An academic has urged Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa to boost investment in biomedical fields such as genetic engineering to attract top scientists and ensure the SAR does not miss the knowledge revolution.
However, the call came as another researcher warned that laws banning cloning and restricting stem cell research were holding back Hong Kong scientists.
The associate dean for research affairs of the University of Hong Kong's medicine faculty, Professor Paul Tam Kwong-hang, said Shanghai, Singapore and Taiwan were already ahead of Hong Kong in the biological revolution.
'The Government should invest more quickly, heavily and boldly in biomedical research. This is the right strategic direction,' Professor Tam said.
'If we start now the gap may not be that big because the biological revolution is only just starting.'
The professor said that, as a first step, the university was holding a seminar tomorrow to discuss co-ordinating research in all its faculties.
His call was echoed by Professor Philip Johnson, chairman of the department of clinical oncology at Chinese University, who said biomedical research was the way to go for Hong Kong.