Institute of Medical Genetics

The Institute of Medical Genetics, Shanghai Jiaotong University, which is also Shanghai Institute of Medical Genetics, was founded in 1990. It was former the Laboratory of Medical Genetics, Shanghai Children's Hospital. There are 30 more scientists working in the institute. The director is Professor Yi-tao Zeng, Member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. The main research fields of the Institute are focusing on the basic ands app. researches of molecular diagnosis for genetic diseases, gene therapy, gene expression & regulation, embryonic engineering, transgenic animals/bioreactor and stem cells.

There are four laboratories, i.e., Molecular Genetics Lab, Cytogenetics Lab, Biochemical Genetics Lab and Clinical Genetics Lab, in the Institute. Two key laboratories (Lab of Embryonic Molecular Biology, Ministry of Health, China and Lab of Embryo & Reproductive Engineering, Shanghai Municipality) and Division of Gene Diagnosis, National Genetic Medicine Center as we as Center for Transgenic Animal Research are also affiliated to the Institute. Main financial resources come from Chinese National "863" High-Tech Plan Grants, National "973" Project Grant, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Ministry of Science & Technology, Shanghai Municipality, Shanghai Jiaotong University and enterprise supports. In the past two decades, Institute of Medical Genetics always focuses on the frontier of bio-medical science and forms a unique research system which links medical genetics, molecular biology, biochemistry, embryology, clinical medicine and transgene facilities in a whole. In the research fields of hemoglobin disorders, molecular diagnosis for genetic diseases, gene therapy, transgenic animals/bioreactors and stem cell studies, More than thirty prizes of significant achievements on science & technology have been received awarded by the State, Ministry and Shanghai Municipality. Recently, Institute of Medical Genetics successfully generated transgenic goats which secreting biologically active human clotting factor IX in the milk as well as cow carrying human serum albumin gene, which were appraised as the top ten of great scientific achievements in China in the years of 1998 and 1999 by the Academicians of the Chinese Academy of Science and the Chinese Academy of Engineering. The Institute has been also honored the model collectivity nationally for times.

So far nearly 500 papers and six scientific books under the name of Institute of Medical Genetics have been published abroad and domestically. Over ten patents were also applied or obtained at home and internationally. Particular, the Institute is the first institution awarded the research grant of the National Institutes of Health, USA. It has now established close collaborations with universities and institutes in the USA, Canada, France, Israel and Hong Kong. The Institute also sponsored and organized the International Symposium on Thalassemia, International Conference in Molecular Biology of Genetics Diseases, China-EU Bio-Technology Symposium as well as the Conference of Molecular Diagnosis and Gene Therapy between China mainland and Taiwan Region.