Episode 4: “Non-invasive Prenatal Testing – Professor Dennis LO Yuk-ming”
“If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants.” This famous quote of Newton means that scientists have passed on the torch of exploring the truth from generation to generation.
In this programme, four young scientists of Hong Kong were specially invited to introduce senior scientists in their respective research fields, as well as their major achievements. In this episode, Professor Kathy LUI from the Department of Chemical Pathology, Faculty of Medicine of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, is invited to introduce the innovative scientific research results of the molecular biologist Professor Dennis LO Yuk-ming, who is referred to as the “father” of Non-invasive Prenatal Testing (NIPT).
In the past, amniocentesis had to be performed for pregnant women in order to test whether the foetuses had genetic diseases. However, such an invasive diagnostic test might easily led to fetal injury or even miscarriages.
The researches of Professor Dennis LO Yuk-ming find that fetal DNA is present in the blood cells of pregnant women, which means that simply by taking blood samples from pregnant women, NIPT can test whether the foetuses have genetic diseases such as Down syndrome in a safe manner. After years of untiring researches and tests, this testing technology has been applied globally by more than 90 countries, benefitting more than 10 million pregnant women and babies every year.
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