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SO SAD

Excerpted from: "Trapped in the cell of a mindset"

By Journalist: Tan Hui Leng

(mailto:huileng@newstoday.com.sg)

Ref: TODAY (1 February 2006)

Disgraced South Korean Hwang Woo-suk claimed to have produced ... stem cells, only for his data to be exposed as fabricated. This should have left Singapore, the other hot life-sciences contender in Asia, in pole position to take a lead in this promising field.

But there's a catch.

Although scientists here recognise the potential of this field of research, they have refused to touch it. Reason: They are waiting for Government guidelines.

It seems a typical Singapore dilemma. The Government has not elaborated on the markers on this new and emerging field of research, and the scientists will not go ahead until everything has been spelt out. Meanwhile, researchers elsewhere are racing ahead.

"There's this perception in Singapore that if the Government doesn't give clear signals about something, you don't do it," said co-chairman of the Singapore Stem Cell Consortium Prof Lee Eng Hin.

So even though there are stem cell scientists in Singapore interested in exploring this area -- called therapeutic cloning because of the promise it holds for curing ailments -- they stop short of actually trying. Some of the issues include whether licenses are required to perform therapeutic cloning, and which practices are ethical.

"The scientists are not sure how the regulation works in Singapore," said Prof Lee.