Sir

It is with increasing dismay that I watch the antics over the siting of the new UK synchrotron, Diamond (see Nature 402, 451; 1999). The UK government now appears to be in dispute with the Wellcome Trust — the world's biggest medical charity. This has resulted in further delay to a facility which, in scientific terms, is overdue, as well as in harsh criticism of the Wellcome Trust by politicians and scientists.

Lest we forget, it is the Wellcome Trust, not the government, that has saved UK biomedical science: without its financial support, cuts to science funding would have been fatal. Do we seriously believe that the government (or voters) will put structural biology above tax cuts or hospital beds?

I think an open competition would have been the best way to decide on the siting of Diamond. But the Kafkaesque behaviour of the Office of Science and Technology has ensured that this is no longer an option. The choice is now between Daresbury in the north of England or Rutherford in the south.

My own preference would be for Daresbury. But if the cost of siting Diamond there is a loss of Wellcome involvement, then the price is too high. Wellcome is vital to the project, not only in cash terms (building a smaller synchrotron ring would be worse than useless), but also in contributing dynamic scientific and intellectual management expertise.

The United Kingdom has a chance to build a world-class facility in structural genomics to complement its world-class facilities in genome sequencing and bioinformatics. Both these rely on substantial support from the Wellcome Trust. We must have Diamond and we must have it soon — to lose or degrade such a precious jewel would be a disaster.