It's official: Biodefense lab going to Kansas | McClatchy Washington Bureau

Kansas gained final approval Monday for a $650 million federal biodefense laboratory that officials heralded for its potential to protect the food supply and boost the state's economy.

Last month Kansas emerged as the top recommendation for the planned National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility. On Monday, Jay Cohen, undersecretary for science and technology for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, made the pick official.

Cohen signed a "record of decision" that will bring to the Manhattan campus of Kansas State University a complex that will employ hundreds of scientists and other workers.

The facility is charged with developing innovations for detecting and countering potentially devastating outbreaks of diseases that can affect livestock, and possibly public health.

U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts said the development marked one of the most significant investments in state history.

Read the complete story at kansascity.com