In its bid to kindle a biotechnology boom, Florida is luring high-profile institutions to the southeastern part of the state with big bucks (see Nature 446, 1112–1113; 2007). The state's 'innovation incentive' funds will devote more than $220 million to three research institutes in Jupiter, Port St Lucie and Miami.

With more than $90 million from the state and $87 million from Palm Beach County, the Max Planck Florida Institute will be housed at the Jupiter campus of Florida Atlantic University, near Scripps Florida, which was set up in 2004 as an offshoot of Scripps in La Jolla, California. Max Planck Florida — the first Max Planck institute outside Europe — expects to create 170 positions, including division directors in three main areas: bioimaging, bioactivity measures and cellular mechanisms. Herbert Jäckle, a vice-president in the Max Planck Society, admits it's a high-risk venture. “But it's worth building up because of the fantastic spirit there,” he says. The presence of Scripps influenced the society's decision to head for the sunshine state. Until a new facility is built (probably by 2010), Max Planck Florida will take over the space Scripps is now using for its temporary labs.

In nearby Port St Lucie, Oregon Health and Science University's Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute will receive $60 million in state funding and a new facility to study therapies in humans. Director Jay Nelson says it will soon begin recruiting 20 primary investigators; roughly 200 new employees will focus on the genetic basis of infection.

At the University of Miami, the Institute for Human Genomics — started last year by husband-and-wife team Margaret Pericak-Vance and Jeffery Vance — received an extra $80 million from the state last month to expand. The Vances have recruited dozens of researchers from their former base, Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. The new funds, says Pericak-Vance, will aid computational infrastructure and help lure recruits who combine clinical specialisms with an interest in genomics. Pericak-Vance expects to have some 300 staff, once technical and support staff join in the next five years. New facilities are also under construction, largely funded by the University of Miami.

“I've never seen this level of cooperation between state, universities, counties and institutes, to realize their vision of creating a San Diego or Boston,” says Nelson. “And they are going to do it.”