From car-sharing and co-working spaces to now shared laboratories, the tide of our times continues to bring forth innovative ideas and emerging developments that inspire awe.

 On July 27, South China’s first shared laboratory was launched at the School of Medicine of South China University of Technology. Professor Zhang Wenqing, Vice Dean of the School of Medicine, explained in an interview that the lab is equipped with a range of cutting-edge PerkinElmer research instruments in the fields of life science imaging technology and automated workstations, supporting scientific investigation across molecular, cellular, and in vivo levels.

On July 27, South China’s first shared laboratory was inaugurated at the School of Medicine, South China University of Technology.

Zhang Wenqing noted that the laboratory will focus on making key breakthroughs in three main areas: oncology, developmental biology, and medical imaging. He also expressed hope that this shared lab will extend its reach across the.Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area, providing robust technological support for medical innovation and contributing to the development of a healthier Bay Area.

The School of Medicine at SCUT adheres to a “small yet refined” research focus.

In recent years, South China University of Technology has leveraged its strong interdisciplinary expertise in medical engineering to emphasize the integration of medicine and engineering, achieving notable progress. He Dongqing, Secretary of the Party Committee of the School of Medicine, introduced that the School was jointly established in 2014 with Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital. Over the past eight years, it has developed a complete talent cultivation system covering bachelor's, master's, and doctoral programs, attracted a group of highlevel teaching and research talents from home and abroad, and now enrolls over 1,000 students, with an undergraduate-to-graduate ratio of approximately 1:2.

In recent years, research achievements have continued to emerge, especially with the recent approval of a firstlevel doctoral program in Basic Medicine, which will further propel medical research at SCUT.  

After extensive preparation, the PerkinElmer Shared Laboratory has finally been established at SCUT. Equipped with analytical, imaging, and automated workstation capabilities spanning molecular, cellular, and in vivo levels, the lab fills a critical gap in the School of Medicine’s experimental platform. Zhang Wenqing stated, “SCUT has invested nearly 200 million yuan to build a highend medical research platform. The detection technologies and instruments in this shared lab developed with PerkinElmer are exactly what we urgently need. The School of Medicine has always adhered to a ‘small yet refined’ research direction. Going forward, we will focus on three key areas: first, oncology, especially pancreatic cancer; second, developmental biology, covering birth defects and infertility; and third, medical imaging.”  

Zhang Wenqing expressed confidence, saying, “It is foreseeable that we will first utilize this shared laboratory to achieve highlevel fundamental research outcomes.”

Shared Laboratory Platform to Serve the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area

Since it is a shared facility, the benefits naturally extend beyond the School of Medicine at South China University of Technology. Zhang Wenqing noted that the shared laboratory platform can serve other universities outside SCUT, including Sun Yat-sen University, Jinan University, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, and Southern Medical University. It can even contribute to the development of the life sciences sector in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, with institutions such as Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen University, and the Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology of the Chinese Academy of Science also able to utilize the laboratory. "I am very optimistic about the future of this laboratory," Zhang Wenqing said.

According to the reporter, PerkinElmer has also established shared laboratories with the School of Basic Medical Sciences at Fudan University and the State Key Laboratory of Biochemical Engineering at the Institute of Process Engineering of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Liu Jiang, General Manager of PerkinElmer's Life Sciences business in China, stated, "Compared to those two laboratories, the shared laboratory at South China University of Technology is larger in scale. In addition to imaging instruments, it is equipped with multiple automated devices. Beyond meeting research needs, it can provide technical services such as high-throughput drug screening for new drug development users, as well as services including high-throughput library preparation, nucleic acid extraction, and quality control in the NGS field. Furthermore, the laboratory includes a cell culture room, enabling various cell-related technical services."

It is worth noting that the laboratory will also be staffed with dedicated technical and management personnel who will provide researchers with experimental assistance, technical training, and application development services.

At the unveiling ceremony of the shared laboratory, He Dongqing, Secretary of the Party Committee of the School of Medicine at South China University of Technology, expressed her hopeful vision with great enthusiasm. She said, "We believe this technologically advanced new model will bring more opportunities for scientific innovation and talent cultivation, and contribute even more to the research and breakthroughs in translational medicine."