Singapore hosts embryo stem cell meeting

Over 500 delegates attended a conference on embryo stem cell research held in Singapore last week. The country has become a focus for scientists hoping to develop new disease treatments using stem cells derived from early embryos. Such cells are the body's 'master cells': capable, under the right conditions, of developing into any type of tissue. One aim of the conference was apparently to attract more investment and scientists to Singapore, particularly from the US and Europe.

Topics covered at the three-day meeting included the basic biology of stem cells, clinical applications of the research and potential ethical concerns. One US delegate announced that he has created 17 new embryo stem cell-lines, which he intends to make available to other researchers by early next year. Douglas Melton, of Harvard University, hopes that the cell-lines will help develop new treatments for diabetes and other illnesses. 'The ostensibly available lines are too few' he said, referring to the embryo stem cell lines that government-funded US researchers are allowed to work with.

The Singapore government also unveiled its new bioscience research centre, Biopolis, during the conference. The high-tech village will host both public-sector research institutes and private biomedical companies. Costing 500m dollars to build, it will eventually be home to more than 2000 scientists working in areas such as genomics, stem cells and nanotechnology. 'There's a very good talent base, particularly in the molecular biology skills that we're looking for, said Ian Gray of UK firm Paradigm Therapeutics, who have already moved into Biopolis. Alan Colman, one of the scientists involved in cloning Dolly the sheep - the world's first cloned mammal - also moved to Singapore recently.