PARIS, France, 26 July 2024 – MGI Tech Co., Ltd. (“MGI”), a company committed to building core tools and technologies that drive innovation in life sciences, today announced its collaboration with renowned geneticist Professor Yannis Pitsiladis of Hong Kong Baptist University on sports and anti-doping research. Leveraging MGI’s state-of-the-art DNBSEQ sequencers and automation platforms, the collaboration aims to harness omics technology to detect drugs in sport, particularly relating to blood doping.
MGI at OLY HOUSE
“With an estimated 6% of top athletes worldwide using doping, more sophisticated detection methods are required to stamp out this unethical practice,” said Prof. Pitsiladis, a pioneer in anti-doping research and member of the International Olympic Committee Medical and Scientific Commission. “High-throughput sequencing could play a vital role in identifying blood doping, the methods used, and even the timing. MGI’s advanced sequencing tools are helping to optimise what was once a labor-intensive, costly, and time-consuming process.”
As the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics commence, Prof. Pitsiladis, invited by the World Olympians Association (WOA), will showcase his research and participate in a panel discussion as part of Hong Kong Baptist University’s two-day programme on 29 July at OLY House Paris 2024 @ Caisse d’Epargne. Additionally, MGI will exhibit its cutting-edge portable DNBSEQ-E25 sequencer, ultra-high-speed DNBSEQ-G99 platform, and AlphaTool automated pipetting robot, offering Olympians from around the world a first-hand look at these advanced technologies.
On 22 July, Prof. Pitsiladis, in collaboration with MGI and other international researchers, published a perspective article titled “Practical steps to develop a transcriptomic test for blood doping” in Translational Exercise Biomedicine. The article outlines considerations for developing transcriptomic tests for blood doping, providing guidance to international research and anti-doping centres for implementing transcriptomic testing in compliance with the World Anti-Doping Agency.
“We are proud to support vital research into sports performance and anti-doping testing through omics and to showcase our technologies at one of the world’s premier sporting events,” said Duncan Yu, President of MGI. “With intelligent innovation at the heart of MGI, we are committed to applying our technologies to drive significant advancements and support groundbreaking applications in this field.”
