Cover Story: Infectious Diseases

• Singapore’s Relentless War Against Infectious Diseases
  Researchers rise to the challenge of developing diagnostics, vaccines, and therapeutics against infectious diseases.

• SARS Special
  Singapore Joins the SARS War
  Scientists and clinicians pool their expertise and resources to fight SARS.

• A Defensive Approach to Diagnostics for Infectious Diseases
  Singapore’s defence institute works to enhance the speed and sensitivity of diagnostics for various infectious diseases of national interest.

• Busting Drug-Resistant Bugs
  Advances and measures to knock out resistant pathogens.

• Flushing out Hidden TB Bugs
  Singapore researchers pursue drug-resistant tuberculosis bacteria, which kill two billion people worldwide.

• Toxins as Educational Agents
  By studying the specific actions of deadly toxins, scientists may acquire knowledge that saves lives.

• Blocking Fungal Proliferation in the Body
  One way to arrest candidiasis, an infection deadly to AIDS patients, is to knock out the fungus’ iron-grabbing gene.

• The Inside Story of the Malaria Parasite
  Unravelling the mysteries of the malariacausing parasite within the cell may lead to the discovery of the elusive ultimate vaccine.

• Sleeping with the Enemy: Understanding Sleeping Sickness and Malaria
  Biologists identify the genes that allow the parasites responsible for sleeping sickness and malaria to evade the host immune system.

• Bioinformatics Speeds up Search for Cures
  Researchers teach computers to do largescale immunology, which is emerging as the next wave in a traditional field.

• Developing Vaccines Against Viruses
  Johns Hopkins looks for ways to develop vaccines that will target infectious diseases endemic to Southeast Asia.

• Combating Singapore’s Dengue Resurgence
  Public health research in Singapore could counter the re-emergence of dengue, which has affected thousands of young adults.

• Tracking West Nile Virus Replication

• Ticking Time Bombs in the Body: Cancer-Causing Viruses
  A microbiologist who has found a receptor presenting a viral peptide probably responsible for activating nasopharyngeal carcinoma is using the knowledge to design a detection test.

• Lilly-NUS Centre Tests Hepatitis B Drug
  Clinical trials in Singapore have produced encouraging results on a promising hepatitis B drug.

• Clinical Trials: The Key to Safe Drugs

• Drug Discovery the Natural Way
  More than half of today’s approved drugs are either natural products or substances related to them.

• The Pharmaceutical Industry in Singapore

Features

• New Hope for a Very Personal Matter
  Current advances in erectile dysfunction research.

• Nanotechnology in Tissue Engineering
  Harnessing the regenerative power innate in cells to replace tissues and organs.

• Nano-Wafer-Level Packaging to Revolutionise Semiconductors
  Singapore may well be the seedbed for a new generation of chips produced with nanopackaging in wafer fabrication.

• DARPA Expert Looks Beyond MEMS
  A former DARPA programme manager shares intelligence on cutting-edge research in the defence arena.

Departments

• Editorial
  Battling infectious diseases on multiple fronts.

• In Brief
  Innovation highlights in various fields.

• Industry Updates
  Significant industry developments worldwide.

• Viewpoint
  A psychologist looks at some of the measures Singapore adopted in its fight against SARS that can help the nation maintain its preparedness for possible subsequent outbreaks.

• Spotlight
  Sir Paul Nurse, 2001 Nobel laureate in medicine, talks about the potential rewards of working in basic research.

• Calendar

• Advertiser