A press conference on the unveiling of genome of Dernatophagoides (D.) farinae casting new light on diagnosis and interventions of inhalant allergies by CUHK research team was held on 16 December 2014.

After spending three years on an intensive study of dust mites, the research team led by Prof. Stephen K.W. Tsui of the School of Biomedical Sciences, together with Prof. Liu Zhi-gang Liu's team at the Shenzhen University School of Medicine and Prof. Zhong Nan-shan's team at the State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease in Guangzhou, had recently made a groundbreaking discovery on depicting the draft genome of D. farina and the microbiota components inside their gut. Since over 70% of the allergy cases have been found to be triggered by dust mites, the new finding offered medical researchers a new direction on inhalant allergy studies, their diagnosis, as well as intervention. Meanwhile, the joint research team also hoped that the discovery would enable medical researchers to develop more accurate dust mite-specific immunotherapy, thus enabling the development of effective and long-lasting treatments for patients who suffered from inhalant allergies induced by the dust mite allergens.

The corresponding results have been published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, a leading international peer-reviewed scientific journal in allergy.

Please click HERE for the full coverage of the Press Conference.

Prof. Leung Ting-fan, Chairman of Department of Paediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, CUHK (left) and Prof. Stephen K.W. Tsui (right) of the School of Biomedical Sciences at the press conference

Prof. Leung Ting-fan (left), Prof. Stephen K.W. Tsui (right), together with the child patient with asthma (front middle) and his parent (back middle)