[Source: The Station Network] – Luxembourg is to the location of a “biobank”, a repository for biological samples used by scientists to do advanced medical research. The repository is to be known as the Integrated Biobank of Luxembourg (IBBL). The new director of the IBBL, Dr. Robert Hewitt, recently spoke about the status, vision and plans of the project.
The IBBL was founded in September 2008 with a 5-year investment from the Luxembourg government of about 60 million euros. “We are incredibly lucky to have the amount of financing to set this up,” said Dr. Hewitt. The director explained that the announcement of the Luxembourg project occasioned much excitement in the scientific fields around bio-banking and genetic research.
The project is intended by the Luxembourg government to a key element of new health-science/research industry, into which it is investing 140 million euros. This initiative is part of the effort to diversify Luxembourg’s economy.
For more information: IBBL Director introduces Luxxembourg BioBank project