Explainer | Who is Hong Kong scientist Dennis Lo and what is sole candidate for top CUHK job best known for?
Molecular geneticist with a ‘stellar reputation’ is the only candidate in the running to take over as head of the Chinese University of Hong Kong
1. What is Lo best known for?
Lo is often referred to as the “father” of non-invasive prenatal testing, which uses a pregnant woman’s blood to check for disorders in a fetus.
The test looks for Down’s syndrome and some other chromosomal disorders such as Edwards syndrome and Patau syndrome.
Before the test was introduced in 2011, pregnant women who hoped to check for such conditions needed to have a small amount of amniotic fluid, which surrounds the unborn baby, extracted for examination. The invasive procedure has been linked to up to 1 per cent of miscarriage risks.
The non-invasive test has now been made available to pregnant women in more than 60 countries.
