Impacting science and science impact

As a kid, I had the image of a scientist as a person who would be holed up in a dark room, has frizzy Einstein-like hair, scribbling equations on scrap papers. When I was 17, I had the opportunity to attend a one month intensive research program at NTU. This was a "stay-in" program where we had to do one month of intense hands-on research in a lab. This was my first experience with research. 

The work I did was on developing smart hydrogels for drug delivery applications. I was curious and I asked my professor, when can I see these gels being applied to humans, when can it be used in therapy? I remembered that he laughed and said these are good thoughts and important considerations. But the answer is that it will take a "long, long time". He told me why he thought that research will take a long time to commercialize. Firstly, you needed to have good science. Secondly, you needed someone to believe in your science and you. Thirdly, you needed someone to believe in your science by investing in you and having the time and stamina to go the distance.

Over the years, I started work and learnt about the word "impact". We were always questioned on the "impact" of our work. A variety of answers often came up. Jobs were created, companies were brought in to set up R&D, spin-offs were created, training people, etc. There were many reasons. But no one could actually really answer the question of "Why is your/our science useful?" In fact, most scientists hardly think so far. The usual way of finishing off the paper is to highlight the "potential applications" that these materials/chemicals/compounds/processes would have. Most of the time, it is finalized as a paper and the work is done. Unless the scientist takes an active role in promoting his/her science, the work remains buried in the avalanche of papers. And there are more each year.

So back to the question, which I also posed to myself and my own research. If my hydrogel work disappears from literature, would it affect anyone? Would anyone miss a thing? After a thorough thinking, my answer is not yet. If it disappears right now, the utility of the work has yet to be thoroughly demonstrated and robustly tested. The work needs about 5 to 10 years more of sustained investment and effort before it gets to where it should be. By investment, I do not mean money. It is about keeping a group of people who are keen to build this up and having the stamina and durability to go the distance. An investment of time. An investment of trust. An investment in faith.

It has taken 22 years and a global pandemic for me to understand the impact of science and how science can impact lives. When the COVID pandemic broke out, there was a lot of fear amongst the global population. What is this disease? Does it kill? How do I prevent myself and my loved ones from getting it? Closer to home, we started to ask ourselves, how do masks work? What is polypropylene? What is a hydrophobic material? Bacterial vs particulate filtration? We discuss bacterial filtration but we are dealing with a virus here, is it an effective measure? All these questions came up. It mobilized the entire scientific community globally to think hard and be creative. New types of diagnostic kits came up, new types and designs of masks came up, a good understanding of transmission mechanisms came up. Many of these new knowledge came up as a result of our prior background training as scientists. The pursuit of the answer through proper scientific inquiry. The global scientific community combined knowledge of chemistry, physics, biology, materials science, etc, to work out a viable answer to the questions that the general population is asking. We learnt about alternative mask materials and were able to propose alternatives, because we know materials properties and understand how these materials function. We learnt about droplets spreading and with physics knowledge, we understood what happens to a droplet when it evaporates. We rationalized how these particles lingered in the air. We learnt that masks protected you, not only from inside-out transmission but also outside-in transmission and the associated properties that such masks must have. The knowledge we learnt will have an impact on government policies and population behaviour. Or else, why are people putting on masks? Why are people sanitizing their hands? Why are people standing a metre or more away from each other? We do these because there is now a certain scientific basis to these guidelines. In moments such as these, we need an unbiased and objective view on how to explain each advisory. The answer lies in science. Thinking back to the last time such a crisis has hit mankind, I think about WWII. During that time of mass conflict and destruction, scientific advancement was moving at a breakneck speed. Governments approved of projects that would not have happened during peacetime. Innovation and development took place based on strong fundamental scientific knowledge. The self powered torch, the jerrycan, aircraft pressurized cabins, synthetic rubber, navigation and landing devices, radar systems, penicillin as an antibiotic, computers and finally nuclear technology are examples of scientific development during WWII.

I see this global pandemic as being similar in triggering the scientific advancement of a generation. Science can help us win wars, science can also help us beat pandemics. At no time, have I seen my own scientific knowledge being used more and being more useful. I have also talked to more clinician researchers more than I have ever done so. Yet, it is only with combined knowledge, good fundamentals and open collaborations that science can advance. Once we beat the pandemic, let us make this a way of life. Let's make science useful to the people around us.      

Examples:

DIY masks

https://www.gov.sg/article/diy-your-own-reusable-mask

Many people can make DIY masks. In most cases, the choice of materials is arbitrary or ad-hoc. In order to properly suggest the materials that can be used to make a DIY mask, one has to have very strong fundamental materials knowledge, polymer chemistry knowledge, an understanding of how a mask works as well as an understanding of the basis of materials selection for the surgical masks. One has to combine textbook knowledge with practicalities of a household. With an eye to the key properties that a mask requires, one can suggest with scientific basis, which are the household materials that can be used to make a DIY mask.

The science behind why masks help prevent COVID-19 spread

https://www.gov.sg/article/the-science-behind-why-masks-help-prevent-covid-19-spread

This work is more of a systematic study on how wearing a mask can prevent inside-out spreading of droplets. There was also a combined section where the experimental results were corroborated with modelling and simulations to show the passage of droplets through the air. The use of simulations helped to visualize observations that would have been too onerous to do so by experiments.