|22 September 2016|
USA
A new biotechnology hub in America is the first step in a new initiative which wants to cure, prevent and manage all diseases by the end of the century.
The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative is the creation of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan.
Priscilla said: “The mission of Chan Zuckerberg Science is being innovative, bringing together engineers, physicists, chemists and physicians to be able to solve hard, human health problems.”
And its first major project is in the field of biotechnology.
The new Chan Zuckerberg Biohub brings together Stanford University and the University of California, San Francisco and the University of California, Berkeley. It will operate as an independent research organisation across two locations: the San Francisco Mission Bay district and a site Stanford, the Stanford Biohub. The two will provide collaborating universities with access to shared biotech platforms, giving academics access to bespoke tools and software like never before.
“Two of the things that Chan Zuckerberg science are doing is bringing scientists and engineers together and giving them the resources to build tools to empower the whole rest of the scientific community. Those are two of the big cornerstones of the first major project we’re doing – the Biohub: a partnership between UCSF, Stanford and UC Berkley,” Mark said.
Stephen Quake, professor of bioengineering and of applied physics at Stanford, and co-leader of the Biohub said: “We think the benefits of this work are going to help an enormous amount of people; treating diseases that were previously incurable – it is going to change the way doctors treat people.”
This is only the beginning though, this initiative aims to transform healthcare.
Mark added: “The goal of Chan Zuckerberg science is to help the scientific community cure, prevent or manage all diseases within our children’s lifetime or by about the end of this century.”
