Professor Tan Eng Chye, President, NUS
Professor Matthew Chang, Executive Director, National Centre for Engineering Biology
Distinguished guests
1. Good afternoon. I am delighted to join you for the launch of the National Centre for Engineering Biology (NCEB), as we open the inaugural Singapore Engineering Biology Week.
2. This milestone marks an important step forward for a field that can address global challenges and improve everyday life.
- The Centre will strengthen Singapore's capabilities and nurture the next generation of researchers in this exciting field.
- The Singapore Engineering Biology Week brings our community together with international, academic, industry and public-sector partners to exchange ideas and explore opportunities
Why Engineering Biology Matters
3. Engineering biology can enable a wide range of innovations, by programming and harnessing living cells.
- We can create new material and medicine, and make everyday products more efficiently and sustainably.
4. Singapore is well-positioned to make a contribution — tackling global challenges while strengthening advanced manufacturing and supply-chain resilience.
5. Our strong base of research talent is already turning this potential into real breakthroughs.
- At the HH@NUS SINERGY Laboratory, for instance, our researchers have found how to use living cells as factories to make the building blocks of PTT — a polymer used in fibres and fabrics. This could help us produce clothing and other everyday products with a smaller environmental footprint, compared to conventional fossil-based sources. And this is not just a laboratory idea: products from this work are already entering industrial production and international markets.
- Another example is DHA production. DHA is an important nutrient used in food and supplements, which today is obtained primarily from fish. Researchers at the Wilmar-NUS Corporate Laboratory have engineered microorganisms to produce DHA. With the work moving towards pilot-scale production, this could become a new, more sustainable source of the nutrient.
Building Capability Through NCEB
6. To seize such emerging opportunities, we must continue to deepen our capabilities in engineering biology and turn ideas into real-life solutions.
7. Funded by the National Research Foundation and hosted by NUS, NCEB will connect researchers, institutions and industry partners to do research and take it towards practical application.
8. NCEB will also nurture the scientists and innovators who will shape the field's future.
- Students and researchers will work across disciplines and institutions, and engage industry on real-world needs.
- In doing so, they will deepen their expertise and make an impact.
Growing Singapore's Bioeconomy
9. We must also enable promising solutions from NCEB and elsewhere to be adopted and commercialised.
- I am therefore glad to announce that the Government will set aside $118 million over the next five years for a new Bioeconomy Funding Initiative, under the Research, Innovation and Enterprise 2030 plan. It will support industry-aligned research in this field by our Institutes of Higher Learning and A*STAR, bringing our strengths closer to industry needs and wider application. A new Bioeconomy Innovation Office in A*STAR will coordinate these efforts with the Economic Development Board and research partners, helping promising innovations reach adoption and commercialisation.
Conclusion
10. In closing, I thank the National Research Foundation, NUS, our partner institutions, industry partners and the wider community for growing Singapore's engineering biology capabilities.
11. With NCEB, the new Initiative and our strong partnerships, Singapore can seize these opportunities — improving lives and contributing solutions to the world.
12. Thank you, and congratulations.