One of the editorial goals for EASTS in the future is the expansion of our geographic scope. This issue serves as a step forward in this direction, with an exciting collection of research notes and articles that capture the collision of society and science in the eclectic cultures of South and Southeast Asia.
We have two research notes that offer us an insight into Singapore’s technocratic governance. In “Generational Medicine in Singapore: A National Biobank for a Greying Nation,” Vimal, Devi, and McGonigle examine the role of a national biobank (collections of human tissue and medical data) called Health for Life in Singapore (HELIOS). The authors suggest that the role of HELIOS is not simply that of identifying chronic diseases to improve the health and lives of people in Singapore. Put within the narrative of ageing societies, HELIOS invokes a “sociotechnical imaginary” of what can be called a “generational medicine” that posits a crucial role for biobanks in tackling the societal challenge of an aging population.
