Microsoft co-founder gives $100 million for cell research institute in Seattle

Microsoft Corp. co-founder and philanthropist Paul G. Allen is giving $100 million to establish the Allen Institute for Cell Science in Seattle.

The donation was announced Monday in Philadelphia at the annual meeting of the American Society for Cell Biology.

Allen's new nonprofit group will focus on the relationship between human genetic information, cell development, and cell behavior. The goal, Allen said in a news release, is to create a "comprehensive, predictive model of the cell."

The institute's data and tools will be publicly available.

Along with the Allen Institute for Brain Science, it will be housed in a seven-story building under construction in Seattle.