Knowledge Exchange & Global Feature Story
The 7th China International College Students’ “Internet+” Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition
Regenerative medicine has shown great promises in recent decades. Nonetheless, obtaining a reliable source of human stem cells are challenging. Traditional sources of human stem cells from embryonic stem cells (ESCs), bone marrow, and umbilical cord blood are limited by practical and ethical concerns. Post-natal dental stem cells (DSCs) have mesenchymal-stem-cell (MSC)-like qualities, including self-renewal and multi-lineage differentiation potency. Our idea is to enable DSCs to be a practical source of stem cells in humans for regenerative medicine. With great therapeutic and market potential, we explored the possibility of designing a business project utilizing the translational capabilities of DSCs. The idea of tooth banking came to our mind. We thus proposed a project titled ‘CRYOTeeth’ – a locally-based business idea that utilizes long-term cryopreservation of DSCs to offer patients a range of stem cell therapies later in life. We first submitted this idea to the course Contemporary Topics in Biomedical Technology (BBMS2008) as a group project to convince our teachers to invest in our business idea in a ‘Dragon’s Den’ setting. We had been taught many aspects of biomedical science and novel biotechnology, but this project trained us to consider practical aspects by placing us in the shoes of entrepreneurs. Standing before potential investors, we were challenged with questions regarding the market competition, risk assessment, and handling emergency scenarios. This helped us consolidate the idea beyond its original conception into a plan we could confidently submit to the “Internet+” regional and national competitions – one of the largest national competitions of college students in innovation and entrepreneurship. We were grateful to have won the silver award at the 7th China International College Students’ “Internet+” Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition. Our silver award in the competition can be attributed to two major reasons. DSCs are originated from the neural crest stem cells (NCSCs), which offer us a greater cellular plasticity towards ectoderm lineage (e.g., neurons, melanocytes) compared with mesoderm-originated hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) in the bone marrow. Such distinguished differentiation capacities put us in a complementary rather than competitive relationship with HSCs, commonly collected by cord blood banking. As a local pioneer, we plan to make good use of this therapeutic tissue technique in order to meet the growing demand in personalized medicine in Hong Kong, such as tooth regeneration, organ replacement, and disease modelling. Technology foresight is critical in the area of scientific and technological innovation. Our teamwork indeed has helped us get through every challenge, which we truly appreciate. In addition, we would like to thank our teachers again for pointing out our weaknesses and providing us with guidance when we most needed it. Translating our ideas into a business in a real-case scenario requires unprecedented meticulousness. Not only did they allow us to ponder over what are the realistic difficulties and business considerations that pave the road from basic science to a business idea, and eventually to an entrepreneur, but they also prepared us for the competition where the judges were all experts in starting a business. The key to converting the project thought to a mature, practical idea was a thorough business model and risk assessment. Apart from preparing ‘plan B’ for every potential contingency, we discovered the importance of perspicacity -- to be aware of the market demands and target population before any company in Hong Kong has put the idea into reality. Being undergraduates, we would never be able to achieve this without relentless support from our advisor Dr. Joshua Ho, our teachers, and judges in the competition, who nurtured us with their invaluable experience and expertise.
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From left: Dr. Joshua Ho, Associate Professor at School of Biomedical Sciences, Mr. Nicolas Lau, Miss Wai Man Chick, Miss Liz Pan and Mr. Kwan Yiu Tse, BBMS year 3 students at the award presentation ceremony (HKSAR region).
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