£200m rebuild go-ahead for facility
£200m rebuild go-ahead for facility
2008-06-25Newsfeed
The go-ahead has been given for a £200 million replacement of the internationally renowned Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge.
The go-ahead has been given for a £200 million replacement of the internationally renowned Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge.
Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills, John Denham, announced the facility will now receive the final £67 million needed for its expansion and redevelopment.
Established in 1947, the Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) has produced 13 Nobel Prize winners, most recently in 2002, and is where the structure of DNA was discovered and DNA sequencing invented.
The funding will enable the Medical Research Council, which runs LMB, to meet the cost needed to rebuild the 40-year-old building and replace it with an innovative research lab.
The cutting-edge facility will allow LMB to expand its research portfolio into new areas such as neurobiology, as well as the expansion of the Laboratory's commercialisation activities.
Mr Denham said: "Investment in the redevelopment of the Laboratory of Molecular Biology to provide a cutting-edge research environment will help retain and attract some of the world's best scientists working on medical research.
"This laboratory is a key example of the UK leading the world in conducting basic research, translating it into health benefits and commercialising it into wealth benefits."
Copyright © The Press Association 2008
