11.8 News Feat Yeo

NATURE|Vol 436|11 August 2005 NEWS FEATURE A*STAR

“As a bureaucrat, I don’t tell the scientists what to do. I let them decide.”— Philip Yeo

An irresistible force

Singapore’s impressive advances in biomedicine are driven by the energetic personality of Philip Yeo. David Cyranoski meets a man who just can’t stand still.

odesty is not one of Philip Yeo’s specializing in genomics, bioinformatics, bio- and electronics industries that has under- faults. As we tour Biopolis, the processing and bioengineering. It is part of a pinned Singapore’s economic miracle. And futuristic complex that is the cen- multibillion-dollar investment in biomedicine, in a country where the boundaries between Mtrepiece of Yeo’s efforts to turn designed to nurture industries in biotechnol- government and business are somewhat Singapore into a powerhouse for biomedical ogy and drugs. Yeo has led from the front, blurry, he has also become a wealthy electron- research, he announces that he has never failed enforcing an aggressive schedule and attract- ics entrepreneur. in an attempt to headhunt a leading scientist to ing some of the biggest names in biology to join the campus. “I have patience,” he says with head the complex’s lavishly equipped labs. Island builder a wry smile. “He has so much energy. If you tapped it, you By the late 1990s, Yeo’s attention had shifted to Yeo’s friends and admirers will be amused could light a small city,” says cell biologist Axel the chemical industry. In his office, he proudly by this comment. Ask them for a description Ullrich, who was recruited from the Max shows me satellite images documenting the of him and the adjectives flow readily: persis- Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Martins- year-by-year construction of an artificial island tent, passionate, provocative, even playful. But ried, Germany. named Jurong. Today, it houses a huge petro- patience is rarely identified as a trait of this Biomedical research is just the latest endeav- chemical complex and has attracted some government official — a man whose charis- our to be swept up by the Yeo whirlwind. An US$23 billion in investments from multi- matic influence on his nation’s science policy engineer by training, his career took off in national companies. “It takes about five years to has no obvious parallel anywhere in the world. the 1970s when, as an official in the Ministry build each industry. Then I move on,” he says. Since 1999, Yeo has chaired Singapore’s of Defence, he helped to turn a struggling Given this track record, Yeo has the trust of main research organization, now known as the manufacturer of munitions for the Singa- Singapore’s leaders, who have given him Agency for Science, Technology and Research, porean military into an international supplier almost total control over the nation’s science or A*STAR. Over the past couple of years, the of armaments. Then, as chairman of the budget. In a society known for its conser- agency has spent some US$300 million build- Economic Development Board from 1986, he vatism, he’s a one-off — an impish character ing Biopolis, which houses research institutes oversaw the expansion of the semiconductor who darts out his tongue to punctuate each

767 © 2005Nature PublishingGroup NEWS FEATURE NATURE|Vol 436|11 August 2005 provocative statement, and who clearly rel- A*STAR scholars are now foreigners and ishes every minute of his working day. Singaporean women.

