BioChain Team Spotlight: Dr. Tong Lu, Spatial Biology Lab Manager
“To me, understanding the diseases is the most important part of finding treatments to help patients.” – Tong Lu, M.D.
Dr. Tong Lu is a former oncologist and the Spatial Biology Lab Manager at BioChain Institute, Inc. His work oversees the development of all BioChain products, including diagnostic and reagent kits, production systems, and, most recently, technologies complementary to the company’s spatial multiomics services. Examples of projects he has overseen include a Methylation detection-based stomach cancer diagnostic kit; a target enrichment and sequencing for cancer detection system, a high-property and high-efficiency DNA polymerase production system; and a large-scale system for magnetic bead production. Dr. Lu discusses the journey that led him to BioChain, and why he believes molecular research is an important contributor to clinician and patient success.
Dr. Lu, as I understand it, you’ve been at BioChain for a long time. Tell me a little bit about that journey.
Dr. Lu: I’ve been working at BioChain for the past 10 years. Before getting into research I was an oncologist in China; I worked as a clinician there for seven years. To be honest with you, it was a defeating job at times. Patients would come to me looking for treatments that just didn’t exist. They were inefficient and insufficient to save these patients’ lives, and it was really taking a toll on me.
I began to feel helpless. I needed to be in a more proactive role, which is why I transitioned into research. To me, understanding the diseases is the most important part of finding treatments to help these patients.
In January of 2000, I moved to the US. I was at the National Institute for Health for a time, then at the University of Arkansas. After several years working in the university research field, I came to the Bay Area to work at institutions such as Stem Cells, Inc., and Pall Corp. – with them I spent some time on developing disease detection methods, which was very fulfilling.
I eventually discovered BioChain; at the time they were working on cancer detection, which was a field of research I was quite passionate about.
How has your work at BioChain evolved over the years?
Dr. Lu: I worked as a senior scientist at BioChain for about 8 years. I worked on different major projects, the most important of which, for me, was the development of a new early detection method for stomach cancer. We created a diagnostic kit here in BioChain’s lab which was able to successfully detect stomach cancer at a very early stage.
For the last year and a half, though, I’ve been working as BioChain’s lead production manager, which has allowed me to oversee many more of these types of projects and explore some new approaches to production. For example, we’re currently working on a new large-scale production system for magnetic beads which is the major component of our cfDNA extraction kit. This kit has been widely adopted by academic and pharmaceutical researchers in the liquid biopsies field.
Dr. Lu, you clearly have a great cognizance of the impact and importance of your research. You have been working at BioChain for the past ten years, and we're approaching BioChain’s 30th anniversary. What does that anniversary mean for you and the work you do?
Dr. Lu: For me, BioChain is a unique environment: this company accepts, encourages, and supports people who are willing to explore themselves, their mind, and their innovation. People who want to do more to contribute to the field of biology all have a home here. And the whole company supports every individual to achieve the goal.
I think this is the main reason why I’ve stayed here for ten years. The other reason is that working at BioChain feels like working in a big family. It’s a really warm, friendly, caring working environment. That’s something special.
I’m sure your years of experience at BioChain have given you a lot of perspective on the company’s future. Where do you envision BioChain will go in the next five or ten years?
Dr. Lu: BioChain is always seeking cutting-edge research opportunities, new things to explore. We are at our core a biospecimen company, but we’ve worked for a long time in this field and have a really strong network of relationships with other biotech companies. As a result we have the potential to really branch out into novel areas of research and avenues that support our customers. We’re always trying new stuff – the cancer diagnostic kit I mentioned, or, as another example, our work with liquid biopsy applications.
Most recently we have moved toward the spatial biology field. Spatial biology is really new, very cutting-edge technology, so our presence in this frontier means a lot; our biochemist is a pioneer in this field right now.
We’re not only multi-platform in our products and services, we’re also connected to all these other amazing companies who are exploring the frontier with us. We’re willing to work with them and provide services alongside them. We’ve really got it all in that regard. I’d say to expect a lot from BioChain in the next five to ten years.
Tell me a little bit more about these relationships. What are some of the ways that BioChain leverages its scientific partnerships to provide cutting-edge services?
Dr. Lu: It’s all about trust, reputation, and our willingness to grow. BioChain has been in the field for 30 years, providing high-quality, trustworthy products, and our partners know this. They also know that we’re always willing to accept their contributions so we can continue to improve that quality and level of excellence.
There is always room for growth, and maintaining quality is hard work, especially over 30 years’ time. We have a reputation for doing that, and that nurtures our customer and partner relationships in many ways. That’s been true for the past 30 years and will continue to be true in the future.
What are some new projects and partnerships you’re excited about?
Dr. Lu: Recently we’ve been partnering closely with 10x Genomics, which is one of the real leaders in the spatial biology field. It’s been an iterative process where they develop new methodology and we adapt and apply it in innovative ways.
A great example of this is a high-resolution, imaging-based in situ spatial profiling called the Xenium system which was innovated by 10x Genomics. Working on Xenium and exploring its capabilities is something I am very excited for. It is a totally novel technology, so not only is an important service being provided, but it opens the door to great learning – on both our part and that of the customer.
Finally, these projects are very collaborative, which I greatly enjoy. When working with 10x we share the same vision and we have the same passion to make this technology more widely adopted by research institutes and pharmaceutical companies, ultimately all to provide a service to the people who need it most.
You’ve mentioned spatial biology a few times. As an oncologist, what role do you think the spatial field is playing in advancing care for cancer patients?
Dr. Lu: Spatial is one of several innovations revitalizing oncology right now. Another that comes to mind is precision medicine. These fields are opening doors to understanding cancer treatment that didn’t previously exist.
Through spatial technology we can see the thousands of gene expression across all sorts of different tissues, both diseased and normal. We can not only understand the relationship between carcinoma and cell development, but we can also relate that to changes in the gene itself.
How do you envision BioChain’s upcoming contributions to spatial?
Dr. Lu: I have two major hopes for BioChain’s spatial work. First, with our current in-house technologies, we can provide high-quality spatial service to more and more researchers. We can also provide education to customers and partners by letting them know what this technology is, what its role in the field is right now, and what we – and they – can be doing with it. I recently met with some doctors at Stanford who are very interested in spatial’s potential, not just in the abstract but in concrete results. Our challenge is to now not only provide them with the data but also show them how to use it.
Second, it is my hope that BioChain will always be seeking new ways to apply spatial – whether by integrating it with another technology, collaborating with organizations like 10x Genomics, or expanding our own lab. All of this can give oncology a new space for research that is more efficient, more accurate, and more cutting-edge in its technological approach. I am confident BioChain will play a big role in this work, and I look forward to being a part of it.
Dr. Lu, thank you so much for sharing your BioChain journey with us today; it was a pleasure speaking with you.
Dr. Lu: Thank you as well!
