On February 13, 2026, the Laboratory of Structural and Functional Protein Biology was opened at Belarusian State University. The event was attended by a large number of high-ranking officials. It was emphasized that the laboratory has no equivalent in the territory of the former USSR.
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s Advisor on Education and Science, Pavel Tereshkovich, explains why the regime needed such a laboratory:
“It is known that the laboratory was created as part of the project to build a new laboratory complex at BSU. It was completed a year ahead of schedule. The construction cost is 83.7 million Belarusian rubles, or 24.6 million euros. For a country whose annual state spending on scientific research is around 120 million euros, this is indeed a significant event. The question is why, given such low overall research funding, the state allocates such a large sum specifically to this project. It was emphasized that this happened solely thanks to the willful decision of Lukashenka himself.
One popular theory is that the laboratory was established in the BSU faculty where Mikalai Lukashenka studies. He is soon expected to finish his bachelor’s degree. If he continues his studies further, the laboratory will provide him with exceptional conditions for a successful scientific career.
But I would suggest another theory. Full-cycle protein research – the main purpose of the laboratory – has numerous practical applications. Among them is the so-called “personalized medicine”, where studies allow treatment to be tailored based on a patient’s specific protein profile, determining the precise form of therapy and drugs suitable for a unique case. This is what is called high-precision health production, aimed at a specific molecular task.
If this is the case, it is not hard to imagine who will become Patient No. 1 in the officially opened laboratory”.
