About

Increasingly, many researchers are employing the tools of physics, chemistry, and computer science to shape a subfield of biology into an engineering discipline—the quantitative biosciences.

The field has already made fundamental steps toward changing the world for the better. Synthetic biologists at UC Berkeley designed bacteria to produce antimalarial drugs and biofuels. Experts at UCSF developed a way to image prostate tumors to obtain quicker, more accurate diagnoses. And scientists at UC Santa Cruz are sequencing and analyzing over 10,000 genomes to understand how the web of life is interconnected.

Our scientists’ work is world-class, but only in exceptional cases does benefit reach society in the form of new cures or solutions that make it to market.

Governor Gray Davis addressed this problem in 2000 when he created QB3 and its three sister institutes at the University of California. Davis gave QB3, which spans UC Berkeley, UCSF, and UC Santa Cruz, a mandate to support basic research in quantitative biosciences and to ensure that this work is commercialized as quickly as possible.

Davis’s experiment has proven its worth. QB3 has grown to over 220 research labs with 40 members of the National Academies and two Nobel laureates; helped launch 65 companies that have raised over $230 million in capital; and formed three major industry partnerships—each of which has succeeded as measured by growth and renewal.

We bring scientists together across disciplines. We connect industry and academia in mutually beneficial partnerships. We help entrepreneurs start successful companies. Contact us to find out what QB3 can do for you.