Experts trace medicinal make-up

CALIFORNIAN technological expertise is famous throughout the world. In Hong Kong, state-of-the-art equipment is being used to investigate one of the region's oldest secrets - how Chinese medicines work.

Scientists at the Chinese University are using a system designed by Beckman Instruments of California to separate the individual components of Chinese medicines.

''High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) System Gold is used to separate the components of the medicines,'' said Wong Huck-kwong, laboratory superintendent at the Chinese Medicinal Material Research Centre.

''The project gives us more information about Chinese medicine and how it works. HPLC can separate components down to microgram level, which is necessary because the effective components in Chinese medicine are just trace amounts,'' said Mr Wong.

The information will be used to help create a standardised procedure for classifying Chinese medicines.

California is a world leader in the fields of information technology, biotechnology and environmental technology, thanks in part to his highly regarded education system.