The Institute for Systems Biology said it has received a $6 million donation from a California venture capitalist and philanthropist who wished to remain anonymous.

The gift was designated over five years to help ISB move into a new building to double its space, recruit additional faculty, and fund research in medicine, biofuels and global health.

The 10-year-old non-profit research institute was co-founded by Alan Aderem, Ruedi Aebersold and Leroy Hood and pioneers an integrated approach to medicine with scientists collaborating across different disciplines. The award announced today is important because it provides unrestricted funding, ISB said.

"This outstanding philanthropic leadership provides critical support for truly revolutionary advances in science," said Hood, ISB's president.

"Government funding and industry collaborations succeed in advancing science, to be sure," he said, "but that funding is often restricted to the support of highly prescribed research programs focused on incremental advances."