How Hong Kong researchers aim to turn bugs into drugs to treat autism and dementia

Microbiota I-Centre researchers have isolated 200 to 300 types of bacteria with therapeutic potential and hope one day to develop them into medications

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Professor Francis Chan (left) and Professor Siew Ng Chien at the gnotobiotic facility. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Published: 10:00am, 15 Sep 2024

Hong Kong researchers are working to turn bacteria into drugs to treat disorders such as autism and dementia and aim to start trials on people as early as next year.

The Microbiota I-Centre, a research facility owned by the Chinese University of Hong Kong, announced that it had set up the first laboratory in the Greater Bay Area with a controlled environment for microorganisms and a focus on studies related to neurocognitive behaviour.

The centre, one of 29 government-funded R&D facilities under the InnoHK initiative in the Hong Kong Science Park, aims to look for therapeutics for depression, autism and dementia through alternative approaches.

“At the moment there are no solutions for these diseases,” said Professor Ng Siew Chien, the centre’s co-director and a top gastroenterologist.

“We see that many children and teenagers in schools also suffer from depression, being labelled and having to take antidepressants.”

Tens of thousands of people in Hong Kong are believed to suffer from the three conditions the centre is looking into. The researchers said around 10,000 people in the city had autism, while more than 500,000 people suffered from depression.