functional analysis of genomic data. The importance of genomics and bioinformatics research was best exemplified during the SARS outbreak in 2003.

G-B 01 G-B 03
G-B 02 G-B 04

 

 

 

It has become apparent over last decade that in this post-genomic era, protein structure-function study is of major importance in understanding the molecular basis of cellular pathways and developing therapeutic targets.

Our ongoing research projects focus on proteins in cellular signaling and biomedical science, proteins of pathogenic microorganisms and proteins of biotechnological significance. Multidisciplinary techniques including protein engineering, biophysical characterization and X-ray crystallography and NMR spectroscopy to study the structure-function relationship of proteins are employed.

 

 

 PS 01

 

 

PS 04 

 

  PS 02

 PS 03

 

 PS 05
 

 

The research of toxicology and health centres on liver metabolism and detoxification enzymes of drugs and environmental toxicants, chemical carcinogenesis, and the development of biomarkers of effects from chemical toxicants.
Effects of environmental pollutants, such as metals, pesticides, and trace organics on liver metabolism of fish and rats are investigated. Sophisticated techniques involved in the toxicology research include the differential gene expression and proteomic studies, molecular toxicological approach with the use of gene cloning and DNA array as well as the use of enzyme markers or reporter gene systems for the evaluations of potential health risks of the environmental contaminants including endocrine disruptors.
Both mammalian models and fish models are being used for toxicity assessments
  

 AA2
Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer