Smash hit

“It is not acceptable that scientists at HPA Porton Down are asked to work in such ageing facilities,” the committee, chaired by Phil Willis, the Liberal Democrat MP, said. “We recommend that the Department of Health consider the redevelopment of the HPA’s Porton Down site a priority.”

It advised the Government to report to Parliament every two years on the UK’s preparedness against threats from human and animal germs. This should include an assessment of high containment research capablities.

The committee also found there was “no reason in principle” why new CL4 labs should not be built in urban areas. This will encourage the Medical Research Council (MRC), which is creating a new £500 million hub for medical science near St Pancras in London, in partnership with Cancer Research UK, University College, London and the Wellcome Trust.

While it has not yet been decided whether the UK Centre for Medical Research and Innovation will require a CL4 facility, it will replace the National Institute for Medical Research in Mill Hill, which has such a lab.

The possibility of research into deadly pathogens such as influenza and malaria has caused some concern among local residents, who worry it could become a target for terrorists. The committee, however, agreed there was no unacceptable risk provided facilities are adequately designed and run.

The report was issued as ministers approved a £200 million revamp of one of the UK’s leading research institutions. The Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) in Cambridge, which has produced 13 Nobel prize-winners, was awarded the final £67 million it needed for the project from the Government’s Large Facilities Capital Fund.

The LMB, which is run by the Medical Research Council, was where Francis Crick and James Watson identified the double helix structure of DNA in 1953. It has also been responsible for a string of other breathroughs, including Fred Sanger’s pioneering work on genome sequencing, and the discovery of monoclonal antibodies, which underlie many modern cancer drugs.

Its 40-year-old building will now be comprehensively rebuilt to provide state-of-the-art facilities, which will allow the LMB to expand into new research areas such as neurobiology.

John Denham, the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills, 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. For example, basic antibody research carried out at LMB has resulted in cancer drugs such as Herceptin and current research is looking at monoclonal antibodies to treat asthma.”

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