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Short abstract:

This research examines the supplements of Germfree Mouse Unit (GMU) for germfree and gnotobiotic mice in terms of in vivo experiments at Biopolis, inquiring into the establishment of Singaporean nationhood today and its geopolitical ties to Asian countries.

Long abstract:

Existing research regards Biopolis in Singapore as one of the most successful models for national-centralised and governmentally-funded biomedical science centres across Asian countries. The success of Biopolis has been advantaged by Singaporean economic-political typology and its geo-ecological location. Scholars including Aihwa Ong, Michael Fisher, Michiel van Meeteren, et al. have debated Biopolis’ uniqueness as an Asian model of biomedical science centres with comparisons to other biomedical centres and/or industrial clusters in United Kingdom and at San Francisco and Boston in the United States.

Although the political sentiment of Singapore is often regarded as less liberal than countries like the U.S. and U.K., and although numerous political scientists consider Singapore a democratic authoritarian state, regulations of pharma-manufacturing in Singapore are surprisingly less stringent regarding animal experimental ethical integrity. Besides, the centralised-controlled and state-funded features of Biopolis are somewhat attractive for biopharma companies because these facilitate the application process to the government of using germfree and gnotobiotic mice in in vivo experiments for clinical trials of manufacturing medicine, especially after Biopolis' industrial alignment shifts in 2010 led by Singaporean government and after the establishment of Germeree Mouse Unit (GMU) in 2022. Today, GMU is one of the world's largest biological resource centres, allegedly breeding about 250,000 mice in Biopolis.

This research examines GMU to scrutinise the establishment of Singaporean nationhood and its geo-political ties to East and Southeast Asian countries at both private sectors and governmental levels with its means to the supplement of germfree and gnotobiotic mice for in vivo experiments.