SINGAPORE, Oct. 25 (Xinhuanet) -- A scientific conference on stem cells, senescence and cancer opened here on Tuesday with the participation of about 500 top biomedical research scientists and clinicians from United States, Europe and Asia.

    Speaking at the opening ceremony of the week-long conference, Singapore's Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports Vivian Balakrishnan said that science has become a collective effort. Today, many research questions are so complex that it has become more efficient for scientists to organize themselves into consortia and networks.

    "By working in this way, they can handle larger amounts of datain a shorter space of time, explore different leads and possibilities in parallel, as well as validate and verify each other's findings and discoveries," he added.

    The Singapore conference, organized by Keystone Symposia, the well-known organizer of scientific conferences, is the first scientific meeting of its kind to be held outside of North Americasince the founding of Keystone Symposia in 1972.

    The Singapore meeting aims to explore how the latest advances in the understanding of stem cell biology and aging can be applied to cancer cells.

    To cement its long-term partnership with Singapore, Keystone Symposia has decided to hold another international scientific meeting in Singapore next year. Enditem