Quietly and mostly hidden from view, a building that could make Kansas University a major player in biological science research is going up on west campus.

Crews began working on the Structural Biology Center earlier this month, with the goal of completion this fall. It has gone unnoticed by many on the KU campus because it’s nestled behind the Higuchi Biosciences Center.

“If we have all this together, Harvard is the only place that would have a comparable facility in the United States,” said Jim Roberts, KU interim vice provost for research.

The center initially started as a small addition to Malott Hall that was intended to house an 800-megahertz nuclear magnetic resonance machine — or NMR — which allows researchers to view proteins’ interactions with other molecules in solutions. It was to be funded by $5 million included in bond money approved by the 2002 Legislature for research facilities and equipment.

But as planning progressed, it became apparent that KU could include the NMR facility with other research needs on west campus, Roberts said.

In all, the current project under way will cost $4.3 million, funded through state bonds, research funds and money from the provost’s office. It will be about 37,000 square feet and will house the NMR, an X-ray for looking at proteins and a “proteomics suite” — a group of smaller pieces of equipment for examining proteins.

“Proteomics,” or the study of proteins, is emerging as a top priority for KU researchers. Proteins are responsible for many cell-level body functions and initiate diseases.

KU researchers also are applying for $4 million from the National Institutes of Health that would add another 20,000 square feet to the building to move several KU labs to the west campus site.

David VanderVelde, director of KU’s current NMR laboratory and one of the researchers applying to the NIH, said he thought having all the equipment in one place would move KU near the forefront of protein research.

“We think the individual facilities in the SBC are all cutting edge, and some are very rare in academia, but the combination into a technically and administratively unified center is unique,” he said.

6News video: KU to have new facility on West Campus KU Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Laboratory

Roberts said he thought the end result on west campus was a good example of KU faculty and administrators pooling resources and efforts.

“It’s been amazing,” he said. “It started as a concept to stick something on the side of Malott Hall. It’s been pretty wild how it came together.”