HKU_vol23_issue 2_ebook_amended

35 Medical Faculty News Thirty-eight local and international research postgraduates and young scientists, from Malaysia, India, Mainland China, Macau and Hong Kong, were selected to join the Croucher Summer Course in Precision Genome Engineering by CRISPR 2018, a six-day residential course funded by the Croucher Foundation and held in Hong Kong from August 10 to 15, 2018. Ten world-renowned scientists, including Professor Ben Berkhout , University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and Professor Osamu Nureki , The University of Tokyo, Japan, attended as lecturers. The course was the first in Asia to focus on the emerging technologies of genome editing. The “Children of 1997” Birth Cohort Study, established in 1997 by the School of Public Health and the Department of Health, Hong Kong SAR, is one of Asia's largest birth cohorts that provides valuable health data for Hong Kong. The Study has been a success with the continuous contribution by the Cohort participants over the years, and a party was held at Loke Yew Hall on 28 July, 2018 to celebrate their 21st birthday. At the joyous occasion, the Dean, Professor Gabriel M Leung （梁卓偉） thanked the Cohort participants and stressed the importance of staying connected and working together to contribute to better population health locally and globally. International affairs scholar Dr Simon Shen （沈旭暉） , singer-songwriter Mr Phil Lam （林奕匡） , and HKU alumnus Mr Law Wing- chung （羅永聰） also joined the party, sharing thoughts and experiences on their life at the age of 21 and their life back in 1997. Croucher Course Explores Precision Genome Engineering Happy 21 st Birthday! Children of 1997 Cutting-edge research on the use of CRISPR – a family of DNA sequences in bacteria and archaea – was shared at the Croucher Symposium on Precision Genome Engineering by CRISPR. The event on August 13, 2018, a highlight of the Croucher Summer Course on the same theme, was organised by the School of Biomedical Sciences, HKU, and supported by the Croucher Foundation. It featured the ten guest lecturers from the course and attracted an audience of more than 180 from different institutions in Hong Kong. Dr Julian Tanner of the School of Biomedical Sciences delivered the opening remarks. CRISPR DNA Sequences the Focus of Croucher Symposium