U.S. cancer body to open Korean center

The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, a well-known American research institute, plans to open a branch in Daedeok Science Town in Daejeon. The new facility will be for research only, not treatment. The city of Daejeon and the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience & Biotechnology signed a memorandum of understanding yesterday with the Hutchinson center in Seattle setting out the outline of the new research center, according to a statement released by the city government. The new facility will be the first overseas branch of the Seattle center. The city’s statement said that the deputy head of the Seattle research center will be appointed as the head of Hutchinson’s branch here. The center, if plans go as scheduled, will be in operation sometime next year. The city said the center would conduct joint research with Korean counterparts in liver and kidney cancer, two leading causes of deaths among Koreans. The center is known for its discoveries concerning the process of cell division in human bodies and for its pioneering work on bone marrow transplants. It employs about 200 research scientists, including two Nobel Prize laureates. The center had a research budget of $187 million in the year ending June 30, 2003, and collaborates with 25 research centers around the world in clinical studies of the AIDS virus. City officials in Daejeon said the new center would allow the city to become a hub of cancer research in the region. They said they planned to ask the central government for incentives to stimulate the city’s role in that research. by Shim Jae-woo, Lee Min-a