Hong Kong, China, 3 September 2026 — MGI Tech Co., Ltd. (“MGI”), a company dedicated to developing core tools and technologies that drive innovation in life sciences, is partnering with the Centre for Exercise Science and Medicine (CESAME) of Hong Kong Baptist University to transform anti-doping research. Led by its Director, Professor Yannis Pitsiladis, the centre is implementing an innovative transcriptomics approach powered by MGI’s sequencing technology to investigate molecular signatures associated with prohibited-substance exposure after the substance itself may no longer be directly detectable, with the aim of extending current detection windows and strengthening the scientific tools available to protect clean sport.
Traditional Sport Testing Challenge: Drug Disappears, but Its Traces Do Not
Doping has plagued competitive sports for over a century, dating back to the first global doping scandal in 1904. Conventional anti-doping testing looks for the drugs themselves in the body— but drugs are metabolised and cleared. The direct detection window for some forms and dosing regimens of recombinant EPO (erythropoietin), one of the most widely abused doping agents, can be relatively short compared with the duration of the resulting physiological effects (e.g., 48 hours), creating an important challenge for anti-doping. Research shows that EPO improves athletic endurance by stimulating bone marrow hematopoiesis to increase red blood cell count and enhance the body’s oxygen transport capacity, and its endurance advantage can last for weeks. Therefore, an athlete who dopes outside the competition testing window can pass the drug test clean: the drug has been fully cleared from the body, but the performance benefit remains.
“For prohibited substances still present in an athlete’s body, current detection technology is highly effective,” says Professor Yannis Pitsiladis, Director of CESAME. “The problem is what has already been cleared from the body. The drug is gone, but the traces it leaves behind — and the performance advantage it delivers — are still there.”
The Innovative Approach: Tracking Drug Residues Utilizing Transcriptomics
At CESAME, the research team finds a way forward through transcriptomics. Every intervention, including doping, blood transfusion, extreme training, or altitude exposure, leaves a unique molecular fingerprint in gene expression. Leveraging high-throughput sequencing technology with matching AI algorithms, scientists can stably read tens of thousands of gene-expression signals at once, capturing the biological traces that persist after the drug itself has vanished.
The potential is twofold: a testing window that stretches from roughly 48 hours to weeks or even months, and a shift from personal experience to data-driven discrimination between natural adaptation and artificial enhancement in EPO levels. Previous work by the CESAME team identified a set of candidate rHuEPO-responsive genes, including approximately 50 candidates that did not overlap with the exercise- or altitude-responsive signatures examined in those datasets. The current large-scale sequencing programme (for more than 1000 samples) is testing whether these and other new candidate signatures can robustly distinguish rHuEPO exposure from physiological adaptation.
A Fully Automated, Smart Laboratory Powered by MGI’s Technology
Inaugurated on 17 April 2026, CESAME is the world’s first sports medicine centre accredited by the International Federation of Sports Medicine (FIMS) focused on the convergence of sports science and genomics.
The CESAME centre features an AI-powered, digital twin-integrated smart genetic laboratory. Powered by MGI’s full-stack life science tools and systems, the lab establishes a complete automated workflow covering sample pre-processing, library construction and ultra-high-throughput sequencing, delivering unrivalled advantages for multi-omics research, precision analytics, and high-efficiency experimental processes.
Equipped with a full range of MGI’s automated devices: the STP-7000 Sample Transfer System, SP-NE384 Nucleic Acid Extraction and Purification System, SP-100 DNA Sequencing Library Preparation System, SP-960 High-throughput Sample Preparation System, and SP-Smart 8 Sample Preparation System, coupled with the αLab™ Robot, the lab enables a fully unmanned, standardised sample processing workflow with minimal cross-contamination. Meanwhile, the T7 high-throughput sequencer supports a full spectrum of sequencing applications, including whole-genome sequencing (WGS), methylation sequencing and transcriptome sequencing (RNA-seq), laying a solid foundation not only for anti-doping testing, but also other frontiers: athlete genomics research, space-related sample analysis and gender equity research.
“The advanced technologies and equipment that MGI has brought in allow us to streamline the testing workflow to its limits,” says Professor Pitsiladis. “From collection to analysis, almost every step can be automated, which not only accelerates our research but also strengthens our confidence in the reliability of the results. What excites me most is that from sample input to result output, we need almost no human intervention — because compared with machines, humans are far more error-prone.”
MGI’s collaboration with Professor Pitsiladis’s team dates back to a 2021 cross-platform benchmark study led by Professor Pitsiladis, which highlighted MGI’s outstanding performance on 50 top-tier samples and became the technical starting point of the partnership. The partnership was deepened at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, where MGI’s platform, including the E25 and G99 sequencers and the AlphaTool automated pipetting robot, was presented to athletes worldwide at the Olympic House — and in a joint perspective published in Translational Exercise Biomedicine which charted the roadmap for transcriptomic blood-doping detection.
“We are honored to partner with CESAME to advance world-class sports medicine research, preserve fair play, and support the global development of sports,” says Duncan Yu, President of MGI. “Moving forward, MGI remains committed to equipping frontier scientific research with cutting-edge tools, accelerating the translation of discoveries into real-world applications, and collectively driving the innovation and accessibility of life science technologies.”
From Anti-Doping to Precision Health
As automation and AI technology push testing efficiency to its limits, omics capability once reserved for elite laboratories is set to reach broader medical institutions and public health systems, making anti-doping testing fairer and more accessible, and precision medicine part of everyday practice. By organically integrating sequencing, automation, and AI-driven systems, life science research is transforming from traditional small-scale workshops to industrial engineering — and this paradigm of a controlled, automated, efficient, and reliable laboratory may well become the new infrastructure of precision health.
About CESAME
The Centre for Exercise Science and Medicine (CESAME) is a flagship, transdisciplinary research hub dedicated to advancing sports science, sports medicine, and human health. It represents Hong Kong Baptist University’s strategic commitment to translating research into measurable impact for elite sport and public health.
For more information, please visit HKBU
About MGI
MGI Tech Co., Ltd. (or its subsidiaries, together referred to as MGI, stock code: 688114.SH) is committed to building core tools and technologies that drive innovation in life science. Our focus lies in research & development, manufacturing, and sales of instruments, reagents, and related products in the field of life science and biotechnology. We provide real-time, multi-omics, and a full spectrum of digital equipment and systems for precision medicine, agriculture, healthcare, and various other industries.
Founded in 2016, MGI has grown into a leader in life science, serving customers across six continents and establishing research, manufacturing, training, and after-sales service facilities globally. MGI stands out as one of the few companies capable of independently developing and mass-producing clinical-grade gene sequencers with varying throughput capacities, ranging from Gb to Tb levels. With unparalleled expertise, cutting-edge products, and a commitment to global impact, MGI continues to shape the trajectory of life sciences into the future.
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