Team:Hong Kong HKUST/hp/interview/yu

Overview

Professor Albert Yu is the chairman of the Hong Kong Biotechnology Organization (HK BIO), and also a professor of the Department of Neurobiology in Pecking University, China. As an entrepreneur and a scientist, Professor Yu gave us realistic insight of our project. Meeting Professor Albert Yu helped us to evaluate our project beyond the laboratory environment and to think about the possible future application as a biotechnology product. Towards the end of the interview, we have also talked about the bio-ethics and bio-safety issues regarding synthetic biology.

Main Discussion

Professor Yu mentioned that our project is a small step and that we have a long way to go to apply our project as commercial biotechnology product. He told us that because we are trying to insert genes into a human body, we need to be very careful with concluding how our project could be realistically applied in the future. Inserting genes into a human body can create novel metabolism that can cause side effects. Also, because the general public considers obesity less harmful, people might be reluctant to use an invasive product if they believe a less invasive means such as exercising can solve the problem. He also encouraged us to look into other plant genes that could be used to cure fatal diseases.

We have also discussed about issues on bio-safety and bio-ethics. Professor Yu said that we need to be responsible scientists and utilize the research to improve human life. He also mentioned to produce a bio-product, it is very important to consider the ethical issues of the project from the very start.

Conclusion

The interview with Professor Albert Yu helped us to have a realistic view of our project. The interview also showed that more in-depth consideration of our project’s future application is necessary if we want to see are project utilized a safe bio-product.

Interview Video

Pictures