A COLLABORATION is under way between Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and the University of California, Berkeley to study and develop exciting new technologies in synthetic biology, stem-cell research and energy efficiency.

A two-day workshop held at NTU, which ended on Tuesday, provided a platform for 30 researchers from the two universities to exchange ideas.

Six programmes have been identified, including one that will use synthetic biology to develop microbes to produce life-saving drugs like Taxol - the anti-cancer drug now extracted from the bark of the scarce Pacific Yew tree - more cheaply.

Another will explore methods to improve energy efficiency in buildings built within the tropical climate zone, where air-conditioning can constitute 60 per cent of total energy consumption.

NTU president Su Guaning said the research areas were of 'global significance' and also targeted for research excellence in Singapore. On the collaboration, he said: 'UC Berkeley is widely seen as...a leader in cross-disciplinary research areas such as bioengineering and clean energy.' It is the first partnership between the two institutions.

Professor Pan Tso-Chien, the dean of NTU's college of engineering, said faculty members and students from both universities will visit one another to work on joint projects. The collaboration will involve pooling resources 'in a synergised and coordinated manner', he said.

The emerging field of synthetic biology, which taps the biosciences and engineering to create or genetically manipulate unique life forms to produce life-saving drugs more cheaply, holds the greatest potential for Singapore, said Prof Jay Keasling of UC Berkeley's department of bioengineering and chemical engineering.

'Synthetic biology could potentially be the next generation of the chemicals industry,' he told The Straits Times.

AMRESH GUNASINGHAM

This article was first published in The Straits Times.