Viewing support for the UK biosciences industry as a way to stimulate the economy, British science minister David Willetts announced £250 ($383) million in funding, as part of a five-year biosciences research strategy. The recipients are among the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Council's (BBSRC) national research institute network. The funds, meant to help ensure the UK's biosciences research base remains internationally competitive, were allocated to 26 different agricultural, livestock and health programs. Crop innovation, such as broadening the wheat gene pool, and using plants to source new chemical entities and produce pharmaceuticals and energy, is receiving substantial support. The John Innes Centre in Norwich (which houses the UK's wheat germplasm) was awarded the largest sum of £42 ($64) million and the 160-year-old agricultural station, Rothamsted Research in Harpenden, received £41 ($63) million. The £13 ($20) million award to the Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences in Aberystwyth was to help establish a new national plant phenotyping center. The Institute for Animal Health received £38 ($58) million to continue virology research on the protection of livestock from vector-borne diseases. Another of the larger grants (£37 ($57) million) went to the life sciences–oriented Babraham Institute in Cambridge for research on aging and health. Two of the nation's genomic centers, Roslin Institute in Edinburgh and the Genome Analysis Centre in Norwich, received £23 ($35) million and £19 ($29) million, respectively. Improving livestock productivity and approaches to data storage and handling are among the projects being funded.