Imperial College London - Synthetic biology centre planned

A new £8 million UK Centre for Synthetic Biology and Innovation has been announced by Imperial College London, in partnership with the London School of Economics. It will be set up with a grant from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and will help the council's effort to push the UK to the forefront of the emerging field of synthetic biology. The field combines the work of engineers and molecular bioscientists to produce biologically based parts that could be used to build devices for detecting the early onset of disease and to combat harmful bacterial infections. Richard Kitney, the centre's director, said: "Imperial College will recruit the best scientists from the UK and around the world to carry out collaborative research, generate intellectual property for licensing and ultimately create spin-off companies that will play a part in spawning new industries for the UK."