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Nanyang Alumni Achievement Award Recipient (2006)
南洋校友成就奖获奖者(2006)
~Professor Hew Choy Leong 丘才良教授~
SOLVING RIDDLE OF ANTI-FREEZING IN FISH
Known for research into fish anti-freeze proteins, Professor Hew Choy Leong's discovery holds potential applications in aquaculture and agriculture. By cloning and transplanting the genes encoding these proteins, it is possible to confer cold-resistance to other fishes, animals or plants.
After graduating in 1964 with a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Nanyang University, he obtained a Master of Science in Chemistry from Simon Fraser University, Vancouver in 1966, and a Ph.D. in Protein Chemistry from the University of British Columbia in 1970. He was a biochemistry professor at the University of Toronto before being appointed as Head of Biological Sciences at National University of Singapore (NUS) in 1999.
Prof Hew has been involved in the study of fish anti-freeze proteins, the molecular endocrinology of fish pituitary hormones, the biotechnological applications of transgenic fishes and recently, the functional genomics of shrimp and fish viruses, and the discovery of protein biomarkers in several human cancers. His laboratory in Canada was the first to create the fastest-growing transgenic salmon. In his current position as Director of Life Sciences at NUS, he continues to promote the importance and potentials of biotechnology to improve human healthcare, aquaculture and agriculture.
His initial groundbreaking discovery was pure serendipity. In 1975 he was conducting insulin research on cod fish at the Ocean Sciences Centre in Newfoundland, Canada. "One morning I was told that all my 200-plus cod kept in a tank were frozen to death due to the unexpectedly low seawater temperature," he recalls. "To my surprise, there were some flatfish still swimming in the same tank. I was struck with the obvious question, 'How come these flatfish did not freeze to death?' A fish physiologist suggested the fish might contain some 'anti-freeze molecules'. This was the beginning of my research in anti-freeze proteins and their application in transgenic fish."
For his work, he received many accolades, including being named Most Outstanding Young Scientist in the Atlantic Provinces of Canada in 1980, and winning the 1993 Award of Merit by the Federation of Chinese Canadian Professionals. He is also the younger brother of 2005 Nanyang Alumni Achievement Award recipient Prof Hew Choy Sin, a leading orchid scientist.
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