Scotland's position as an international leader in the biotechnology field is to be strengthened further with the creation of a £10m national life sciences institute in Dundee.

The planned Scottish Institute for Cell Signalling will link with Dundee University's existing College of Life Sciences to create the strongest research complex of its kind in Europe.

It will create 40 jobs initially, become a new engine for the city's economy and help drive forward Scotland's £1bn life sciences sector.

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The Institute will concentrate on an emerging area of 'cell signalling', which has great potential for the development of drugs to treat cancer and chronic inflammatory diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis

Speaking as she visited Dundee University, Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning Fiona Hyslop said: "Driving forward Scotland's economic growth is at the heart of everything that we do.

"We already have an excellent reputation internationally for our research, and especially for our performance in the field of life sciences."

Sir Philip Cohen, Director of the new Institute, said: "The initial aim of the Institute is to build up new strengths in an emerging area of cell signalling, called 'protein ubiquitination' which we believe will become the next major area of drug discovery."

(GK/JM)