If too many cooks spoil the broth, can too many universities weaken the N.C. Research Campus?

Let's hope not. In fact, just the opposite should take place at the campus in the years to come.

From the beginning, Duke University has been mentioned as a possible participant in the massive biotechnology project announced last fall by David Murdock and the University of North Carolina. But not until last week did Murdock announce that Duke has formally agreed to take a role in the campus.

It will be a big role. Duke will manage the first building to go up, the Core Lab. Duke will also build its own Institute for Translational Medicine on the campus, where scientists will translate basic scientific discoveries into practical medical solutions.

The involved parties probably have carefully defined how Duke's role fits in with those of UNC-Chapel Hill, N.C. State and UNC Charlotte. This is something of a collaboration feat, bringing together schools that are rivals in other settings. The Research Campus has the potential to transcend all that and pull together the best minds in the state to develop breakthroughs in biotechnology. This really is a new frontier.