The Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB) has announced the commencement of the ‘Global Top Gene and Cell Therapy Specialized Research Team’ on the 22nd.
At the headquarters in Daejeon, KRIBB hosted an inaugural ceremony and project briefing for the Global Top Research Team. Attendees included KRIBB President Kim Jang-seong, Lee Young-guk of the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT), and Park Yeon-kyu, Deputy Director of the Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS).
The Global Top Strategic Research Team is a large-scale research project initiated by the Ministry of Science and ICT this year. Among the five research teams selected in September, the Gene and Cell Therapy Team aims to secure innovative technologies with global competitiveness in the field of gene and cell therapy, establish a sustainable public R&D platform, and accelerate advanced drug development by the private sector.
This project, with a total budget of 85 billion won over the next five years, is led by Jeong Kyung-sook of KRIBB. It involves participation from KRICT, the Korean Institute of Toxicology (KIT), KRISS, the Korea Basic Science Institute (KBSI), the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI), as well as universities, hospitals, and companies.
KRIBB President Kim Jang-seong stated, “We will spare no support to achieve significant national outcomes through the commercialization of gene therapies for rare and incurable diseases and to secure critical technologies early.”
Jeong, the leader of the research team, declared, “We aim to contribute to national happiness and the bio-economy by establishing a specialized research team for gene and cell therapy.”
In addition to the Gene and Cell Therapy Research Team, the Global Top Strategic Research Team initiative by the Ministry of Science and ICT includes four other projects: secondary batteries, SMR (Small Modular Reactor)/virtual reactor platforms, ultra-large-scale computational semiconductors, and clean hydrogen storage/utilization technology. These projects are underway to establish an open cooperative framework beyond the silos between research institutions for national mission-oriented tasks.