Three walls in his office are covered by white And during our interview, he can’t help CORP. JTC writing boards. As he explains his plans for taking another shot at Nature’s coverage of his Biopolis, Yeo jumps up and scribbles notes. controversial 2001 move to close the Institute Again, he shows me satellite images, before we of Molecular Agrobiology. At the time, Yeo drive to the complex for a whistle-stop tour. In suggested that the journal should have paid addition to the gleaming labs, he makes a point the institute’s running costs. Even now Yeo of showing me the basement car park — a scoffs at the idea that the institute might have colour-coded expanse that wouldn’t look out of been able to offer agriculture-related intellec- place at an international airport — and a new tual property to Singapore’s economy. “You’ve French restaurant. “It is a self-contained city,” got to be kidding!” he exclaims. says Yeo. “The only thing I can’t control is the weather.” Breaking the mould Yet Yeo has found biomedicine a tougher nut It’s not what I’ve come to expect from high-level to crack than the subjects of his previous grand government officials, but Yeo’s supporters say schemes. “With biology you have to read and that his combative and autocratic traits are part read before you can absorb and understand,” he of the package that makes him so effective. It’s says. When Biopolis was on the drawing board, difficult to imagine a similar character rising to he took Saturday tutorials on immunology the top in the more consensual environment of from local researchers. “Immunology is related most national research agencies, says Ullrich. to sexy fields such as stem cells and cancer, but “Elsewhere, there is no space for people like it has been neglected,” he says. Next to his office Yeo,” he notes. “He would become frustrated.” is a room full of primary literature on all of If Yeo can deliver on his promise to turn these fields. When he finds something interest- Singapore into a biotech and pharmaceutical ing, he sends it to scientists at his institutes. “I powerhouse, its leaders will forgive him the do my homework,” he says. occasional spat. Drug manufacturers lured to Singapore by generous tax breaks are Magnetic personality already bringing in annual revenues of about For some of the big names who have been US$9.5 billion a year. Yeo predicts that by attracted to Biopolis, Yeo’s personal enthusiasm Powerhouse: Singapore’s Biopolis is attracting 2015 the commercial spin-offs from home- for their work was a powerful draw. “He always top names in biological research. grown research will have boosted this figure to sends PDFs of papers he’s reading. I’m just try- US$15 billion. ing to keep up with him,” says David Lane, who The promotion of youth is a recurring The next phase of Yeo’s master plan is the in January was recruited from the University of theme. In Yeo’s office, there are few greying Centre for Molecular Medicine, where 150 Dundee in Scotland to head the Institute of civil servants; instead, he is surrounded by a researchers will bring advances in regenerative Molecular and Cell Biology at Biopolis. coterie of bright, sharply dressed young staff. medicine, oncogenomics, immunology and Even more popular is Yeo’s policy of giving During our interview, they rush around pro- epithelial biology to the clinic. Currently his principal investigators large five-year viding background material to reinforce the housed in Biopolis, it will move next year to grants with no strings attached. “As a bureau- points their boss is making. the nearby National University of Singapore, crat, I don’t tell the scientists what to do. I let But Yeo’s aggressive youth policy has gained to take advantage of its teaching hospital. them decide,” he says. The lucky recipients say critics, as well as admirers. In early May, one The centre will include a facility for the they can get things done in months that else- Singaporean student working in the United scaled-up production of stem cells for clinical where would take years just to clear the red States, writing a weblog under the pseudonym use. “Nobody’s doing that,” says Yeo. “Industri- tape. “It’s fun,” says Lane. “I’ve never before ‘AcidFlask’, criticized A*STAR’s scholarship alization is Singapore’s strength.” And by 2010, been anywhere they say you can do whatever scheme and the expectations it places on stu- an expanded Biopolis will be joined by an you want.” dents. A*STAR immediately threatened legal information-technology hub called Fusionop- In addition to headhunting big-hitters such action, and the student — not himself an olis, plus a complex designed to incubate spin- as Lane, renowned for his work on the p53 A*STAR scholar — apologized for a posting off businesses. tumour-suppressor gene, Yeo has made a that was “defamatory of A*STAR, its Chair- Lane sees the early signs of commercial concerted effort to bring young people into man, Mr. Philip Yeo, and its executive officers”. success in the form of collaborations among science. Recruitment posters present biology With characteristic wit, Yeo issued a press institutes at Biopolis and industry. And with as a hip activity. One, in a scene reminiscent of release inviting the blogger to tea. drug giants such Novartis and Eli Lilly estab- The Simpsons, pictures a student at a black- Yeo seems to relish such confrontations. In lishing research bases at Biopolis, the future board repeatedly scrawling: “I will not geneti- a newspaper interview given shortly after the looks promising. “It’s an amazing experiment cally manipulate the class hamster”. Another incident, he laid into male students who break here,” says Lane. “I was overwhelmed by the features an attractive young woman — the their contractual obligations to work for opportunity.” ‘DNA girl’ — with a double-helix tattoo encir- A*STAR for six years after their scholarships, Indeed, the biggest worry for many of Sin- cling her arm. The caption reads: “Got a burn- saying he was tired of “whining Singaporean gapore’s scientific leaders is what will happen ing passion for science? We’ll take it to the boys”. He hands me a copy of the article. “I had should Yeo eventually retire. A youthful-look- highest level.” to scold them,” he says, adding that most ing 58, Yeo shows no signs of slowing down. Those fast-tracked into A*STAR university And he is typically provocative when asked scholarships get generous grants, but are given “Biopolis is a self-contained city. how Singaporean science would fare if he were only three years to finish courses that take no longer around. “I’m not indispensable,” he most students four. And Yeo thinks the bright- The only thing I can’t control is says, “but I am irreplaceable.” ■ est could be pushed still harder. “They could the weather.” — Philip Yeo David Cyranoski is Nature’s Asian-Pacific do it in two years,” he says. correspondent.