Contact: Shana Stribling 202.224.0309
Friday, September 17, 2004

COLUMBIA, MO –– U.S. Senator Kit Bond joined University of Missouri officials, NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe and Governor Holden officials today to dedicate the new Life Sciences Center, a biotechnology research facility with the potential to become one of the premier facilities of its kind in the nation.

"Advances in biotechnology can help us feed the hungry, protect the environment and heal the sick in this country and throughout the world,” said Senator Kit Bond. "Many human lives will be touched and changed by the discoveries that will take place here."

Since he served as the state's Governor, Bond has been a strong supporter of expanding the life sciences industry in Missouri. He worked with scientists, producers, academic leaders, economists and private technology providers at every level to build Missouri's technological capacities. Today’s dedication of the new Life Sciences Center at the University of Missouri - Columbia demonstrates the success of that partnership and is an important step toward making Missouri one of the premier biotechnology corridors in the nation.

In the Senate, Bond has been a leading advocate of the new biotechnology revolution and its presence in Missouri. As Chairman of the Senate VA-HUD Appropriations Subcommittee, he has earmarked over $450 million for plant genomics. He secured $34 million for the Life Sciences Center dedicated today and millions more for facilities in Kansas City, St. Louis and Bootheel, including the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, Missouri Botanical Garden and University of Missouri Greenhouse.

In addition to the federal funding Bond has poured into the development of biotechnology, he has also been a strong voice of behalf of the revolution both in the United States and abroad. He has encouraged foreign countries to be receptive to the technology and has urged the inclusion of sound science in public debate on the topic.

“The new Center promises benefits worldwide and right here at home. I look for Mizzou to be a magnet for the best biotechnology talent and to keep our brightest young people at home with strong job opportunities well into the 21st century,” Bond said.