An internationally renowned biotechnology scientist, Professor Rocky Tuan Sung-chi, has been recommended to succeed Joseph Sung Jao-yiu as Chinese University vice-chancellor. Born in Hong Kong and educated in the United States, Tuan is currently working at the University of Pittsburgh as director of the institutions cellular and molecular engineering lab, executive vice-chairman of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and a professor in the Department of Bioengineering. He has been serving as a distinguished visiting professor and director of the Institute for Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine at Chinese University. The institutions council said on Thursday that it would recommend Tuan to be the next vice-chancellor. It will hold a consultation of up to six weeks with staff, students and alumni, but the universitys teachers association vowed to boycott it, saying the council had fooled it by saying it was not sure who the candidate was. In May 2016, Tuan was one of the 10 Carnegie Science Award winners for his extensive experience in applying adult stem cells for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Hes a good scientist, professionally speaking, with a major interest in bone and tendon regeneration, Professor Chan Wai-yee of the universitys School of Biomedical Sciences said. He … Continue reading →

As a group of visiting scientists prepared to board a plane in Hawaii that would take them back home to China, U.S. customs agents found rice seeds in their luggage. Those seeds are likely to land at least one scientist in federal prison. Agriculture today is a high-tech business, but as that technology has developed, so has the temptation to take shortcuts and steal trade secrets that could unlock huge profits. The FBI calls agricultural economic espionage a growing threat and some are worried that biotech piracy can spell big trouble for a dynamic and growing U.S. industry. Had they succeeded in stealing the gene-spliced rice, the scientists may have been able to reverse-engineer it and ultimately undercut [US company] Ventrias market. [Ventria President and CEO Scott] Deeter says it could have driven his company out of business. Where the commodity in question is grown in open fields, its sometimes difficult, [Jason] Griess [the assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Iowa] says. Theft of intellectual property costs the U.S. economy hundreds of billions of dollars each year, according to a recent report from the Commission on the Theft of American Intellectual Property, a Washington, D.C.-based ad-hoc panel formed … Continue reading →

Ira Pastor, CEO of Bioquark, a Philadelphia-based biotechnology company, believes we will on day be able to reset the brain of patients declared brain-dead using a series of stem cell injections and nerve stimulations. Until recently, death was medically defined as a loss of heart and lung function but as medical technology has advanced so has the qualifications. Now, since both heartbeat and breathing functions can be performed for a patient by machine, death is almost universally declared when there is a loss of activity in the brain stem. However, Pastor does think that this loss of brain function is as irreversible as weve come expect. Initially, Bioquark was slated to start trials for the procedure last year in India but, due to strong opposition by the Indian Council of Medical Research, those studies were canceled. Nevertheless, Ira Pastor and his collaborator Himanshu Bansal, an orthopedic surgeon, remain undaunted and have announced a new series of test to happen soon in a nameless South American country. Although they have not released the details of the revolutionary procedure, we can gather a general idea of their plan to reanimate the brain-dead from the papers regarding their original canceled trial. Originally, the … Continue reading →