1974年由欧洲14个国家加上亚洲的以色列共同发起建立，现在由欧洲30个成员国政府支持组成，目的在于促进欧洲国家之间的合作来发展分子生物学的基础研究和改进仪器设备、教育工作等。以进行世界一流的优秀生物学研究，为学生和科学家提供高级培训，并为广泛的科学和实验服务提供最先进的技术为宗旨，是欧洲领先的生命科学实验室，有六个基地。

Founded in 1974 by 14 European countries plus Israel in Asia, it is now supported by the governments of 30 European member states, with the aim of promoting cooperation among European countries to develop basic research in molecular biology and improve instrumentation and equipment, education, etc. With the aim of conducting world-class biological research of excellence, providing advanced training for students and scientists, and providing state-of-the-art technology for a wide range of scientific and experimental services, it is Europe's leading life sciences laboratory with six bases.