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Lord Sainsbury, former chairman and chief executive of the large chain of supermarkets that bears his family's name, has been named as Britain's new science minister following a cabinet reshuffle last week.

Tony Blair, the prime minister, also announced that Sir Robert May, the government's chief scientist, will be given an office in the Cabinet Office, a move frequently demanded by critics since the Office of Science and Technology was moved to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in 1995 (see Nature 376, 103; 1995).

Sainsbury was named last week as a new minister in the DTI, where he will serve under Peter Mandelson, a leading architect of the Labour Party's victory in last year's general election. He takes over the science portfolio from John Battle, who retains his other responsibilities, including energy issues. Mandelson becomes the cabinet minister responsible for science and technology.

Sainsbury has long been an active promoter of scientific and technological causes, ranging from school education to support for research in plant pathology, through the activities of the Gatsby Foundation, the charitable trust on which he has settled much of his personal wealth.

The foundation's capital assets are said to be worth close to £500 million (US$820 million). Projects it has backed include the creation of a plant research laboratory at the John Innes Centre in Norwich, and a unit for cognitive neuroscience at University College London.