Malaysian neuroscientist receives two international research grants, aims to find way to prevent Down Syndrome

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Many years in the past, as an undergraduate pupil, neuroscientist Dr Michael Ling met a person who labored with Down Syndrome youngsters at Kiwanis Malaysia.

The latter taken care of the kids and offered them with particular schooling. But what was distinctive about her was that she herself had Down Syndrome.

“Not only was she able to comprehend, lead and follow conversations well, she was very well-versed with the flow of work at the centre and did a great job looking after the children there,” recalled Ling.

“That was the first time I had such a close interaction with a person with Down Syndrome and it really changed my perception of them,” admitted the 42-year-old from Melaka.

Ling stated his expertise opened his eyes to the significance and advantages of early particular schooling and medical take care of Down Syndrome youngsters, and extra importantly, how they’ll contribute to society and reside a daily life.

“That encounter sparked my interest in studying more about the condition,” stated Ling, who went on to earn his PhD in developmental neurogenetics from the University of Adelaide, Australia.

The affiliate professor in developmental neurogenetics at Universiti Putra Malaysia’s (UPM) Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences can also be a postdoctoral fellow in neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric issues from Harvard Medical School.

Ling was recently awarded the International Brain Research Organization Return Home Fellowship and the International Society for Neurochemistry Return Home Grant. Ling was just lately awarded the International Brain Research Organization Return Home Fellowship and the International Society for Neurochemistry Return Home Grant.Recently, he was awarded two respected research grants – the International Brain Research Organization Return Home Fellowship (€20,000/RM95,000) and the International Society for Neurochemistry Return Home Grant (US$10,000/RM42,000).

The grants are given to help neuroscientists educated overseas who return to their dwelling nation to proceed their research.

In order to be eligible, the awardee wants to write a research proposal in addition to present help letters from the house establishment (UPM) and the host establishment (Harvard Medical School) for the information switch, defined Ling, who was shocked and ecstatic about receiving the grants.

Ling’s proposal was on the research of Down Syndrome mind growth utilizing cerebral organoids (artificially grown in-vitro miniature organ resembling the mind) or “mini brains on a dish”.

Down Syndrome is brought on by the presence of an additional copy of the twenty first chromosome (or trisomy 21), leading to bodily and psychological growth delays and disabilities.

Ling is set to find out how having this extra chromosome leads to problems in progress and growth.

“Understanding the underlying molecular and cellular mechanisms caused by the additional genetic material would enable us to formulate the correct therapy right from the start, in particular, finding a way to revert the intellectual disabilities among Down Syndrome children while they are still in the womb without any harm to the mother or child,” he defined.

Making inroads in neuroscience

The youngest of six siblings, Ling lives in Puchong, Selangor together with his spouse Dr Cheah Pike See, who additionally works at UPM as an affiliate professor in anatomy and neurobiology.

Ling (right) and his wife Cheah lead the Neurobiology and Genetics group at UPM. Ling (proper) and his spouse Cheah lead the Neurobiology and Genetics group at UPM.The couple leads the neurobiology and genetics group at UPM, the place Ling is head of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences’ medical genetics unit.

“I’m grateful that my family has been very supportive of my work and research.

“The grant awards will help kickstart my research in Down Syndrome in Malaysia, and I consider myself very fortunate to have received them.

“Research grants are very difficult to get during the pandemic as most resources have been diverted towards combatting Covid-19,” he stated.

Both grants are being administered by UPM and Ling aims to use the funds to set up a facility within the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences’ stem cell research laboratory to develop Down Syndrome mind organoids, a mannequin that can allow him to find solutions to questions on Down Syndrome.

“My team has a great interest in finding out how the additional chromosome can lead to intellectual disabilities.

“Throughout their development, children with Down Syndrome have a smaller head circumference, and their brain has a lower volume compared to their unaffected peers.

“The number of neurones and their ability to branch and connect with each other are also lesser, and the Down Syndrome brain undergoes more significant stress throughout its lifespan, leading to accelerated neurodegeneration or early onset of dementia,” defined Ling.

“We are determined to find a way to restore this neurone-astrocyte imbalance that occurs in as early as the first month of the pregnancy.

“We’d like to find a treatment, such as a drug or supplement, that can be given to high-risk women who plan to conceive so that we can prime and modulate brain cell fate in the affected embryo/foetus to restore the neurone-astrocyte ratio without putting the mother or embryo/foetus at risk,” he added.

“This will help lessen the chances of Down Syndrome from occurring.”

Ling shared that there are lots of challenges within the discipline of neuroscience.

“While neuroscience has advanced tremendously in the past few decades, the human brain is still very much a mystery and a cure hasn’t been found for many brain disorders at this point of time,” he stated, including that the dearth of possible fashions makes finding out human neurological issues tough.

“But as neuroscientists, we are like parts of the bigger picture, and I’m glad to be able to contribute towards the understanding of the human brain or molecular pathology of neurological disorders.

Ling (third from left) with his wife, Cheah, (fourth from left), and members of their research team. Photos: Dr Michael LingLing (third from left) with his wife, Cheah, (fourth from left), and members of their research team. Photos: Dr Michael Ling

“With the new technology I’ve mastered, our group can grow a patient-derived mini brain on a dish to recapitulate disease development, onset and progression.

“This fascinating technology leading to the advancement of brain organoids and genome editing (genetic engineering) will revolutionise the way we perform neuroscience research,” he stated.

Ling stated his final purpose is to ultimately have the option to revert the neurone-glia cell ratio imbalance in Down Syndrome people so they’d sooner or later possess the identical mental capabilities like different people.

“When we have more neurones, we expect them to branch and connect better, leading to better learning capabilities and memory retention.

“But while the method focuses on the early modulation of Down Syndrome embryos during the early stage of development, studies can and should also be done on the beneficial outcomes of the same approach to leukaemia and early onset dementia,” he stated.

“At Harvard Medical School, I had the privilege and opportunity to learn CRISPR-Cas9 groundbreaking gene editing technology, a molecular tool used to cut and remove one or more DNA sequences in the genome of any living organism (using organoids).

“This means that genetic disorders can be cured by editing and restoring the inherited (faulty) DNA sequences to functional ones such as editing a mutation on the APOE-e4 gene, which increases the risk of someone developing Alzheimer’s disease by 15 times,” he stated.

“Translating our research findings in animal models into humans requires various stages of clinical trials.

“But given the right research funding, well-equipped facilities and great talents, I’m confident that we can see the ideas translated into clinical practice in the next 10 to 15 years,” concluded Ling.



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