Jinqing Huang is an associate professor in the Department of Chemistry at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Her team is dedicated to advancing single-molecule biodetection and uncovering disease mechanisms. The team has independently built an integrated platform combining optical tweezers microscopy and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) to pioneer single-molecule optical manipulation and spectroscopic detection. By actively controlling analytes and SERS-active substrates, this technology allows the team to capture precisely the heterogeneous properties and dynamic intermediate states of biological macromolecules, including DNA, RNA and proteins. Centred on these dynamic regulatory processes, her team’s work aims to elucidate the molecular mechanisms driving cancer and neurodegenerative diseases.