Lab News
Oct 21, 2026
Prof. Hongyuan Lu’s research team at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou), in collaboration with researchers from Westlake University and the Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, published a research paper titled “Programmable Design of Functional Proteins from Natural Language” in the prestigious journal Nature.
The study developed and validated Pinal, an AI-based foundation model capable of generating candidate protein sequences directly from natural language descriptions of desired functions, offering a new approach to intelligent functional protein design.
Shiyang You, a PhD student in Prof. Hongyuan Lu’s research team, is a co-first author of the paper, while Assistant Professor Hongyuan Lu serves as a co-corresponding author. Xiaoxiao Ma, Xianjun Deng, and Letong Yu, PhD students in the Bioscience and Biomedical Engineering Thrust (BSBE) at HKUST(GZ), also contributed to the research and are co-authors of the paper.
Sep 22, 2026
Huan Liu's Postdoctoral Research Proposal Presentation
Dr. Huan Liu successfully passed his postdoctoral research proposal defense.
Mar 18, 2026
Prof. Hongyuan Lu’s Team Wins Gold Medal at the 51st International Exhibition of Inventions Geneva
Prof. Hongyuan Lu’s research team from HKUST(GZ) received a Gold Medal at the 51st International Exhibition of Inventions Geneva for their project, DeepSolv: AI-Driven Biotechnology for Full-Cycle Recycling of Waste Polyester.
Jun 10, 2025
Xining Su from Prof. Hongyuan Lu’s Team Wins Two Awards at the 2025 HKUST(GZ) Three Minute Thesis Competition
Xining Su, a PhD student in Prof. Hongyuan Lu’s research team, received both the 1st Runner-Up award and the People’s Choice Award at the 2025 HKUST(GZ) Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) Competition.
