A scientific hub where researchers have the flexibility and support to dip into other disciplines may sound like the stuff of dreams, but at Singapore’s Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN), this reality allows its researchers to conduct strategic research at the interface of science, engineering and medicine, and make a technological impact on healthcare and alternative energy.

Bringing together 2,300 scientists, technicians and administrators in a vast biomedical research hub sprawled over nine buildings, the Biopolis, home to IBN, demonstrates that scientific collaboration spanning multiple disciplines will put runs on the board.

According to Professor Jackie Y. Ying, IBN’s Executive Director, scientists at the Biopolis are empowered to push the boundaries.

The IBN is the first institute in the world to merge bioengineering and nanotechnology research. Reflecting its interdisciplinary approach, teams at IBN are project-based rather than discipline-based. After all, as Professor Ying says, “Better solutions emerge when different fields of expertise come together.”

Working to tackle challenges in drug and gene delivery, cell and tissue engineering, biosensors and biodevices, as well as pharmaceuticals synthesis and green chemistry, IBN’s team of scientists, engineers and medical doctors have already filed 855 patent applications in the seven short years that the Institute has been in operation.

Professor Ying says it is this focus on the project, rather than corralling professionals within their disciplines, that makes IBN unique.

“When we look at a problem, we ask ourselves how important is it to address this? How will it make an impact on society? For example, will it change the way medicine is practised? Will we be able to commercialise the technology? All these are factors we consider when coming up with project ideas,” says Professor Ying.

The MicroKit, a unique all-in-one automated diagnostic system that can detect diseases from a small sample of body fluid or tissue in one self-contained portable machine, is a triumph of IBN’s collaborative approach.

Apart from infectious diseases such as the H1N1 virus, the rapid, easy and affordable system can be used to detect cancer and has been licensed for a range of new diagnostic products.

“Detecting diseases at an early stage is critical. If they’re detected at a late stage, such as in the case of cancer, there’s not much a doctor can do, except to provide care,” says Professor Ying.

The team that developed the MicroKit comprised biological engineers and chemists who worked with mechanical and electrical engineers to miniaturize the system without compromising accuracy. Mechanical and electrical engineers designed the instrumentation and cartridges that hold the sample, while nanotechnology was applied to develop the device’s microfluidic systems.

In short, the MicroKit was the sum of many parts, requiring the kind of collaborative creativity that the Biopolis aims to foster. This novel approach has achieved internationally recognised results.

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At the Genome Institute of Singapore – also located at the Biopolis – a team under Professor Christopher Wong, the chief scientific officer of Biomarker Development, uncovered from a quick nasal swab the genetic sequence of the H1N1 virus within just 30 hours.

He acknowledges that the interdisciplinary approach was invaluable to his team in cracking the code of the deadly virus.

“In the old days people were looking at one gene at a time so it was very possible for one person to acquire all the domain knowledge about a particular gene,” says Professor Wong. “But when you are talking about genomics, you are looking at the whole system. There are so many genes and so many technologies that it’s not possible for any one person to know everything so you need to cooperate.”

“One of the attractions of coming to Singapore to start a new institute was that we got to determine the culture. At the GIS, we don’t have any barriers in terms of departments – everyone comes here with the fresh idea that we have to work together in order to succeed.”

One of the key factors that brought both Professor Ying and Professor Wong to Singapore – both of whom were located in the United States – was that the offer to work on their own projects, and the projects of others, in a creative environment with some of the top people in their field was simply too good to pass up.

As Professor Wong explains, sometimes the lure of other people’s projects can provide greater satisfaction than one’s own.

“One of the great things about coming to Singapore is that because of our interdisciplinary nature I’m always working on multiple projects,” he says. “When you’re exploring new ground in science, some projects work and some don’t – if you have multiple projects there’s always at least one thing working at any given time.”

Just 200 hundred metres away from Biopolis stands Fusionopolis, the science and engineering counterpart of Biopolis. Together, the twin research hubs of Singapore host a multitude of experts from different backgrounds drawn from both the public and private sectors. Biopolis’ being located a stone’s throw away from Fusionopolis means that Professor Wong has access to world-class expertise in a broad spectrum of disciplines.

With so many experts in so many fields, he says, the work at the Biopolis minimises the chances of ‘reinventing the wheel’ which, as he agrees, almost always ends up being round.

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