A new $110 million building was dedicated Tuesday on the UC San Diego campus.
The six-story Tata Hall for the Sciences will house 20 new labs for biology and physical science research. The fifth floor will be the home of the Tata Institute for Genetics and Society, a binational institute with locations in San Diego and Bangalore, India.
Chancellor Pradeep Khosla said Indian philanthropist Ratan Tata was inspired to give $70 million for the establishment of the institute after learning of UC San Diego researchers' work to create mosquitoes genetically resistant to malaria.
"And he just fell in love with this whole notion of the ability to do gene editing on steroids," Khosla said.
Malaria killed an estimated 429,000 people in 2015, according to the World Health Organization.
Administrators said the building, which is scheduled to open in 2018, will also help connect undergraduates majoring in science with more hands-on research in fields like neuroscience and sustainable energy.
