Singapore is betting S$118 million (about $92 million) on living 'factories'

What if fuel, plastics, and chemicals came not from oil wells but from living organisms? Singapore is putting S$118 million (about $92 million) — its largest-ever bioeconomy funding push — behind exactly that idea. Announced October 5, the initiative brings total national commitment to about S$200 million (about $156 million) over five years and launches a National Centre for Engineering Biology at NUS, where researchers will use enzymes and engineered microbes to brew sustainable aviation fuel, biomethane, and castor-oil-derived polymers. The goal: reinvent the chemicals industry that makes up a fifth of Singapore's manufacturing — without the petroleum.