杏吧原创

THE crisis cost Singapore 33 lives, and its already fragile economy an estimated S$1billion (US$570 million). But the swift response of the government, local doctors and scientists to SARS had an unexpected plus: it boosted the country鈥檚 slowly growing reputation as a centre for biomedical research. The response 鈥渨as cutting edge by definition and has definitely enhanced their medical reputation鈥�, according to Ali Khan, associate director for science at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

As a result, the CDC is intensifying discussions on setting up a regional infectious disease surveillance centre in Singapore, the government鈥檚 focus on life sciences is stronger than ever, and new institutes and labs are expanding and continuing their worldwide search for top scientific talent.

Next year, the Novartis Institute for Tropical Diseases (NITD) hopes to be the first private research centre to share facilities and ideas with publicly funded researchers at Biopolis, Singapore鈥檚 S$300 million science 鈥渕ini-city鈥� that will be formally inaugurated next month. The first government-funded occupants, the Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS) and the Bioinformatics Institute, move in this month, and staff at the three other public biomedical institutes, the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, the Bioprocessing Technology Centre and the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, will follow soon.

Biopolis is touted as the physical embodiment of the government鈥檚 vision of Singapore as a model of close-knit, well-resourced public and private biomedical enterprise. 鈥淪ome other countries might be uncomfortable with putting public scientists in such close contact with private companies. They might be afraid they could be poached. But at the end of the day, that鈥檚 what we want,鈥� says Hwai-Loong Kong, executive director of the Biomedical Research Council (BMRC) of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (ASTAR). 鈥淥ur plan is to use research and development in the public sector to drive the private engine.鈥�

Singapore鈥檚 big push into biotech and biomedical sciences started just two years ago, when the country鈥檚 Economic Development Board set aside an estimated S$2 billion over four years for institutes, academic research, training and tax incentives for start-ups. It clearly had an effect: by 2002, the biomedical sciences industry had upped its manufacturing output by 3.2 per cent, to S$6.6 billion. The Economic Development Board predicts this figure will reach S$12 billion by 2005.

The BMRC is now negotiating its funding for the next two-and-a-half years. And a sluggish national economy might, as Kong says, necessitate what he calls some funding 鈥渞e-calibrations鈥�. Economic growth this year is expected to be at the lower end of the government鈥檚 prediction of between 0.5 and 2.5 per cent. But, says Kong, biomedical funding should be safe because it is viewed as one of the priorities.

Now SARS has forced a reappraisal of where best to divert those funds (see 鈥淰irus attack鈥�). 鈥淭he fact that it is a new virus, and we need to set up new research programmes, will cause a bit of pressure on funding support elsewhere 鈥� but that鈥檚 manageable,鈥� says Kong.

Mohan Balasubramanian, acting director of the Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory (TLL), which was set up in mid-2002 with funds from the government鈥檚 investment holding company, expects the state of the economy to force some funding cuts in the immediate future. But he is positive about the longer term. 鈥淭he decision to go through with life sciences as a main focus of the economy has been made, and I鈥檓 sure it will continue for at least another 15 or 20 years,鈥� he says. 鈥淚鈥檓 optimistic, otherwise I wouldn鈥檛 be here.鈥�

Like many of the scientists in Singapore, Balasubramanian is an expat. He moved from the US six years ago, and has witnessed Singapore鈥檚 rapid biomedical development. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not a Kyoto or a Tokyo yet, and it might be another 10 or 15 years before it becomes one, but it is already a life sciences hub,鈥� he says.

The presence of the major pharmaceutical players such as Merck, Aventis and GlaxoSmithKline is boosting growth in local biomedical profits. And there is considerable support from smaller top performers, such as ES Cell International, which exports human embryonic stem cell lines to laboratories worldwide, MerLion Pharmaceuticals, which develops drugs from natural products, and another new drug discovery company, S-Bio.

But Singapore鈥檚 big push is not going unchallenged by its neighbours. In May, Malaysia鈥檚 prime minister, Mahathir Mohamed, unveiled a biotech blueprint for an 800-hectare 鈥淏ioValley鈥�. At the heart of the plan are three world-class institutes scheduled to open by 2006: the Agro-Biotechnology Institute, the Pharmaceutical and Nutraceutical Institute, and the Genomics and Molecular Biology Institute.

Kong doesn鈥檛 see Malaysia as a threat. 鈥淚f Malaysia trains a lot of scientists, the whole region of South-East Asia will become a biomedical hot spot, though of course it will be advantageous if the two countries were to have some complementarity, rather than competing area for area.鈥�

When Novartis was looking for a location for the NITD there was only one clear candidate, says director Paul Herrling. 鈥淢odern drug discovery is best done very close to where the patients are, but you also need to be in a place where you can attract scientists.鈥� The burgeoning research culture and infrastructure already present in Singapore made it the obvious choice, he says.

The NITD will focus on screening new drugs to treat dengue fever and TB. 鈥淲e selected these because they are diseases that have a huge impact on the developing world, but did not have sufficient research,鈥� Herrling says. The institute currently employs 24 researchers, but once it moves into Biopolis it plans to expand to about 73 scientists and staff, plus 25 students.

Herrling is also talking to the Gates Foundation about starting work on Chagas disease, and is discussing a possible role for the institute in research on SARS. But Herrling is clear that anything other than TB and dengue would have to be independently funded because the institute doesn鈥檛 want to dilute funds for what it sees as key research areas.

In June, the NITD and five other research and healthcare organisations joined forces to create the Singapore Dengue Consortium, to make use of the expertise of local institutes in clinical and biological research. TLL has signed up, as has the government鈥檚 flagship GIS. Hopes are high for what will be achieved.鈥漌hen you look at the superb scientists at the National Environment Agency, our genomics expertise, the presence of the Novartis institute, and the two hospital clusters that provide patients, you really have a fantastic complementary consortium. We can do a lot,鈥� says GIS director Edison Liu.

