By Radha Basu, Senior Correspondent

IN A practice begun by former A*Star chairman Philip Yeo, Singapore has lured several world renowned researchers here to jump-start its fledgling biotechnology research industry over the years.

But this policy to attract the 'whales' of the science world may not have yielded lasting results.

'Whales by nature migrate,' says Professor Jackie Ying, who, ironically, is often referred to as one of the biggest 'whales' lured here. 'If people are only here part-time or leave after two or three years, it is difficult to create a sustainable impact.'

Prof Ying, 43, heads the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN), a multi-disciplinary institute under the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star).

She declined to mention names, but there have been cases of foreign scientists coming here on part-time positions or reducing their Singapore-based commitments after a mere few years.

Prof Ying, who at 35 became among the youngest tenured full professors at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, maintains she is a stayer.

'I think the opportunity for growth is tremendous,' says the Singapore permanent resident who spent her formative years here and attended Raffles Girls' School in the late 1970s and early 1980s when her father was a professor at Nanyang University.

'Singapore's biotech work is already creating a buzz overseas. There is no place else I'd rather be,' says Prof Ying, who returned to Singapore in 2003 to be the founding executive director of the newly set up IBN.

The institute was in the news this month when its researchers announced they were ready with what could prove to be the fastest locally made test kit here to detect the Influenza A (H1N1) virus. Although one of the youngest thoroughbreds in A*Star's 14 research institutes, it is already the leader in terms of the number of patents filed - nearly 700 so far - and the papers it has produced.

But several challenges need to be overcome for Singapore's hefty $13.55 billion investment in scientific research to truly pay off.

Although Singapore is already punching far beyond its weight on the world scientific stage, she frets that the push may not be sustainable.

Take the matter of 'whales'. Some eagerly bit the Singapore bait, but did not stay here full-time before heading back home again.

Heads of research institutes are like CEOs, says the fast-talking, self-confessed workaholic who clocks 80-hour work weeks. 'If they are not here full-time, it will be hard for them to run a tight ship.'

Just last month, Professor David Lane, one of Singapore's star science imports, relinquished two executive positions at A*Star, including chairmanship of the Biomedical Research Council, which directs bio- med research here.

The well-known cancer researcher had earlier given up his position as head of the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology here after three years at its helm and returned to Scotland's Dundee University. However, he still maintains a lab here, is devoting himself more to research and is A*Star's chief scientist.

Other star imports such as Dr Alan Colman, who cloned Dolly the sheep, have also reduced their Singapore-based commitments in recent years. Many of these stalwarts are in their late 50s or older.

Prof Ying says that what Singapore needs instead is to attract more researchers in their 30s and 40s, who are in the prime of their careers. At her own institute, which has more than 180 scientists, engineers and doctors, she seeks to draw 'dolphins' instead of whales.

Dolphins are helpful and seldom migrate. 'Most important of all, they are young and adaptable. Working as a team, they can make a difference,' she says.

Another problem is that Singapore's decade-old biotech ambitions are still fuelled largely by basic research, which answers the hows and whys of various phenomena, instead of focusing on turning knowledge into workable solutions.

There needs to be more emphasis on 'strategic research' that seeks to solve some of the world's big problems such as finding a cure to deadly diseases or mitigating the effects of climate change, rather than simply creating more academic knowledge. 'The greatest impact can be made if the research we do can be easily translated into clinical benefits or applications,' she says.

Such an approach has led her fledgling institute to chalk up an impressive resume within six years. 'We may be one of the three youngest institutes here, but we already have cornered a fifth of A*Star's patent portfolio,' she says, beaming.

For instance, her researchers recently found a way to convert carbon dioxide to methanol. The discovery has generated so much buzz in the United States that lobbyists are trying to get the Obama administration to pour more funds into the project.

Other recent IBN breakthroughs include an artificial kidney which can filter out harmful substances yet keep nutrients in, just like a natural kidney. The same basic material used for the artificial kidney is now also being used to purify water.

While strategic research is the way forward, a major bottleneck in Singapore's path to R&D glory is that it lacks the 'critical mass' required to morph science into commercial applications.

For example, drug-related discoveries here are in danger of being delayed because there simply are not enough 'clinician scientists' - or doctors who do research - to conduct clinical trials on patients. 'A lot of doctors we approach tell us outright they are too busy tending to patients,' she says.

In contrast, when she was in the US working as a chemical engineering professor at MIT, she would just cross the Charles River to the Harvard Medical School to find the right person with the right expertise.

Harvard, she says, has more than 1,000 clinician scientists. Singapore, by contrast, has only around 70. 'This is an infrastructural problem that cannot be solved soon. But we should work harder on it.'

Since 2007, the Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School has started training clinician scientists, but she hopes that Singapore will institute more scholarships soon to churn out more MD-PhDs.

Another key challenge facing the sector is that the environment here does not encourage entrepreneurship.

Unlike biotech hubs in the US, very few venture capital (VC) firms have set up shop here. When Prof Ying wanted to set up a company to commercialise devices to 'screen' or test drugs, she knocked on the doors of Singaporean companies before finding support from a German VC firm. Her product was viewed as an unsafe bet, although it began selling units within six months of winning funding early last year.

'VCs don't just bring the money, they also nurture the company and provide guidance,' says Prof Ying, whose German contact has now set up an office here, his first outside Europe.

'VCs want to make sure you get money back for them, so they will help you set up the company properly and help you bring in future investors and with marketing and distribution.'

While Spring Singapore does have a separate grant to help local companies commercialise their scientific applications, she believes that more VC funding is essential if Singapore's biotech hub is to progress to the next level.

One way to eventually overcome this, she suggests, is to set up a university excelling in graduate education and research in four key areas - science, engineering, medicine and business.

This would enable future professionals in these fields to begin collaborating from the time that they are students, just as they do in Boston, one of the world's foremost research hubs.

For example, a third of the PhD and post-doctorate researchers from Prof Ying's laboratory at MIT spun off companies right after graduation. Many took business minors - subsidiary courses in business - and had clinical collaborators from Harvard.

She hopes that one day, Singapore will also have world-class universities that specialise in graduate research.

Rewarding scientists and institutes that work hard to make Singapore proud is another way to get better bang for the buck, says Prof Ying.

'Don't micromanage those that are doing well. Obviously, they are doing something right,' she says, advocating for more freedom and flexibility to direct resources. 'The Government wants the top schools to fly, so they are given independence. So why not research institutes?'

Her candid observations stem from an earnest desire to see Singapore excel, she says.

The Boston biotech hub had a 40-year head start over Singapore, and its companies took decades before seeing commercial success. 'Some of ours have already achieved similar levels of success in under a decade,' she says.

But fuelled by generous resources and government support, she is sanguine that Singapore's biotech gamble will eventually pay off. Early fruits are already ripe for the picking. Take the flu test kits, for instance.

Her parting shot: 'If I was not proud of what we are doing or did not believe in our future, I would not be here.'

This article was first published in The Straits Times.