KE Spotlight - Community Engagement - HKU Knowledge Exchange

HKU develops novel probiotic mixture "Prohep" that may offer potential therapeutic effects on liver cancer

A research team led by Dr Hani El-Nezami and Dr Gianni Panagiotou of the HKU School of Biological Sciences, in collaboration with the HKU Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine and the School of Medicine, University of Eastern Finland, develops a novel probiotic mixture "Prohep" that may have potential therapeutic effects on Hepatocellular carcinoma. The research team found that Prohep, when tested on mice, could slow down the tumor growth significantly and reduce the tumor size and weight. Future research would be to find out how to consume the probiotic mixture to obtain the best results, and to develop more efficient bacterial cocktails. The commercialization of Prohep is being assisted by the HKU Technology Transfer Office and Versitech Limited.

HKU Stephen Hui Geological Museum exhibits fossils from the world famous Jurassic Solnhofen Limestone in Germany

The HKU Stephen Hui Geological Museum launches a two-month exhibition on "Snapshots of a Vanished Environment - Exceptional Fossils from the world famous Jurassic Solnhofen Limestone in Germany" on Earth Day (April 22, 2016), which will run until June 23, 2016. One of the world’s most famous fossil Lagerstaette is the Jurassic Solnhofen Limestone in Germany, which came to fame with the discovery of a number of complete Archaeopteryx fossils. The exhibition presents 11 rare and exceptionally preserved fossil animals from the 150 million-year-old Solnhofen Limestone, some up to 90 centimetres in diameter.

HKU marine ecologist and wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC reveal widespread illegal and unreported Humphead Wrasse trade into and through HK

A study by TRAFFIC and Professor Yvonne Sadovy of HKU School of Biological Sciences revealed widespread illegal and unreported trade of the endangered and highly valued reef fish, the Humphead Wrasse (HHW, So Mei in Cantonese, also known as the Napoleon fish) in Hong Kong and the possible illegal trade in Mainland China. Thousands of this fish were seen in local and Mainland markets, and being sold in high-end luxury restaurants, of which only a few hundred were likely to have been legally imported over the last 15 months. Professor Sadovy said the situation calls for urgent action by the Hong Kong government to ensure that imports and sales are legal, and that existing regulations are complied with by importers and traders. The intensity and frequency of inspections of facilities trading the species should be increased.