Governor releases details of biotech plane, leaves money up to Legislators

Governor Tom Vilsack has outlined more details of his proposal to spend 300-million dollars to foster development of the life science and biotech industries. But Vilsack won’t reveal how he proposes to finance it ’til Friday, and says the final decision is up to the legislature.Vilsack wants the state to spend 50 million to build new research labs and “business incubators” — and most of the construction would be tied to the state-supported research universities in Ames and Iowa City. Vilsack suggests the effort to upgrade labs at the universities in Ames and Iowa City will have side-benefits. Vilsack invited the Presidents of Iowa, Iowa State and U-N-I to his weekly news conference at the statehouse to talk about the initiative. Incoming University of Iowa president David Skorton says his institution is poised to become a player in the development of new, synthetic drugs.And Vilsack says his proposals should meet the demands being made by TransOva, a northwest Iowa-based company that’s expanding in the field of genetics and has already cloned an ox.