IBN Partners Four Schools to Encourage More Young Singaporeans to Pursue Scientific Research

IBN is the first research institute to establish formal agreements with four schools in Singapore to develop future scientists and technopreneurs. The School of Science and Technology, Singapore, NUS High School of Mathematics and Science, Singapore Polytechnic and National Junior College formalized their partnerships with IBN through Memoranda of Understanding on January 22, 2010 at the 7th IBN Young Researchers' Nite in Biopolis, Singapore. IBN will cooperate with its four official partner schools to create greater awareness among their students of the impact of bioengineering and nanotechnology research through IBN's Youth Research Program (YRP) outreach events such as open houses, science camps, seminars and career talks. IBN Director and YRP Chair, Ms Noreena AbuBakar said, "We are delighted to establish official partnerships with these schools to encourage more young Singaporeans to pursue scientific research. The Memoranda of Understanding symbolize our collective commitment to nurture more scientific talents to boost the biomedical industry in Singapore."

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New IBN Eye Laboratory and NUH Eye Centre in Biopolis

Marking a significant bench to bedside research milestone in Singapore, the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN), the world's first bioengineering and nanotechnology research institute, and the National University Hospital (NUH) are pleased to launch IBN iCare and the NUH Eye Centre @ Biopolis at an official opening ceremony officiated by the Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry and Education, Mr S. Iswaran, at the Biopolis on November 3, 2009.

Collaborations between researchers and clinicians are critical to speed up the translation of basic scientific discoveries into clinical applications, and develop new medical products and treatments. IBN iCare is the first research laboratory in Singapore to focus on the development of cutting-edge nanomaterials for ocular therapy. The NUH Eye Centre @ Biopolis will provide a clinical research environment that facilitates the development of new materials and techniques for ophthalmology practice. IBN's nanostructured ocular materials will undergo clinical trials at the NUH Eye Centre prior to commercial applications.

Speech by Mr S Iswaran, Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry and Education, at the Official Opening of IBN iCare and NUH Eye Centre @ Biopolis

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IBN Rapid Disease Diagnostic Kit Awarded Best Innovation Prize

A Special Award for "Best Innovation in Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Applications" has been clinched by IBN for technology to rapidly detect infectious diseases. The winning IBN technology, known as the MicroKit, competed in the 2009 ASEAN Virtual Instrumentation Applications Contest organized by National Instruments. IBN's MicroKit is a portable, automated device that can provide for sample preparation and disease diagnosis in less than 2 hours using inexpensive, disposable cartridges. MicroKit runs the laboratory processes associated with DNA and RNA extraction and detection at the touch of a button without risking sample exposure and contamination. The MicroKit team, represented by James Hsieh, received the prize from ASEAN National Instruments at the award ceremony on October 22, 2009. The team is led by Prof. Jackie Y. Ying, IBN Executive Director, and Dr. Mo-Huang Li, and consists of Guolin Xu, Daniel Lee, Xing Lun Looi, Dr. Emril Mohamed Ali, and Dr. Hong Xie.

IBN Team Wins European Vision Institute Photo Prize for Vision Research and Ophthalmology

Scientists at IBN have been awarded the 2nd prize for the 1st Vision Research Picture Competition 2009 on "The Best Photo in Vision Research and Ophthalmology" in October 2009 by the European Vision Institute, Belgium, in association with Heidelberg Engineering. The winning IBN image submitted by Dr Saravana Kumar, IBN Research Scientist and Dr Zhuo Lang, IBN Team Leader and Principal Research Scientist, was selected from 110 competitive entries from around the world. The IBN team won their prize for a picture that is a composite of two in vivo retinal fluorescence images of an F1 hybrid (FVB/NxC57BL/6J) mouse. The mouse retina image shows a transgene that enables the expression of the retinal glial cells (green), and the picture also shows the corresponding retinal vasculature (red) visualized via fluorescein angiography. These images were captured sequentially before being spatially registered through affine transformation to generate the composite image. The IBN image illustrates the close interaction between the glial cells and the blood vessels as the blood vessels are surrounded by glial cells. IBN’s advanced bioimaging also underlines the potential for quantifying retinal gliosis, an in vivo biomarker for various retinopathies, through a preclinical mouse model.

IBN's New Ultrasensitive Electronic Sensor Array Speeds Up DNA Detection
Cost-effective technology has impact on disease diagnosis and biological research

IBN scientists have successfully developed a novel electronic sensor array for more rapid, accurate and cost-efficient testing of DNA for disease diagnosis and biological research. This study was published recently in a leading international chemistry journal, Journal of the American Chemical Society [S. Roy, X. J. Chen, M.-H. Li, Y. F. Peng, F. Anariba and Z. Q. Gao, Journal of the American Chemical Society, (2009) DOI: 10.1021/JA901704T]. Called the "Nanogap Sensor Array", IBN's newly developed device has a unique, vertically aligned nanostructure design and a two-surface configuration based on electronic transduction. The sensor comes with a pair of micro-sized metal electrodes separated by a nanogap (5 - 20 nm or approximately 1/50,000 the width of a human hair). The biosensor will translate the presence of DNA into an electrical signal for computer analysis. The distinctively designed sensor chip has the ability to detect DNA more efficiently by "sandwiching" the DNA strands between the two different surfaces. Based on laboratory results, the sensor has shown "excellent" sensitivity at detecting trace amounts of DNA.

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