Wen Kin
Lim

Industry

Accelerating activity in the longevity biopharmaceutical sector

Nature Aging, Vol. 5, pp. 2357–2358

Michael S. Ringel, Yue Zhang & Wen Kin Lim

Ageing is a risk factor for over 200 diseases, yet it has historically not been treated as a direct intervention point — the implicit assumption being that biological age cannot be manipulated. We examine growing evidence that biological and chronological ageing can be decoupled, and map the accelerating pipeline of longevity-focused biopharmaceutical activity globally. We argue that the convergence of improved science and rising commercial interest marks a meaningful turning point for the field.

Industry

Realising Australia's biomedical potential with targeted capability attraction

Boston Consulting Group

Ben Keneally, Robert Arculus & Wen Kin Lim

Australia's biomedical sector has grown rapidly on the back of world-leading research, strong clinical trial infrastructure, and an improving commercialisation culture — yet it continues to underperform in translating science into economic value. I analyse the structural barriers to translation and argue that strategic capability attraction, rather than traditional infrastructure investment, offers government the most effective lever for catalysing sector growth. I identify priority areas of existing strength where targeted, long-term intervention can have an outsized impact.

Academic

Wnt signaling rescues amyloid beta-induced gut stem cell loss

Cells, Vol. 11, Issue 2, Article 281

Prameet Kaur, Ellora Hui Zhen Chua, Wen Kin Lim, Jiarui Liu, Nathan Harmston & Nicholas S. Tolwinski

Amyloid-β plaques are a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease, but their precise causal role in disease progression remains debated. This study employed an optogenetic model in Drosophila intestinal stem cells to trigger amyloid-β oligomerisation and examine how Wnt signalling shapes the outcome — finding that Wnt activation rescues the stem cell loss caused by amyloid expression. Downstream transcriptomic analysis revealed changes in inflammation, protein misfolding, and ageing-related pathways, and suggested that lithium-mediated Wnt activation may be protective through inhibition of the Toll inflammatory cascade.

Academic

Optogenetic approaches for understanding homeostatic and degenerative processes in Drosophila

Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences, Vol. 78, pp. 5865–5880

Wen Kin Lim, Prameet Kaur, Huanyan Huang, Richard Shim Jo, Anupriya Ramamoorthy, Li Fang Ng, Jahnavi Suresh, Fahrisa Islam Maisha, Ajay S. Mathuru & Nicholas S. Tolwinski

Tissue homeostasis declines with age as stem cell availability for repair diminishes, setting the stage for cellular and neurodegenerative disease. My review surveys the use of optogenetics — which employs light-sensitive molecules and genetic engineering to modulate cellular activity with spatiotemporal precision in vivo — for studying these processes in Drosophila melanogaster. We outline current applications and highlights the technology's future potential for dissecting the mechanisms of homeostasis and degeneration in a genetically tractable model organism.

Academic

Design, challenges, and the potential of transcriptomics to understand social behavior

Current Zoology, Vol. 66, Issue 3, pp. 321–330

Wen Kin Lim & Ajay S. Mathuru

Advances in RNA sequencing opened new avenues for studying the molecular basis of social behaviours, enabling unbiased discovery of underlying mechanisms across whole transcriptomes without the need to predict relevant genes in advance. This perspective reviews how RNA-seq is being applied to questions of behavioural plasticity and individual variation in behaviour, while cataloguing the key technical limitations and experimental design decisions researchers must navigate. It serves as a practical guide for behavioural scientists considering transcriptomics as a new tool in their research.