A new laboratory that promises hundreds of new jobs for Connecticut and that will bring cutting edge research to the state opened its doors Tuesday.
The UConn Health Center in Farmington is the new home of the Jackson Laboratory, where researchers will study the human genome, look to find solutions for disease and develop methods to predict potential future medical problems.
"Living in this building, some of them actually will really produce some of the most cutting edge groundbreaking and research results," said Yu-Hui Rogers, site director for Jackson Laboratory.
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The state invested nearly $300 million dollars in the 200,000-square-foot facility.
While that drew criticism from some, officials said it was an economic decision. In exchange, the lab will bring about 300 jobs to Connecticut and the lab has already hired about half that many workers.
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Gov. Dannel Malloy, UConn President Susan Herbst, laboratory executives and national scientific leaders were on hand for the 2 p.m. ribbon-cutting ceremony.
"I think this is one of the most exciting research endeavors that is going to happen anywhere," said Jackson Labs researcher Reinard Laubenbacher.
