buenos aires

A proposal to set up one or more jointly funded centres for South American life scientists is gathering momentum. It may be discussed at a summit meeting in April of the Chilean, Argentinian and Brazilian presidents.

The centres, which would be along the lines of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, are the idea of Argentinian-born David Sabatini, chair of the cell biology department at New York University. Last month in Buenos Aires, Sabatini told a meeting of scientists funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) that the centres could help restore South American science to the excellence he experienced when training in Argentina in the 1950s. “I believe we need to look to a supranationalinstitute such as EMBL or CERN [the European laboratory for particle physics],” he says.

But to avoid arguments about location, and build on existing pockets of strength on the continent, Sabatini proposes more than one centre. He suggests, perhaps, three: structural biology in Brazil, neuroscience in Chile, and molecular biology and biochemistry in Argentina.

Last November, Sabatini took his idea to President Eduardo Frei of Chile, who promised to raise the matter with the leaders of Argentina and Brazil. And in Buenos Aires, Sabatini met Jorge Rodriguez, head of the cabinet office in Argentina, who also expressed support.

Senior officials at HHMI are also enthusiastic. The chief scientific officer, Max Cowan, suggests the institute might consider matching government support for such centres during an initial five-year period. But he stresses that this is a personal view.

Scientists at the meeting were excited by Sabatini's proposal. Enrique Brandan, a cell biologist at the Catholic University of Chile in Santiago, agrees with Sabatini that the centres could develop existing areas of excellence.

Brandan and several other scientists who were at the meeting also believe the political climate is right for such a venture, with the main South American countries cooperating more closely through Mercosur, their trade group. They think that if the centres gained reputations for quality, they would attract visiting scientists from North America and Europe.

But others question the political will to act jointly. Some, such as Esther Orozco, a geneticist at the National Polytechnic Institute in Mexico City, are keen on the idea but doubt that governments will place a high enough priority on science to pursue the concept.

Other Mexican scientists want to get Mexico involved, even though the country does not belong to Mercosur. Lourival Possani, a biochemist in Mexico City, says he will put the idea to the president's advisory committee on science and technology, of which he is a member.