A £100m new disease research institute will be based at Harwell, the government has announced.

Business Secretary Greg Clark has today pledged the massive investment in what will be called the Rosalind Franklin Institute.

The facility, which will aim to bring together UK expertise to 'transform our understanding of disease' and development new treatments will have a hub at the Harwell science campus, he said.

The idea is that pharmaceutical and research companies will grow out of the investment.

The so-called RFI is named in honour of the British scientist whose use of X-rays to study biological structures played a crucial role in the discovery of the DNA double-helix structure.

Its creation has been led by physics professor Ian Walmsley of the University of Oxford, who said: "This is a new joint venture between some of the UK’s leading universities and key partners in industry and research councils.

"The aim is to speed the application of cutting-edge physical science insights, methods and techniques to health and life sciences by providing an interface between research programmes at the forefront of these areas, co-located at Harwell and connected, dynamically, to the wider UK research base.

"We anticipate innovative new businesses will grow from this effort over time, as the Institute will engage with a range of key industries from inception.

"A collaborative joint venture model allows the RFI to make the most of interactions and draw on a wide range of existing research excellence from across the UK."

It is still unclear whether it will mean new buildings or jobs at Harwell.