Central information

	Robert Glen, the Center's Director

The Unilever Centre for Molecular Informatics opened at the University of Cambridge in March. Reactive Reports' David Bradley was there to find out what it means for the scientists.

In April 1998, Unilever announced its intention to build a £13m ($20m) center at the University of Cambridge that would help scientists generate a new wave of molecular knowledge from their discoveries. The grandiose aim was to "bring to the fingertips of scientists and researchers - anywhere in the world, and in a readily digestible form - everything that has ever been discovered within molecular science."

At the time, Unilever chairman, Niall FitzGerald, expressed enthusiasm for the creation of the Unilever Centre: "Information technology has transformed Unilever's business as it is transforming the world of manufacture and trade. The Unilever Centre will provide the next step, revolutionising the way scientists approach their work."

View into the library

Molecular science informatics is the science of data collection relating to any aspect of the structure of a molecule for instance, its bond lengths and angles, its charge properties and overall shape and more intriguing aspects such as magnetic or light-emitting properties. The raw data, fed into software modeling tools, allows molecular scientists to generate new knowledge about the molecule. For instance, finding ways to allow antibacterial agents to penetrate the bacterial cell wall is facilitated by such modelling and might lead to a quicker route to antibiotics. The Unilever center will help scientists take the concepts out of the test-tube and on to the computer screen.

The center's Director Robert Glen is highly enthusiastic, "Although Unilever are the main benefactors of the Centre, importantly," explains Glen, "by design and luck, the scientists there will have complete academic freedom."