Basel Institute for Immunology

Basel Institute for Immunology

The Basel Institute for Immunology (BII) was founded in 1969 as a basic research institute in immunology located at 487 Grenzacherstrasse, Basel, Switzerland on the Rhine River down the street from the main Hoffmann-La Roche campus near the Swiss-German border. The institute opened its doors in 1971. The institute was a unique concept in the history of mechanisms for funding basic science and the relationship between basic science and industry. Through the influence of Paul Sacher [ [http://www.paul-sacher-stiftung.ch/e/foundation/the%20founder.htm Paul Sacher Foundation Website] ] , Swiss conductor and patron of the arts and sciences, drug company Hoffmann-LaRoche committed unrestricted support of $24 million per year and freedom of design of the institute to its founding director Niels K. Jerne. Jerne retired in 1980 and was succeeded by Fritz Melchers [ [http://www.stiftung-jgsp.uni-mainz.de/410.php CV Fritz Melchers] ] who generally maintained Jerne’s themes and vision [http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/293/5528/238?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&volume=293&firstpage=238&resourcetype=HWCIT Closing of Basel institute scatters immunologists. Science 293, 238-239, 2001] ] .

The institute was constructed to consist of about 50 scientists in interactive research groups of 3 to 5 researchers supported by technical staff with no titles other than “member” with renewable contracts of 2 to 5 years. Interaction was facilitated by laboratories split into two floors per lab connected by a spiral staircase surrounding a central gathering room. Scientists from beginning postdoctoral to senior professor were provided complete freedom of research design without the pressures of individual fund raising, proposal writing, politicking and pressure to fit research to popular demands and funding source. The institute’s administrative structure was minimal. Continuous visits by distinguished visiting scientists from around the world for periods of a day to months enriched the environment.

Establishment of the BII coincided with a convergence of a critical mass of young and energetic scientists from around the world in Basel to staff three startup research ventures to exploit the newly breaking technologies related to molecular biology, gene cloning and development of mouse models. In addition to BII, these were the Friedrich Miescher Institute (FMI) [ [http://www.fmi.ch Friedrich Miescher Institute Website] ] sponsored by Ciba-Geigy (now Novartis) and the Biozentrum [ [http://www.biozentrum.unibas.ch Biozentrum Website] ] sponsored by the University of Basel. In the 70’s it was estimated that 17 different languages were spoken at the institute united by English, the common language of science. Social gatherings between the international staff of the three institutes and heated discussions concerning lifestyles, the arts and in particular science in the pubs of Basel were common in the period.

The BII was known as a training ground for independent thinking and career development rather than a place to be for an entire career. While maintaining a relatively constant core of 50 scientists over its 30 year history, the average age of which was at any one time 35 years, the BII gave rise to over 500 scientists who worked and trained there who with their scientific progeny represent the core of the field of immunology worldwide. [30 Years Basel Institute for Immunology, (History, Milestones, Press Articles, Annual Reports, Publications, List of Institute Members), Souvenir CD/DVD 2001] ] [ [http://www.bii.ch BII Website: Publications & Annual Reports 1972-1999] ] . Institute scientists were awarded 27 prestigious international awards in immunology that include three Nobel Prizes, Georges J.F. Köhler, Niels K. Jerne, and Susumu Tonegawa.

In 2000, the BII was dissolved by Hoffman-La Roche to be succeeded at the Hoffmann-LaRoche campus by a more traditional mission- and profit-oriented research and development (R&D) division of the company, the Roche Center for Medical Genomics [ [http://www.roche.com/home/science/sci_gengen/sci_gengen_med.htm Roche Center Website] ] [ [http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v405/n6787/full/405605b0_fs.html Roche brings down curtain on Swiss immunology lab. Nature 405, 605, 2000] ] .

References

External links

* [http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/toc/sji/62/s1 Festschrift in honor of Ivan Lefkovits. Scandinavian Journal of Immunology 62 (Suppl. 1), 1-22, 2005] ---contains some experiences of former BII members, photos]
* [http://www.ucsf.edu/~wabl/People/Alumni/Charley/Steinberg.htm "Life does not reveal its alternatives, but experiments do"] ; [http://www.genetics.org/cgi/content/full/157/3/927 "Memories of a Mentor: Charley Steinberg (1932-1999)" Genetics, 157, 927-932, 2001] ---Charles Steinberg and Ivan Lefkovits (above link) were two of the fewer than 10 core members present from beginning to closure of the BII, tributes give insight to spirit and atmosphere of the institute.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Basel Institute for Immunology — Das Basel Institute for Immunology (BII, auch Institut für Immunologie Basel) war eines der wichtigsten Zentren für Forschungen im Bereich der Immunologie. 1969 beschloss der Pharma Konzern Hoffmann La Roche ein neuartiges Forschungsprojekt zu… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Institut für Immunologie Basel — Das Basel Institute for Immunology (BII, auch Institut für Immunologie Basel) war eines der wichtigsten Zentren für Forschungen im Bereich der Immunologie. 1969 beschloss der Pharma Konzern Hoffmann La Roche ein neuartiges Forschungsprojekt zu… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Avery-Landsteiner-Preis — Der Avery Landsteiner Preis ist ein seit 1973 alle zwei Jahre von der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Immunologie (DGfI) verliehener Wissenschaftspreis für international herausragende Immunologen. Der Preis ist verbunden mit einem Preisgeld von… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Antonio Lanzavecchia — (born October 9, 1951) is an Italian immunologist. He was born in Varese, Italy. In 1976 he obtained his degree with honors in Medicine at the University of Pavia where he specialized in Pediatrics and Infectious Diseases. From 1983 to 1999 he… …   Wikipedia

  • Susumu Tonegawa — Infobox Scientist name =Susumu Tonegawa box width = image width =150px caption = Susumu Tonegawa birth date = birth date and age|1939|09|06 birth place = Nagoya, Japan death date = death place = residence = citizenship = nationality = Japan… …   Wikipedia

  • Polly Matzinger — Polly Celine Eveline Matzinger (born 21 July 1947) is an iconoclastic scientist who proposed a novel explanation of how the immune system works, called the danger model . Early yearsPolly Matzinger took to science from an unusual background… …   Wikipedia

  • Niels Kaj Jerne — Born December 23, 1911 Died …   Wikipedia

  • Dorian Bevec — is a German molecular biologist, Chief Scientific Officer and co founder at Mondobiotech.[1] He was born on May 21, 1957, in Zagreb, Croatia. Contents 1 Education 2 Scientific career 2.1 …   Wikipedia

  • Kohler, Georges J.F. — ▪ 1996       German immunologist (b. April 17, 1946, Munich, Germany d. March 1, 1995, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany), shared the 1984 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for his contribution to the discovery (1975) of a method of producing… …   Universalium

  • Paul-Ehrlich-und-Ludwig-Darmstaedter-Preis — Die Preisträger des Jahres 2011: links Stephan Grill (Nachwuchspreis), rechts Cesare Montecucco (Hauptpreis) Der Paul Ehrlich und Ludwig Darmstaedter Preis wird seit 1952 jedes Jahr für wegweisende Forschungen in der Medizinwissenschaft vergeben …   Deutsch Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”