30@30 initiative timeline

The ’90s - laying the foundations and responding to priorities

Building bioinformatics capabilities
With the advent of bioinformatics advances, BBSRC’s earliest initiative investment in 1994, jointly with EPSRC, was in bioinformatics. A small initiative (not shown on timeline) designed to ensure there was leading edge IT incorporated into the study of biological systems.

Supporting excellence in foundational bioscience
BBSRC also invested in foundational bioscience establishing several centres of excellence. These included four Interdisciplinary Research Centres focused on Genome Research, Protein Research, Biochemical Engineering and Neuroscience, and five Structural Biology Centres.

Starting in the ’90s and following on through the ’00s BBSRC initiated major investments investing gene function, covering plant, animal and microbial model systems, paving the way for the genomics revolution.

Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
BBSRC played a critical role in the UK response to the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) outbreak, funding several initiatives to develop a mechanistic understanding of prion diseases alongside their pathogenesis and epidemiology.

The ’00s - The ’omics era begins, regenerative biology and translational science

Developing bioinformatics capacity
The first years of the Millennium marked the beginning of the ’omics era, with the publication of the first complete genomes and rapid developments in proteomic capabilities. These advancements offered exciting insights into how our complex genetics and epigenetics translate into proteins, and cell behaviour. BBSRC supported growth in bioinformatics infrastructure and analysis tools through several major investments:

• the Bioinformatics and E-science initiative
• the Tools and Resources Development Fund
• the Bioinformatics and Biological Resources Fund
• Proteomics Interdisciplinary Research Centre

The Integrative and Systems Biology initiative further developed the interdisciplinary skills required for the computational and mathematical analysis and modelling of biological systems.

Stems cells and regenerative biology
The end of the 1990s saw the first isolation of human embryonic stem cells, igniting excitement in regenerative biology. BBSRC invested in this revolutionary technology through the Stem Cell Science and Engineering initiative. To ensure the UK was well placed to lead in the broader application of this technology, BBSRC (jointly with MRC and EPSRC) launched an Interdisciplinary Research Centre in Tissue Engineering. BBSRC has continued to support this area, with a recent example being the UK Regenerative Medicine Programme (joint funded with MRC and EPRSC).

Plant and animal research
Through several smaller initiatives (not shown on the timeline), BBSRC also built resilience in agricultural systems, supporting several initiatives that tackled viral diseases of livestock including swine and avian influenza. BBSRC provided sustained support in plant and crop sciences throughout this decade supporting sustainable agriculture and international development. A bioenergy centre was launched towards the end of the decade, building capability in bioenergy research and with a key focus on bioenergy crops.

Translating fundamental research to practical application
The 2000s saw the launch of the Follow-On Fund, BBSRC’s flagship initiative that supports the translation of innovative research into practical applications, which marked its 20th year in 2024. BBSRC also launched Research Clubs which fostered networks between academia and industry to facilitate knowledge and research transfer. In the 2000s, two industry clubs were launched focused on Diet and Health and Bioprocessing. These were followed in the 2010s by clubs with a more agricultural focus.

The ’10s - One Health and food security, securing national capabilities, bioscience in a circular economy

One Health approach to disease and food security
With a growing appreciation of the interconnectivity between environmental, animal, and human health, BBSRC joined (with other international funders) the Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Disease initiative and launched an initiative focused on Zoonoses and Emerging Livestock Systems with the strategic aim of preventing disease outbreaks through one-health approaches.

In addition to supporting One Health, BBSRC launched and contributed to initiatives that provided international collaboration opportunities to UK researchers with the aim of tackling the global challenge of food security. These initiatives covered every aspect of the global food system, from crop genetics and sustainable land-management practices to aquaculture systems and livestock welfare, with notable examples being:

• Sustainable Crop Production Research for International Development
• Sustainable Aquaculture: Health, Disease and the Environment
• International Wheat Yield Partnership
• Newton Fund
• Global Challenges Research Fund
• Sustainable Agricultural Systems in sub-Saharan Africa

Building and supporting national capabilities
Building on the success of previous tools and resources initiatives to boost national capabilities, BBSRC launched the Advanced Life Sciences Research Technology (ALERT) initiative. This is a continuous funding mechanism to ensure UK research institutions have equipment that enables the continued expansion of bioscience capabilities.

Alongside sustaining cutting-edge equipment infrastructure, BBSRC also developed national capabilities in emerging and important research areas through collaborations with world-leading partners, the BBSRC-NSF Lead Agency Awards being one such example.

Further major centres were launched in this decade including six centres in Synthetic biology across the UK and a National Biofilms Innovation Centre, covering key microbial systems and tackling the major global challenge of antimicrobial resistance.

Biology for a circular economy
The 2010s also saw a greater recognition of biology’s potential to support a circular economy. Due to the importance of industry in incorporating the required processes to enable such an economy, BBSRC launched the Networks in Industrial Biotechnology and Bioenergy (NIBB) to strengthen academic industry collaboration in the biosciences. The Agri-tech, and Industrial Biotechnology Catalysts (launched with Innovate UK) further supported this aim.

The ’20s - pandemic response, bioscience in transformative collaborations, the era of engineering biology

BBSRC’s role in tackling major health challenges
The 2020s saw BBSRC play an important role in the government response to the COVID-19 pandemic, facilitating urgent research funding, via the COVID-19 rapid response initiative, for research into understanding the biology of viral spread and pathogenesis. Key researchers and institutions working in relevant research areas were also enabled to pivot their existing research to this global emergency.

Tackling infections, including combating antimicrobial resistance, remains an important priority for us, with a recent investment being the One Health Approaches to Vector-Borne Diseases initiative.

Poor diet has a huge impact on public health and there remains a major challenge in producing and encouraging the uptake of healthier and more nutritious food products in the UK. The Diet and Health Open Innovation Research Club (ORIC), a partnership involving BBSRC, Defra, Innovate UK and MRC, launched in 2022, brings together a range of stakeholders to address these issues.

Transformative collaborations in bioscience
In the 2020s, the translation of research into wider societal benefit remains a key mission. Bringing together multiple funders to tackle important global challenges, key initiatives were launched that spanned climate change, net zero, agricultural sustainability and resilience in the food system, these included:

• Bacterial Plant Diseases
• Transforming the UK Food System
• Greenhouse Gas Removal Demonstrators
• Land Use for Net Zero

The newly launched Prosperity Partnerships builds on the success of the earlier Research Clubs, successfully directing £21 million of private money into research ranging from developing regenerative tea production systems to pipelines for drug and antimicrobial discovery.

The UK as a leader in engineering biology
One of the UK Government’s five critical technologies in 2024, Engineering Biology, has emerged as a dynamic and revolutionary research sector. We have harnessed our visionary foundations in synthetic biology to address this critical technology. The Engineering Biology Mission Hubs and Awards provide over £100 million to ensure the UK maintains its position as a world leader in this sector, building on earlier investments. Engineering biology offers great potential to society in the future with applications across agriculture, health and manufacturing, while also supporting a cleaner environment for our future with opportunities for economic growth across these diverse sectors.