Humanized mice, mpox testing kits, and a way of finding out if you are going to have a heart attack 720 days in advance.
Those are just a few of the breakthroughs scientists showed off at BIOHK 2024, an international gathering of bio-tech experts in Hong Kong—and we'll discuss some of them shortly.
But first, the really big news came in the opening event, when speakers noted the sheer number of biotech companies in the Greater Bay Area.
China has 199 science parks, with 111 featuring biotechnology research and development. Of those, 93 are concentrated in Greater Bay Area. Thus it appears inevitable that this region will be a biotech center for the world.
"I believe that you are building here a unique confluence of biomed research and analytics that not just as the opportunity to serve China but it also has the opportunity to serve the rest of the world because these are unique components that so few parts of the world have," said Sir Jonathan Symonds, chairman of GSK, one of the world's biggest healthcare firms.
Businesses agree with him. More than 60 companies have already signed up to participate in the Hong Kong Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Park.
And where will the money come from? Hong Kong is already one of the largest global biotech fundraising hubs in the world, so has plenty of skill in organizing investments.
There are large numbers of companies at this event, with a great many breakthroughs to show off, but let's look in more detail at a few.
HUMANIZED MICE
First, consider a problem. Before potentially dangerous medical products are used on you or your children, they are tested on mice. But there are a great many differences between rodents and humans.
So Chinese scientists are putting specific genes into mice to bridge that gap for specific experiments. These are known as humanized mice.
Mingceler, a firm based in Guangzhou, has developed what it calls Turbo Mice, accelerated rodents which provide genetic material for checking drugs are safe in half the normal development time.
PREDICTING YOUR FUTURE
Then there's this firm, BSP Medical, which has developed a test that can check if you are likely to have a heart attack, 720 days before it happens. Long enough, the theory goes, for you to develop healthy habits to change the future.
There were also food labels that change color when the food goes bad, artificial mussels that detect pollutants in the water, and a phone app that tells you how many calories in your lunch—and advises you on healthy restaurants near you.
These are all fun developments, but there's a serious message behind all this. The proportion of old people in the world is rising fast and there simply won't be enough money in the system to give people the care they need, unless things change rapidly.
Here's what Sir Jonathan Symonds said: "So I congratulate you, I commend you and I urge you to continue to move at pace because I think you have a significant contribution to make to the health of the world."
by Nury Vittachi
Lai See(利是)
** The blog article is the sole responsibility of the author and does not represent the position of our company. **
The US–Iran war keeps everyone guessing. American forces made a show of force by blockading the Strait of Hormuz, with combat seemingly on the verge of breaking out — yet Trump suddenly shifted to a softer tone, suggesting both sides could return to the negotiating table within days and that extending the two-week ceasefire wasn't necessary. A deal may be within reach. But given his habit of reversing course, everyone would do well to wait and see before celebrating. While the Iranian situation churns with uncertainty, Ukraine's plight has quietly been forgotten — President Zelensky left to wither alone.
In an interview with German broadcaster ZDF, Zelensky made no effort to hide his distress. Since America launched its campaign against Iran, he said, Washington has completely lost interest in Ukraine. Not only have negotiations ground to a halt, but arms and military equipment deliveries have abruptly stopped — precisely as Russian forces are pressing their offensive hard, leaving Ukraine in a dangerously exposed position.
Iran stole America's attention — and Ukraine paid the price. Talks frozen, arms cut off, Zelensky vents to German TV.
For the first time, Zelensky has come to understand that America, for all its self-image as a superpower, simply cannot stretch across multiple fronts without showing its limits. When the "big boss" proves unreliable, the "junior partner" is left to fend for itself.
Washington's Attention Has Shifted
Zelensky has had his fill of being sidelined, and the bitterness has finally spilled over. He told ZDF that after the Iran war began, America's focus visibly shifted. Special Envoy Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Kushner — the two men who had been mediating between Washington and Moscow — are now "constantly in talks with Iran," leaving no bandwidth for Ukraine. As a result, peace talks between Russia and Ukraine have been frozen since late February, with no timeline in sight for their resumption.
What makes matters worse is that Trump, already overwhelmed by the Iran campaign, has quietly shelved the Russia-Ukraine file and stopped pressing Putin. Zelensky warned that without pressure, Russia has nothing to fear and will act with impunity. Putin has clearly read the situation. After a 32-hour Orthodox Easter ceasefire, Russian forces resumed their offensive immediately, seizing the opportunity to push for an advantage.
The Air Defence Crisis
The bigger crisis isn't the stalled talks — it's the weapons shortage. Zelensky pointed out that US military aid deliveries have slowed to a crawl, with air defence systems the most acute problem. Supplies of PAC-3 and PAC-2 interceptor missiles have shown serious gaps, and Ukraine could soon be left effectively "undefended," forced to watch helplessly as Russian missiles and drones fly in unchallenged.
Ukraine's air defences are running on empty. Interceptor missiles are critically short, and Russian strikes keep coming.
The reason Washington cannot deliver comes down to the Iran campaign itself. Since the war began, Iran has fired multiple missiles and drones at US military bases in Gulf states and at Israel. American forces have burned through enormous quantities of interceptor missiles countering these attacks, stockpiles are nearly depleted, and replenishment has no quick fix. The only option has been to rob Peter to pay Paul — redirecting air defence equipment destined for other countries to the Middle East, with Ukraine inevitably caught in the fallout.
Watching this crisis unfold, Zelensky is in a panic. Unless a US–Iran ceasefire materialises, there is little hope of American arms deliveries resuming. Ukraine has been forced to rely on itself, rushing to produce its own "FP-5 Flamingo" air defence missiles as a stopgap — though even that amounts to a distant rainstorm that cannot quench today's fire.
Adding insult to injury, Trump — in a bid to boost global oil supply and hold down rising prices — granted a 30-day sanctions waiver on Russia, allowing countries worldwide to purchase Russian oil and natural gas. The result: Russia pocketed an effortless €6 billion, turning the war into a windfall that helps fund its military campaign against Ukraine.
America Stepping Back From Europe
The "big boss" cooling on Zelensky is not entirely a matter of bandwidth. It also reflects a deliberate intent to distance America from Europe and leave the continent to clean up the Ukrainian mess on its own.
A recent development makes this attitude plain. According to Politico, War Secretary Hegseth will skip Wednesday's meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group — a forum that brings together defence ministers from over 50 pro-Ukraine nations — sending Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby in his place. Hegseth's snub signals clearly that the Trump administration no longer treats Ukraine as a priority.
Zelensky's predicament is a tragedy largely of his own making. He placed too much faith in the American "big boss," believing that with Washington firmly in his corner, he could go all-in against Russia. Today, he has finally learned the hard way: this "big boss" cannot manage multiple wars at once. Bogged down in Iran, America has no capacity left to care whether its "junior partner" sinks or swims.
Lai Ting-yiu
