It’s hard to distinguish a shamrock from a clover. Consumers often have the same trouble telling good herbal products from bad ones. According to Huangdi Neijing (Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor), an ancient doctrinal Chinese medical group of texts, Chinese medicinal formulas can be categorised into soup, powder, pill, ointment and elixir. In view of the vast array of herbal products in the market today, how can we tell which is authentic? What does blockchain have to do with Chinese medicinal materials? In this Cubic Zine issue, Prof Shaw Pang Chui of the School of Life Sciences, who pioneered the use of molecular authentication of herbal products in 1990s, shares with us how he traces DNA of herbal materials even in boiling soup. Let’s hear his story. In this issue: #TMC #DNAauthentication #Blockchain #traceability #HKGenuineProducts #JoyNTearOfEducation

The second half of our interview was an “AmoGood-style” crash course on oriental history. While Prof Catherine So received Western education, her project partner Dr Jianguo Zhang, a specialist in tuina massage and qigong, was born and raised in Shandong Province, China. He generously shared with us the culture shocks he experienced since coming to the city, as well as his health regimens.

Lifestyle changes could mean a significant improvement to our mental health. The team is developing a self-help app with tips and elements of Chinese Medicine.

Autistic children struggle with social interactions and learning. The team adopts a novel approach of massage therapy to improve their conditions.