Fundamental science has yielded a plethora of miraculous medical applications and yet, not enough. The concept of doing science with a medicine fulcrum, as K Vijayraghavan, Secretary, Department of Biotechnology (DBT) put it, is still an upcoming one and recently brought Cambridge University and the Institute of Stem Cell biology and Regenerative Medicine (InStem), together to launch a new research center dedicated to the cause of expanding the drug repertoire for human disease. Also involved in the initiative will be the other members of the Bangalore Biocluster, the Center for Cellular and Molecular Platforms (C-CAMP) and the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS).

The new Center for Chemical Biology and Therapeutics (CCBT), at inStem, is dedicated to furthering understanding of diseases like cancer by combining methods from across genetics, chemistry, cell biology and biochemistry. It was formally inaugurated by Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, Vice-chancellor of Cambridge University, on September 17, in a ceremony at inStem in the presence of K Vijayraghavan, Secretary, DBT and academic dignitaries from Cambridge and senior scientists from the Bangalore Biocluster community including Satyajit Mayor, Director, NCBS & inStem, Upinder Bhalla, Dean, NCBS, Apurva Sarin, Head, Academics, NCBS, Ashok Venkitaraman, Director Medical Research Council, Cancer Cell Unit, Cambridge University.

Assorted images for the graphic borrowed from Wikimedia Commons (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Diffuse_large_B_cell_lymphoma_-_cytology_low_mag.jpg, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hairy_cell_leukemia_-_high_mag.jpg, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Adenocarcinoma_coli.jpg, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hodgkin_lymphoma_cytology_large.jpg). Syringe image by Armin Kübelbeck (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Injection_Syringe_01.jpg).