HKUST Annual Report 2021-2022

26 Highlights of HKUST’s curiosity-driven breakthroughs and mission-encouraged solutions delivered by University researchers over 2021-22 Research Excellence Genome-Editing Boost for Alzheimer’s Therapy In a potential breakthrough for people living with Alzheimer’s disease, Prof. Nancy Y. IP (Life Science) and her team have developed a genome- editing system that not only overcomes the challenge of crossing the blood-brain barrier, but also delivers an optimized genome-editing tool for the entire brain. The strategy uses a newly engineered delivery vehicle that achieves efficient brain-wide genome editing through a single non-invasive intravenous administration. This effectively disrupts familial Alzheimer’s disease (FAD)-inflicted mutations in mouse models and ameliorates Alzheimer disease pathologies throughout the whole brain, paving the way for novel therapeutic developments. Gaining Quantum Control from Particle Loss Manipulating a quantum system requires subtle control and zero imperfect operations to avoid scrambling the useful information encoded in the quantum state. Among the most common detrimental processes is the loss of particles, an issue long seen as an enemy of quantum control and avoided through isolation of the system. Prof. JO Gyu-Boong and Prof. Jensen LI Tsan-Hang (Physics) have now demonstrated a way to control the quantum state through the loss of particles in an atomic quantum system, offering a fresh pathway to the realization of unprecedented quantum states.