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National life sciences institute for Scotland |
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Wednesday, 07 May 2008 |
A new £10m national life sciences institute based in Dundee is set to reinforce Scotland’s position in the global biotechnology industry.
The new Institute for Cell Signalling, announced by the Scottish Government last month, will link with Dundee University’s existing College of Life Sciences. Creating 40 jobs to start off, the institute will give a significant boost to Dundee’s economy and Scotland’s £1b life sciences sector.
The planned ‘cell signalling’ institute is designed to attract world-class scientists to Scotland, pioneer new drug discovery initiatives and translational research and support development of the biotech and pharmaceutical sectors. Cell signalling has potential to develop drugs to treat cancer and chronic inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis.
Speaking on a visit to Dundee University, Education Secretary Fiona Hyslop said:
"We already have an excellent reputation internationally for our research, and especially for our performance in the field of life sciences.
"Dundee in particular is an international centre of excellence for this kind of work, with 16 per cent of its workers involved in or supporting the sector.
"To take this on to a new level, we need a new centre, equipped and managed to the highest standards, to attract outstanding international scientists and most promising young researchers to Scotland.
"This national Institute will deliver that."
Sir Philip Cohen, Director of the new Institute, said:
"The initial aim of the Institute is to build up new strengths in an emerging area of cell signalling, called `protein ubiquitination' which we believe will become the next major area of drug discovery.
"By concentrating on this now, we will be in a strong position to exploit the future promise of this area.”
Chief Scientific Adviser for Scotland, Professor Anne Glover added:
"Under the leadership of Professor Sir Philip Cohen, the Institute is in an excellent position to attract more world-class scientists to Scotland and to ensure that the research output contributes to our quality of life and economy."
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 07 May 2008 )
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Holyrood news 
