Keep up to date with developments on COVID-19, as NUS News brings you the latest research in the fight against the virus. 

Professor José Ignacio Latorre has been appointed as the new Director of the Centre for Quantum Technologies at NUS, and will assume the position on 27 July 2020.

Global events such as COVID-19 can subject food supplies to severe fluctuations. Professor Yu Hao, Head of NUS Biological Sciences, discusses genome editing as a way to boost local food production, and shares his team’s research on modifying genes in different crops to improve yield.

Dr Tan Hsien-Li from the NUS Centre for International Law and NUS Law examines how previous crises – the Asian Financial Crisis, dot com bust, SARS and the global financial downturn of 2008 – have prepared ASEAN and galvanised its members into closer cooperation in tackling the pandemic.

The NUS Students’ Union has launched the NUSSU Unity Relief Fund to help financially-needy undergraduates impacted by COVID-19. This initiative complements the earlier-announced NUS Students Solidarity Fund in reaching out to more students with financial aid.

Developed by NUS researchers, this stretchable, self-healing and illuminating material has promising applications such as damage-proof flexible display screens and illuminating electronic skin for autonomous soft robots.  

NUS has teamed up with ST Engineering to pioneer new network encryption solutions that provide superior security by leveraging next-generation quantum cryptography technology.

Assistant Professor Andy Tay from NUS Biomedical Engineering is the only Singaporean selected by the World Economic Forum (WEF) to be in its Class of 2020 Young Scientists. He is among 25 young researchers under the age of 40 honoured.

NUS has raised $300 million through its inaugural green bond, believed to be the first of its kind among universities in Asia. The proceeds will be used to support the University’s sustainability projects.  

The photo above shows microscopic imaging of the control (left) and rejuvenated fibroblasts (right), with fluorescent labels highlighting the nucleus (blue), nuclear envelope (green), and cytoskeleton (in magenta). The presence of more contractile proteins (in red) in the rejuvenated fibroblasts indicates that they have recovered their ability to contract.