Hepatitis B Virus
We are actively developing diagnostic tests for Hepatitis. These tests can accurately and rapidly detect the presence of the Hepatitis virus in patient samples. Such tests have a variety of applications, e.g. in screening donated blood.
Dengue Fever Virus
Dengue fever and Dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) are viral illnesses spread by the Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes, day-biting mosquitoes that prefer to feed on humans. These diseases occur primarily in the tropics and are most common during the rainy season in areas infested with mosquitoes carrying the viruses. An estimated 50 to 100 million cases of Dengue fever occur globally each year with a further 2,450 million people at risk of infection. The case-fatality rate of DHF in most countries is about 5% with most fatal cases occurring in children and young adults.
There are four distinct but closely related Dengue virus serotypes (of the genus Flavivirus) that cause Dengue fever; named DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3, and DEN-4. Infection with Dengue viruses produces a spectrum of clinical illness ranging from a nonspecific viral syndrome to severe and fatal hemorrhagic disease. Infection with one serotype does not provide cross-protective immunity to the other three types, so persons living in a Dengue-endemic area can be infected by the four Dengue virus serotypes during their lifetimes. As there is no specific treatment for Dengue fever it is essential to identify the strain of the infecting virus, immune status and predisposition of the patient as early as possible.
West Nile Virus
West Nile virus (WNV), commonly found in Africa, West Asia, and the Middle East, is a mosquito-borne disease that can affect humans, birds, horses and other mammals. In a small number of cases, WNV has also found to be spread through blood transfusions, organ transplants, breast-feeding, and during pregnancy from mother to baby. Most humans infected with WNV may display mild flu-like symptoms, or no symptoms at all; however, in some cases, it may also cause more severe neurological diseases such as encephalitis or meningitis usually requiring hospitalization.
Continued spread of WNV since 1999 in the US and Canada indicates that this disease is now permanently established in the Western Hemisphere. There is no specific treatment for WNV infection or vaccine to prevent it. Diagnostic testing will allow early detection of WNV in patients, leading to essential early treatment in severe cases, and the monitoring of donated blood and organs.
Other aspects of Hai Kang Life R&D include:
Cancer
Cancer kills millions of people around the world every year. Breast cancer is the world's third most common cancer and the most common cancer in women. Hai Kang Life has evaluated genetic screening test for MUC1, a genetic marker expressed in the majority of breast cancer tissues. The marker can be identified when it is present at very low levels, thus giving physicians and patients alike an early warning about possible remission after therapy. Accurate, reliable, sensitive, and easy-to-use tests for a variety of cancers will find a ready market.
Veterinary diagnostics and application
With our two technology platforms based on the PCR and NASBA approaches, we offer three types of detection kits: VDS, VetDetect, and VetScreen for screening and detecting viruses causing various veterinary diseases, such as avian influenza, Newcastle disease, and foot-and-mouth disease. Our proprietary primer sets included in these kits are constantly updated and validated by our R&D team to ensure our kits are competent to detect all relevant recent viral strains.
In addition to the kits already offered by our company, we actively engage in collaborative research with major veterinary test stations around the world. After fruitful collaboration with the world reference laboratory on avian influenza in UK, we are working with the same laboratory on foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) to perfect our FMD detection kit. Recent collaboration includes the Harbin Veterinary Research Institute in China aiming to develop rapid and reliable NASBA- and PCR-based testing methods to detect viruses for diseases, such as blue ear disease, chicken infectious bronchitis, and porcine influenza.
Viral diseases of the shrimp & prawn aquaculture industry
The shrimp aquaculture industry has undergone a rapid growth worldwide in the last few decades, accompanied by an insurgence of viral diseases causing enormous losses. Farms and hatcheries have few defenses against rampaging protozoa, fungi and bacteria, but viral diseases pose the greatest threat, previously resulted in major global industrial crashes. Currently the Western Hemisphere fights a virus that arrived from the east (whitespot), and the Eastern Hemisphere fights a virus that arrived from the west (Taura). There are no medications to treat shrimp viruses, but management techniques have evolved which lessen their impact.
Environmental Testing
Rapid and sensitive diagnostic tests for environmental monitoring, such as the presence of Legionella bacteria in air conditioner cooling units and water distribution systems of large buildings, are currently being developed. This will allow the routine screening in the areas of public health to be carried out efficiently and quickly.
GMO Research
Since the offering of GMO testing service in 2000, our company has been providing testing service for GMO varieties including qualitative gel-based method for 35S, NOS, RR, Bt11, Bt176, MON810, and StarLink; qualitative real-time PCR for 35S, NOS, RR and Bt; and quantitative real-time PCR for RR and Bt. These testing services have been accredited by the ISO 17025 (or HOKLAS) system. As the appearance of wider variety of GMO food continues in the market, our company strives to update and expand the scope of GMO food tested. Our R&D team actively searches literature and market information for potential GMOs released to commercial farming and food use. Regular research effort is devoted to ensure that we are using the best protocols to extract DNA from food materials, followed by the most optimized conditions for detecting any GMO components present in the food samples. Our R&D team also regularly updates the components in our GMO screening kits to ensure the highest performance of our GMO kit products.
Allergen Testing
Under new rules to the EU Food Labeling Directive, it will be mandatory to list all sub-ingredients of compound ingredients, which means that allergens cannot be "hidden". Previously such sub-ingredients did not have to be listed if they were part of a compound ingredient that made up less than 25% of the product, whereas now all such allergenic ingredients must be declared. Information is particularly important for consumers who suffer from allergies or adverse reactions to certain substances.
The proportion of the population with food allergies or food intolerance is increasing all the time (around 8% of children and 3% of adults are affected) and new allergens are emerging. These allergies not only cause illnesses, often of a chronic nature (e.g. atopic dermatitis, urticaria, digestive symptoms), but can also provoke life-threatening reactions (asthma, anaphylactic shock). For these people, the lack of detailed information is a handicap and an unnecessary constant life-threatening fear. |
