Modesty is not one of Philip Yeo's faults. As we tour Biopolis, the futuristic complex that is the centrepiece of Yeo's efforts to turn Singapore into a powerhouse for biomedical research, he announces that he has never failed in an attempt to headhunt a leading scientist to join the campus. "I have patience," he says with a wry smile. Yeo's friends and admirers will be amused by this comment. Ask them for a description of him and the adjectives flow readily: persistent, passionate, provocative, even playful. But patience is rarely identified as a trait of this government official — a man whose charismatic influence on his nation's science policy has no obvious parallel anywhere in the world. Since 1999, Yeo has chaired Singapore's main research organization, now known as the Agency for Science, Technology and Research, or A*STAR. Over the past couple of years, the agency has spent some US$300 million building Biopolis, which houses research institutes specializing in genomics, bioinformatics, bio-processing and bioengineering. It is part of a multibillion-dollar investment in biomedicine, designed to nurture industries in biotechnology and drugs. Yeo has led from the front, enforcing an aggressive schedule and attracting some of the biggest names in biology to head the complex's lavishly equipped labs. "He has so much energy. If you tapped it, you could light a small city," says cell biologist Axel Ullrich, who was recruited from the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Martins-ried, Germany.
展开▼
