With the recent news about the breakthrough in the field of human genome research and our government's announcement of plans to develop Singapore as a regional hub for biotechnology research and development, the topic of 'Life Sciences' forms an exciting 'Focus' for us this month. Our first article explores the protection which patents may offer to inventions in the field of Life Sciences. The next article looks at the regulatory framework of the pharmaceuticals industry in Singapore. Another article considers the issues involved in the use and patenting of genetic information, especially the treatment of such knowledge as a marketable commodity. We end our exploration of Life Sciences with an article which raises some thought provoking fundamental and moral issues which should not be neglected in mankind's race to expose nature's secrets and to engineer a better life.

In our 'Features' section, we have the second part of a two-part article on architects' liability for defects, which concludes the first part published in last month's issue. There is also a brief introduction to the Supreme Court's upgraded website and new interactive web based information kiosks.

Obiter has been held over in this issue due to constraints of time and space.

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The Editor,
The Singapore Law Gazette
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