When Ding Jeak Ling was a child, her father one day brought home a horseshoe crab. She thought it looked like an alien from outer space and was amazed to learn it was totally harmless. Little did she know then that, years later, the horseshoe crab would play a central role in her scientific research and that she and her team would make a discovery that would change the biomedical industry – and save the horseshoe crab from extinction.

Biochemist Jeak Ling, who is a professor at the National University of Singapore’s (NUS) Department of Biological Science, has been researching the fundamentals of innate immunity since 1984. Innate immunity is the defence system with which we are born – the barriers that protect us from having harmful germs enter our bodies.

The horseshoe crab has been around for more than 450 million years. Its unique blue blood has an enzyme known as Factor C that is extremely sensitive to endotoxins from bacteria. For the last 50 years, pharmaceutical and medical device companies have been using this blood to ensure that injectable drugs and medical equipment are free from endotoxins. In other words, the horseshoe crab’s blood is used to help save human lives.

Huge numbers of horseshoe crabs are caught each year and a portion of their blood extracted. The horseshoe crabs are then released back to the sea, but a significant number of them die because of this traumatic process and they have become an endangered species, which also endangers other species in the ecosystem. Furthermore, the process of gathering the creatures and extracting the blood is time consuming, costly, and the batch-to-batch variations lead to inconsistency in the endotoxin test results.

In 2000, after nearly two decades of research, Jeak Ling and her research team including her husband, microbiologist Ho Bow, succeeded in the genetic engineering of the key bacterial detection enzyme called Factor C. This cloned version of recombinant Factor C (rFC) is more stable and chemically consistent than the natural form, thus ensuring unlimited supply of animal-free and standardised endotoxin tests for the biochemical industry.

The technology, commercially known as Pyrogene, is now being used globally to develop safer injectable medications, such as vaccines and intravenous drugs. It is one of the National University of Singapore’s most successfully commercialised technologies.

Jeak Ling has published many research papers in international journals and won several awards for her work. These include the National Science & Technology Award for ‘outstanding contributions to genetic engineering’ in 1995, the Far Eastern Economic Review Innovations in Award in 2000, and the NUS Outstanding Researcher Award in 2000 and 2008.

In 2016, she was one of two women awarded the Singapore National Academy of Science (SNAS) Fellowship. It was the first time that the SNAS Fellowship, which was established in 1977, went to women scientists.

Jeak Ling counts among her role models British chemist Rosalind Franklin who, she says, despite gender bias, “made monumental discoveries that lent necessary insights into solving the DNA structure”.

For Jeak Ling herself as a female scientist, there were challenges in building and maintaining a robust laboratory while also nurturing two children at home. She was able to manage because, she said, she had strong and consistent family support.

Her message to young women contemplating a career in science is: “It is not impossible to do good quality research and at the same time bring up a family. Persevere, and never give up, even in the midst of challenges. Enjoy each moment of successful and exciting new findings and the next one will be even bigger and better. Make every piece of work a masterpiece.”

When Ding Jeak Ling was a child, her father one day brought home a horseshoe crab. She thought it looked like an alien from outer space and was amazed to learn it was totally harmless. Little did she know then that, years later, the horseshoe crab would play a central role in her scientific research and that she and her team would make a discovery that would change the biomedical industry – and save the horseshoe crab from extinction.

Biochemist Jeak Ling, who is a professor at the National University of Singapore’s (NUS) Department of Biological Science, has been researching the fundamentals of innate immunity since 1984. Innate immunity is the defence system with which we are born – the barriers that protect us from having harmful germs enter our bodies.

The horseshoe crab has been around for more than 450 million years. Its unique blue blood has an enzyme known as Factor C that is extremely sensitive to endotoxins from bacteria. For the last 50 years, pharmaceutical and medical device companies have been using this blood to ensure that injectable drugs and medical equipment are free from endotoxins. In other words, the horseshoe crab’s blood is used to help save human lives.

Huge numbers of horseshoe crabs are caught each year and a portion of their blood extracted. The horseshoe crabs are then released back to the sea, but a significant number of them die because of this traumatic process and they have become an endangered species, which also endangers other species in the ecosystem. Furthermore, the process of gathering the creatures and extracting the blood is time consuming, costly, and the batch-to-batch variations lead to inconsistency in the endotoxin test results.

In 2000, after nearly two decades of research, Jeak Ling and her research team including her husband, microbiologist Ho Bow, succeeded in the genetic engineering of the key bacterial detection enzyme called Factor C. This cloned version of recombinant Factor C (rFC) is more stable and chemically consistent than the natural form, thus ensuring unlimited supply of animal-free and standardised endotoxin tests for the biochemical industry.

The technology, commercially known as Pyrogene, is now being used globally to develop safer injectable medications, such as vaccines and intravenous drugs. It is one of the National University of Singapore’s most successfully commercialised technologies.

Jeak Ling has published many research papers in international journals and won several awards for her work. These include the National Science & Technology Award for ‘outstanding contributions to genetic engineering’ in 1995, the Far Eastern Economic Review Innovations in Award in 2000, and the NUS Outstanding Researcher Award in 2000 and 2008.

In 2016, she was one of two women awarded the Singapore National Academy of Science (SNAS) Fellowship. It was the first time that the SNAS Fellowship, which was established in 1977, went to women scientists.

Jeak Ling counts among her role models British chemist Rosalind Franklin who, she says, despite gender bias, “made monumental discoveries that lent necessary insights into solving the DNA structure”.

For Jeak Ling herself as a female scientist, there were challenges in building and maintaining a robust laboratory while also nurturing two children at home. She was able to manage because, she said, she had strong and consistent family support.

Her message to young women contemplating a career in science is: “It is not impossible to do good quality research and at the same time bring up a family. Persevere, and never give up, even in the midst of challenges. Enjoy each moment of successful and exciting new findings and the next one will be even bigger and better. Make every piece of work a masterpiece.”