Harvard University announced last week that it has received a $125-million donation from business school alumnus Hansjörg Wyss to found a bioengineering institute. The donation is the largest from a single donor in the university's 372-year history.

The Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, to be headed by Harvard Medical School cell biologist Donald Ingber, will be located in the university's new $1-billion science complex in the Allston neighbourhood of Boston, Massachusetts. The complex is still under construction, but will eventually also host the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, in addition to several other programmes.

The new bioengineering institute will tackle interdisciplinary projects such as repairing diseased tissues and creating self-organizing materials and devices, and will be the home of the university's synthetic-biology programme.