Science committee calls for national lab being sold on Rightmove to get new lease of life
MPs have novel recommendation to tackle lack of investment and manufacturing capacity for promising antibacterial weapon bacteriophages
The UK should consider repurposing the mothballed Rosalind Franklin Laboratory in Leamington Spa into a facility for phage research, a cross-party group of MPs has said. Bacteriophages, or phages, are viruses that kill bacteria and are emerging as an important potential weapon to combat the rise of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). However, more infrastructure and investment are needed to advance research and clinical trials, and support the safe manufacture of phages, according to a new report from the House of Commons science, innovation and technology committee.
‘The Rosalind Franklin Laboratory consists of modern, secure laboratory facilities and was meant to be an important source of national resilience against future pandemics,’ says Greg Clark MP, chair of the committee. ‘But [it] has suddenly appeared for sale on the property website Rightmove, to the astonishment of the science and health communities. Our committee’s report on phages asks for the laboratory to be considered [as a suitable research facility for phages], rather than be lost to the nation and to science in a fire sale.’