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Published online 4 September 2008 | 455, 149 (2008) | doi:10.1038/455149a

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Genomics institute secures its future

$400-million endowment edges Broad Institute towards independence.

The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, a prominent genomics and chemical-biology research centre based in Cambridge, Mass­achusetts, has received an endowment of US$400 million from philanthropist Eli Broad that sets it on a course to becoming an independent, non-profit organization.

Set up in 2004 as a unique collaboration between the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, both also in Cambridge, Harvard University and its affiliated hospitals, the institute now has a more secure future.

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  • Those of us trying to do science in a developing country can only marvel at this kind of magnificent endowment. It is a pity more philanthropists don't see fit to put serious money into science in the developing world to redress some of the imbalances.

    • 05 Sep, 2008
    • Posted by: Jane Morris
  • I agree with Jane. Of course, wealthy Americans will more than likely want to endow domestic institutes. In truth, the second richest person in the world is Mexican and the 4th, 5th, and 6th richest people are Indian. I hope they donate their fortunes accordingly. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_billionaires

    • 10 Sep, 2008
    • Posted by: Douglas Mitchell
  • How do we bring the need to 'give more' and 'appropirately' to the 10 richest people of the world. Digamber S. Borgaonkar, Ph.D. www.wiley.com/borgaonkar

    • 12 Sep, 2008
    • Posted by: Digamber Borgaonkar