Scientists say that in the post-human-genome era, the explosive growth of biological data makes bioinformation a key resource for society and the economy's sustainable development. Bioinformatics is the key technology to fully utilize this resource, they add.

The newly approved Shanghai Center for Bioinformatics Technology (SCBIT) brings together scientists in this field from the city's 10 major institutions to develop a world-class bioinformation analysis, data mining and knowledge discovery system with broad application prospects.

Yesterday the center launched a joint lab with International Business Machine and the London-based Info Sense Ltd, a leading provider of discovery informatics software and services for the life science industry.

Local government and research institutions have injected over 11 million yuan (US$1.33 million) into the center in the first phase.

Li Yiping, deputy director of the Shanghai Science and Technology Commission, said it is important for the city to establish a strong bioinformatics base to serve its life sciences and bio-pharmaceutical sectors, including the neighboring Chinese National Genome Center in Shanghai and the National Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Base (Shanghai) in Pudong's Zhangjiang High-tech Park.

"Shanghai has already established a sound base for life sciences, providing a large talent pool for the field, while the city is also in great demand for bioinformation experts. Both lay a solid foundation for the informatics center," he added.

Center Director Li Yixue said SCBIT aims to build itself into a State-level bio-informatics base.

He also noted that collaborating with overseas institutions and enterprises will be a short-cut for the center to reach its goal.

China is expected to establish 20 world-level research and development bases in the future to enhance its abilities in genetics, bioinformation and bio-chip research.

China's biomedicine industry is projected to grow between 15 per cent and 20 per cent annually to reach an output of US$5 billion by 2005, and jump to US$14 billion by 2015.

(China Daily September 23, 2002)