Defying death: Japan and Singapore lead Asia’s stem cell research race

SINGAPORE — Businessman Dato Shaun Lim was a successful real estate mogul until he suddenly decided to switch careers in 2019. Flicking through the movie list on an international flight, he chanced to watch a documentary about “geroscience” — the study of aging and how it can be stopped. That struck Lim as a rather good business proposition. Later that year, Lim would co-found Regenosis, a clinic and geroscience research company, devoted to stem cell therapies designed the halt or reverse the aging process.

Today, the fruits of Lim’s investment can be found at the Southern end of the Malay Peninsula, in the city of Iskandar Puteri, which is mostly home to people working in downtown Singapore, an hour away by train.