Dialysis is inconvenient and debilitating for millions of people worldwide with chronic kidney disease (CKD), with a major negative impact on their daily lives. Even worse, there are no treatments for the major marker of the condition, kidney fibrosis – meaning the root of the problem cannot be tackled. However, thanks to a CUHK research team, that could change: while searching for an effective gene therapy for the disease, they discovered something surprising – tiny particles of gold alone are capable of treating it. So far, they’ve proved it works in mice; now they’re working towards trialling it in people.