On 27th May 2000, the International Centre for Life opened its doors to a public eager to learn more about life sciences.
  
Life was created with the aim of uniting business and academia while at the same time promoting public understanding of a fast-growing area of science.

As a Millennium Commission Landmark project, over £90 million was invested to transform a derelict 10-acre city centre site into a symbol of the 21st century and our future.

We are very proud of the successes we have achieved here at Life over the last ten years – read on for our top 10 Facts of Life:

• Life is an iconic landmark on the city’s skyline, instantly recognisable to the thousands who travel into Newcastle via train or road each day
• Life is an independent, fully self-sustaining charity.  Its principal parties are Newcastle University and the Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
• Life has earned an enviable reputation and attracted international acclaim as a centre for excellence, achieving spectacular results in the fields of genetics and stem cell science.
• Over 500 people from over 30 nations work here, making Life truly international.
• In 2005, scientists based at Life were the first group in the world to successfully clone a human embryo.
• Around 200,000 visitors a year experience exciting and hands-on science at the Life Science Centre.
• The Life Science Centre was named North East England Visitor Attraction of the Year in 2008. 
• More than 3000 babies have been born with help from the NHS’s Newcastle Fertility Centre at Life.
• Newcastle University’s Institute of Human Genetics has held the highest possible grading (5*) in the national Research Assessment Exercise since 2001.
• Life’s education facility, Lifelab, is the largest provider of formal taught science workshops in Europe, providing over 40,000 educational experiences to school students every year.

Looking ahead, our aim is to build upon the successes of the last ten years, to continue to engage the public in stimulating scientific learning activities and debate and to further encourage pioneering research into genetic disease.