The Department of Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer at Academia Sinica has held an event to present the outcomes of the latest discoveries by researchers at Academia Sinica to prospective business partners on May 13, 2015 from 9:00 am to 12:20 pm.

The event introduced fifteen of the latest research developments at Academia Sinica. Over 100 representatives from business and industry took part in the event, which helps to build cooperative relationships between the academic community and business sectors.

Several advanced nanotechnology in medical diagnostic techniques are the highlight of this event. Dr. Yeu-Kuang Hwu, Research Fellow at the Institute of Physics has developed a technique to trace specific cells and micro-blood vessels by X-ray imaging.  Using different types of biocompatible nanoparticles, X-ray, UV-excited fluorescence and infrared can be used to image labeled tumor cells and tumor angiogenic microvasculature. Such capability could aid animal studies of cancer to provide better understanding of the tumor angiogenesis and its relation with tumor growth and metastasis and in turn impact diagnosis, prognosis and treatment. Furthermore, silver nanoparticles were engineered to aggregate and block tumor angiogenic vessels and suppress tumor growth.

Dr. Pei-Kuen Wei, Research Fellow at the Research Center for Applied Sciences has developed a label-free optical biochip. Using a narrowband light source and novel nanostructures, qualitative and semi-quantitative analyses of the analyte can be conducted by observing the position of the light spot on the chip with the naked eye. This technique is suitable for specific molecular binding events and can benefit numerous sensing applications in food safety, water pathogens, and point-of-care and disease diagnostics.

Dr. Chia-Fu Chou, Research Fellow at the Institute of Physics, Academic Sinica, has developed a highly sensitive platform for rapid molecular and biomedical screening. This new approach, termed a molecular dam, enhances mass transport for protein enrichment in nanofluidic channels by nanoscale electrodeless dielectrophoresis under physiological buffer conditions. Possible areas of application may be the early diagnosis of cancer, protein analysis for drug development, and also the development of renewable energy.

Dr. Fen-Tair Luo, Research Fellow at the Institute of Chemistry and his team have developed a method for rapid production of biocoal, biochar and activated carbon via supertorrefaction, a process to directly contact biomass with molten salt. This report discloses related apparatus and methods to produce carbon neutral biocoal to replace fossil fuel, or carbon negative biochar as the soil amendment, or activated carbon as the filtration product from biomass by supertorrefaction to convert biomass into valuable products.