Dr Sydney Brenner
Scientific Pioneer, Research Mentor
South Africa-born Nobel Laureate Sydney Brenner has played a pivotal role in Singapore’s quest to become a regional hub for biotechnology research and development. With his trademark candour and dry wit, he describes the Singaporean hesitation to ask questions or challenge authority as a “disease” and said that the laboratory he founded gives free rein to young Singaporean scientists to pursue projects borne out of novel ideas and personal motivation.
In the early 1980s, Singapore had no biotechnology industry as it did not have the expertise for it. But by 2003, Singapore had already built a $500 million agency that oversaw all biomedical sciences research. In 2014, biomedical sciences manufacturing output was $21.5 billion, a more than three-fold increase from $6 billion in 2000.
South Africa-born Dr Sydney Brenner, who is widely regarded as one of the greatest biologists of the 20th century, was instrumental in this transformation. Dr Brenner identified messenger RNA, which sends genetic information in cells, and made other breakthroughs that unravelled the mysteries of the genetic code. He developed C. Elegans, a type of roundworm, as the model organism for research into complex organisms. This led to discoveries in organ development, and programmed cell death, which serve fundamental functions in tissue development. Dr Brenner was one of the Nobel Laureates for Physiology or Medicine in 2002.
Dr Brenner made his scientific breakthroughs at the Medical Research Council’s Laboratory for Molecular Biology (LMB) in Cambridge, the United Kingdom. He went on to establish the Molecular Sciences Institute in Berkeley, California, in 1996 and in 2000, moved to The Salk Institute in La Jolla, California where his studies resulted in new ways of analysing gene sequences and a new understanding of the evolution of vertebrates.
Dr Brenner’s relationship with Singapore has spanned three decades. In 1984, Dr Brenner came here for a meeting with the Science Council, which oversaw the development of science and technology policies, at the request of Deputy Prime Minister Dr Goh Keng Swee who was keen on biotechnology research. During that trip, he proposed that the government set up the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB) to develop research capabilities and groom talented postgraduates. Singapore then lacked a talent pool in the biomedical field. Dr Brenner, who said he was “genuinely interested in helping a young country motivated to go in the right direction”, drew a rough plan of the graduate institute, which would be hosted by the NUS, on half a sheet of A4-sized paper and presented this to Dr Goh and Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. Dr Goh was enthusiastic but Lee questioned the value of such an expensive endeavour, adding, “We are still primarily a country of technicians.” Dr Brenner replied, “Prime Minister, if you don’t do something like this then you will remain a nation of technicians.”
The IMCB was launched in 1985 and opened its building in 1987. Dr Brenner was the first chairman of the IMCB’s advisory board. He cited distinguished biochemist and molecular researcher Chris Y. H. Tan—the IMCB’s first executive director—and renowned researchers Chua Nam Hai and Louis Lim, as being instrumental in attracting talent to the institute and building up its international profile through industry collaboration. The IMCB also focused on training Singaporean PhDs. At the IMCB, Dr Brenner had started his own lab—he and his group of researchers focused on genomics, in particular, the fugu (pufferfish) genome project. They mapped the genes of the pufferfish, which has a repertoire of genes similar to humans, and by sequencing the compact genome of the pufferfish, they were able to aid researchers in interpreting the human DNA sequence. Dr Brenner also mentored young scientists and post-doctoral students and delivered public lectures to bring scientific research to a wider audience.
In June 2000, the government launched a Biomedical Sciences Initiative, which aimed to develop the sector as a growth area for the economy. It was formulated by top civil servant Philip Yeo and three renowned medical doctors. Their efforts were directed at creating a strong base in research and development (R&D), developing manpower and intellectual capital, attracting corporations to support R&D and anchoring biomedical sciences manufacturing in Singapore. In January 2002, the A*STAR was created to replace the National Science and Technology Board, which had been in charge of implementing the country’s long-term R&D plans. Dr Brenner became an adviser to A*STAR and was, for several years, chairman of the Biomedical Research Council.
Under A*STAR, new biomedical research institutes were set up and housed in a 2 million sq ft edifice in Buona Vista, built in 2003. Comprising seven buildings, all linked together by hanging glass bridges, it was named the Biopolis, as suggested by Dr Brenner. Today, corporate laboratories of Singapore and international biotechnology companies, and the biomedical research institutes are co-located there to encourage the exchange of ideas and collaboration.
Dr Brenner has been vocal with his views on how biomedical research should be funded. Applied and clinical research, which seeks to turn discoveries into commercial applications or patient treatments, is important. But so is “discovery science” or basic research, which is the quest for new knowledge and investigation of the unknown, he argues. He said, “You’ve got to fund the whole spectrum from the very basic to the very applied. If you fund the clinical work separately, it is of poor quality.”
In the last decade, Dr Brenner has been devoted to redressing what he feels is an “Asian disease”—the hesitation that Singaporeans have in asking questions and challenging authority. In an interview with The Straits Times in 2007, he said that Singapore’s “young scientists are not cheeky enough; they do not ask questions”. The response from the journalist, he recounted in an interview for this book with a twinkle in his eyes, was, “How do we teach them to be cheeky?”
While Singaporeans possess many positive attributes, including the drive and motivation to upgrade themselves, there are other qualities that are essential to innovation, he said. “Science only progresses because authority is questioned. Go and have a look at the life of Galileo,” he said, referring to the Italian astronomer and mathematician who is known as the father of modern science and physics.
In 2009, Dr Brenner founded the Molecular Engineering Lab (MEL) as an laboratory for young Singaporean scientists, to have free rein to pursue their ideas and embark on projects that they are interested in. There are just over 10 researchers—“a radical group, though not in the political sense”, he said—comprising mostly returning A*STAR scholarship holders. At MEL, they meet with Dr Brenner to discuss their ideas and describe how they intend to develop their research programmes. Said Dr Brenner, “It is very not Singaporean to have an open lab, but it is the way I learnt to do science.” He believes that a top-class scientist must be good both at questioning and at doing things. Said Dr Brenner, “It is the combination of ideas and then going right through brick walls when you have to.” For his contributions to Singapore, Dr Brenner was conferred the Honorary Citizen Award in 2003. In 2006, he was awarded the National Science and Technology Medal. He also has an orchid named after him—the Dendrobium Sydney Brenner.
References
Errol C. Friedberg, Sydney Brenner: A Biography (New York: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, 2010).
Carolyn Khew, “Mentor to a Nation’s Science Ambitions”, The Straits Times, September 25, 2015.
Kash Cheong, “Trailblazing Biomedical Research Facility Turns 30”, The Straits Times, May 11, 2015.
Nicolas Wade, “Fish Genes aid Human Discoveries,” The New York Times, July 26, 2002.
Parliament of Singapore, “Estimates of Expenditure for the Financial Year 1st April, 2000 to
31st March, 2001,” March 11, 2000.
Parliament of Singapore, “National Science and Technology Board: (Amendment) Bill,”
August 27, 2002.
Sheo S. Rai, “Overview of the BMS Industry,” APBN 10 (2006),
http://www.asiabiotech.com/publication/apbn/10/english/preserved-docs/1008/0404_0406.pdf.
Tharman Shanmugaratnam, “Speech by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance,
at the Launch of GSK's New Global Headquarters for Asia,” March 11, 2015
http://www.mof.gov.sg/news-reader/articleid/1475/parentId/59/year/2015?category=Speeches
Interviews with Dr Sydney Brenner in March and October 2015.
Dr Sydney Brenner
South Africa b.1927