Holden - Life science work key to state economic future

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Surrounded by research displays, Gov. Bob Holden told a University of Missouri-Columbia audience Thursday that life science leadership is the key to the state's economic future.

The university is observing "Life Sciences Week," showcasing student and faculty research under a broad academic banner. It includes improving nutrition for animals and humans, finding new ways to battle diseases in people, plants and animals and weaving together disciplines from law to veterinary medicine to nursing.

Holden put on a hard hat to tour the unfinished life sciences center on the Columbia campus, a $60 million project that is to be completed in about a year. Then he checked out research displays and met for an hour with about a dozen faculty members.

The University of Missouri-Kansas City anchors one end of the state's I-70 biotechnology corridor and the private Washington University and the Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis are on the other end.

With the new center in Columbia, Holden said, "this is the center of it all."

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On the Net:

University of Missouri life sciences: http://lifesciences.missouri.edu