内容简介： 

Liquid biopsy is a minimally invasive technology for detection of molecular biomarkers without the need for costly or invasive procedures. As a major sampling and analysing target for cancer liquid biopsy, circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are cells that detach from a primary tumor and travel in the bloodstream, leading to the spread of tumor in the body (metastasis). Therefore, catching and analysing CTCs can further our understanding of cancer metastasis and enhance the treatment of cancer patients. However, CTCs are very rare compared to the large number of blood cells in the body, and there is a lack of universal cancer cell biomarkers to distinguish them from other circulating cells. Based on size and deformability selection, we developed a microsieve technology which enables the effective capture of circulating tumor cells from blood of patients in minutes and without the use of complex instruments. With this technology, intact and viable CTCs can be easily enriched and easily eluted for downstream molecular diagnosis, drug screening and assay development. While the enumeration of CTCs has proven its prognostic value, their molecular characterization will open the actual perspective to detect genetic alterations in tumors, monitor tumor evolution and assess treatment efficacy.

报告人简介：

 Dr. Min Hu is a senior research scientist at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN), Singapore. He has extensive experience in research and development of microfluidic devices, biodevices for diagnosis/stimulation, micro- and biofabrication, miniature linear/spherical actuators, precision motion control, intelligent mechatronic systems, technical leadership, and project management. He has authored more than 60 research papers and filed more than 10 patents. He received his PhD in Precision Instruments and Mechanology from Tsinghua University (1997), and worked as a research fellow at Nanyang Technological University (1998-2003) and a senior scientist at the University of Freiburg (2004-2006).