Crick Institute — Charity or Business?
With funding from several Health Trusts, Universities, and Research Institutes, the £650m Crick Institute is a registered charity and will have 1000 scientists and 250 support staff by the end of the year.
The Crick — Europe’s largest Biomedical Research Centre — will be composed of 120 research groups comprising of around 10 scientists each.
The Crick will build up partnerships with pharmaceutical and biotech firms to translate its discoveries into commercial products.
A partnership with GlaxoSmithKline is already in operation.
The Crick Director, Sir Paul Nurse, says he hopes to create constructive “scientific anarchy”.
The Medical Research Centre and Cancer Research UK will provide most of the the Crick’s £130m a year running costs, with smaller contributions from Wellcome Trust, Imperial College, Kings College, & University College London (UCL).
Questions
Does this institute have an ethical code?
Is it engaged in Synthetic Biology and Genetic Engineering?
Is it public or private? Is it subject to FOI laws?
Will it prioritise transparency over commercial confidentiality?
What is The Crick?
Cancer-curing charity, publicly funded institute, or amoral driver of shareholder value?
Here is a Twitter reaction to the Crick. Glad I am not the only one who finds it scary.
The Crick Institute looks like the kind of place zombie apocalypses begin or simian overlords rise from. Steering clear.
— Funky Monkey (@SirRodders) September 1, 2016
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