Wilmar and National University of Singapore open new research facility

Singapore-based agribusiness group Wilmar International (Wilmar) and the National University of Singapore (NUS) have established a new research laboratory known as WIL@NUS with an investment of S$110m ($81m).

The 2,000m² laboratory is located at the NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine and will primarily be used to conduct research into clinical nutrition and synthetic biology in order to address the growing need for healthier food products and ingredients.

WIL@NUS comprises two main research clusters.

The first cluster aims to address public health issues such as diabetes and obesity by studying the impact of food structure and composition on nutrition and health within Asian populations.

It intends to develop healthier foods in order to address this issue, including satay made of plant protein and a combination of oils with the best ratio of nutrients.

The second cluster will focus on the processes that underlie the production of oleochemicals, which are used in the production of everyday consumer products.

NUS president Professor Tan Eng Chye said: “This win-win partnership combines NUS’ strong expertise in biomedical sciences and translational medicine with Wilmar’s rich industry experience and global networks to address two pressing real-world challenges, lifestyle-related diseases and sustainable production of industrial chemicals.”

Researchers at WIL@NUS will leverage the recent advancements in synthetic biology to work on engineering new microbes and enzymes, which are expected to enable them to produce oleochemicals in a more sustainable manner.

Wilmar chairman and CEO Kuok Khoon Hong said: “We hope that this gathering of great minds will result in the development of new technologies that can enhance the quality of our food products, and at the same time reduce our carbon footprint.

“This way, consumers worldwide will benefit.”

WIL@NUS plans to train more than 60 researchers and PhD students over the next five years to support the growth of the food and nutrition industry, as well as synthetic biology-related industries within Singapore and Asia.