Such is the promise of Singapore鈥檚 biomedical and biotech sector that in 2000 it lured Liu, the then head of the US National Cancer Institute, to move there. GIS鈥檚 core research includes the basic mix of sequencing, cloning and proteomics technologies. But the big draw for Liu was the prospect of being able to set up a more integrated industrial-style approach to research than would have been possible back in the US. 鈥淐oming to Singapore was a unique opportunity to exercise the vision I have always had but never had resources or partners to support,鈥� he says. Liu plans to expand today鈥檚 roster of 160 researchers to 280 or 300. 鈥淲e鈥檝e had no problem recruiting,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e have a lot of young people who are really interested in embarking on a novel approach to biology that they don鈥檛 see available in standard academic settings.鈥�

Like all the biomedical groups in Singapore, GIS has drafted in large numbers of foreign scientists. With a population of only 4 million, and with many of Singapore鈥檚 top graduate scientists off gaining experience abroad, imported scientists are needed to fuel the life-science boom. For Kong-Peng Lam, director of the BMRC, this is a virtue as well as a necessity, because of the new techniques and ideas brought in by the constant stream of foreign scientists.

Long-term, however, a concerted effort is being made to increase the proportion of local researchers. In 2001, ASTAR launched a scholarship scheme for local students that many westerners would envy, comprising funding for a three-year undergraduate degree, a five-year PhD and two years of postdoctoral work. Afterwards, they are guaranteed six years of employment at one of the five research institutes. About half of the scholars must do their PhD research locally, while the rest can go to top universities overseas before bringing their expertise back home.

Nanyang Technological University鈥檚 new school of biological sciences admitted its first undergraduates in July last year. It is busy training a new crop of local researchers for the life sciences and the biomedical industry. The school currently has fewer than half of the 80 or so staff it wants, so academics are sharing their time between more than one post. Peter Dr枚ge, head of the division of genomics and genetics at the university, is also acting head of molecular and cell biology. Lars Nordenski枚ld, head of structural and computational biology, is also acting head of both chemical biology and biotechnology.

Again, the researchers are making a virtue of necessity. Take viral pathogenesis and disorders related to ageing, two focal points of the university鈥檚 research. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 care from what approach 鈥� it could be from a neuroscience, or perhaps a molecular biology approach 鈥� we really just want good people who want to make a difference in Singapore,鈥� says James Tam, dean of the school.

At TLL, Balasubramanian is also trying not to constrain the institute鈥檚 recruitment goals. Its focus is on using model organisms to address fundamental problems of cell and developmental biology, and it plans to almost double in size to 200 researchers over the next few years. 鈥淭his is a wonderful opportunity for anyone who wants to work on any fundamental cell and developmental biology problem, provided that they are of the highest quality,鈥� Balasubramanian says.

This mix of frontier spirit and entrepreneurial opportunism is one of Singapore鈥檚 strongest cards. Build an innovative, non-prescriptive industry with great skills in the core research needed for 21st-century biosciences, and the top researchers will come.

Model organisms is one such research area that the BMRC wants to see bloom in Singapore. At the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, biologists have isolated 15,000 genetic markers from the zebrafish, a species used as a model for human disease. The other focuses include stem cells, tissue engineering, immunology and cancer.

Over at the National University of Singapore鈥檚 Protein and Proteomics Centre, which opened last year, human cancer is one of the priorities. As part of the biomedical push, the university is concentrating on medicinal chemistry, structural biology and proteomics. 鈥淟ife sciences, along with nanoscience and the science of information, is one of our top three focuses,鈥� says Hardy Chan, vice dean of science.

This year, the faculty has taken on six new PhD students as part of the ASTAR graduate scheme. Since most young men do national service in Singapore, about three-quarters of the 221 students who have benefited from the scheme are women. This has interesting side effects: ASTAR, for example, is thinking hard about how to make Biopolis a more family friendly place, says Kong. 鈥淭o have hundreds of female scientists coming back is a challenge,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e are now looking at establishing a childcare facility. We have to cater for their needs.鈥�

ASTAR has time on its side. The first batch of students will not start work in Singapore until 2008. During the five-year hiatus, the BMRC wants to ensure that science pushes ahead rapidly. 鈥淯ntil the scholars come back, we need to recruit all the way from the postdoc level to senior scientists,鈥� Kong says. 鈥淎nd we would really like to see foreign scientists come from a broad range of countries 鈥� to make ourselves the United Nations of biomedicine.鈥�

Among foreign scientists who make the move, most find it a relatively straightforward transition. 鈥淭he lunch is cheap,鈥� jokes James Tam, who has worked mostly in the US. While Singapore鈥檚 cultural life might not match that of some other world cities, it is clean, safe, easy to live in, and English is widely spoken. The city is also trying to shed its straight-laced reputation. In March, for instance, a public advisory board recommended that bars and nightclubs be permitted to stay open around the clock.

For Liu, one of Singapore鈥檚 major draws is its location. 鈥淭he fact that it was in Asia was a great attraction to me, because I really do feel that Asia is right on the cusp of launching biotech,鈥� he says. He also finds the can-do attitude in Singapore refreshing.

Liu is particularly excited by Biopolis as a place where researchers will socialise and live as well as work. 鈥淭here are very few places in the world where a comprehensive structure like this is constructed with such vision in mind. But in Singapore, there鈥檚 such a unity of purpose: everybody is trying to help get things to work, rather than throw monkey wrenches into the process, like they do in San Francisco.鈥