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HKUMed’s innovative platforms rapidly track S - EurekAlert
A multidisciplinary research team from the LKS Faculty of Medicine (HKUMed) and the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Hong Kong (HKU) has successfully developed an innovative screening platform to rapidly assess the impact of SARS-CoV-2 mutations on disease severity. Compared to traditional methods, this platform has achieved a speed improvement of up to 39 times. Additionally, the researchers focused on understanding how mutations affect syncytium formation, a process known as cell fusion in which infected cells fuse with uninfected cells. This research helps identify emerging viral variants that could pose a significant risk to public health. The team has also identified two FDA-approved drugs that can ease disease severity. The findings were published in Nature Biomedical Engineering [link to publication], and a patent application has been filed based on the research.
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