Asian Regeneration

In Asian Regeneration?: Nationalism and Internationalism in Stem Cell Research in South Korea and Singapore Charis Thompson discusses the way stem cell research has been carried out in the 'Asian Tiger' countries of Singapore and South Korea.  He starts by discussing the impact that the stem cell revolution has had around the world and why it has played such a vital role in the scientific community in Asia.  Thompson really wanted to highlight the differences between the two countries and the way went about studying stem cells, because the author claims many people tend to lump the Asian countries all together.  Instead, these countries take advantage of the way that Western countries (such as the United States) have a more limited role in research.  Due to health/safety/ethical regulations, stem cell research in the US is limited.  However, the potential benefits that stem cell research holds, make conducting further research quite tempting for countries not restricted by ethical regulations.  For instance, as the field is still relatively young, there are many innovations to be made that can bring acclaim to both scientists and to their nation.  Additionally, economic benefits and intellectual property benefits are two additional ways that countries could prosper from research not dominated by the United States.  Through ethnographic research in a Singapore and South Korean lab, Thompson discovers the way the two countries have differed in their stem cell studies.   Briefly, in South Korea, the concept of nationalism was far more prevalent in the lab (and in its explanations for its scientific successes).  Singapore, on the other hand, had much more of an international feel within its lab (both less nationalistic in its pride and with the diverse researchers working at Biopolis).  An example highlighted by Thompson was the way the zebrafish were housed at Biopolis: they were organized in an 'American style' and 'German style'.  By appealing to international scientists, Singapore was able to establish itself as more of a business wanting to establish economic growth within itself.  As stem cell research still remains a new and promising field, it will be interesting to see where countries in Asia as well as other scientifically ambitious countries decide to take their research endeavors.  It will also be interesting to see if/when stem cell research will become a larger research project within the United States, and how this will effect countries who are taking advantage of the current lack of research coming out of the US in this field.