The Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) is a private, non-profit institution with research programs focusing on cancer

Cancer

Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...

, neurobiology, plant genetics

Plant genetics

Plant genetics is a very broad term. There are many facets of genetics in general, and of course there are many facets to plants.The definition of genetics is the branch of biology that deals with heredity, especially the mechanisms of hereditary transmission and the variation of inherited...

, genomics

Genomics

Genomics is a discipline in genetics concerning the study of the genomes of organisms. The field includes intensive efforts to determine the entire DNA sequence of organisms and fine-scale genetic mapping efforts. The field also includes studies of intragenomic phenomena such as heterosis,...

 and bioinformatics

Bioinformatics

Bioinformatics is the application of computer science and information technology to the field of biology and medicine. Bioinformatics deals with algorithms, databases and information systems, web technologies, artificial intelligence and soft computing, information and computation theory, software...

. The Laboratory has a broad educational mission, including the recently established Watson School of Biological Sciences

Watson School of Biological Sciences

The Watson School of Biological Sciences is a biological sciences graduate school at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. The school was opened in 1999 and resides on the Laboratory campus in Cold Spring Harbor, New York on Long Island....

. It currently employs over 400 scientists. Over its history eight Nobel laureates have worked at the laboratory.

CSHL is one of sixty-three institutions supported by the Cancer Centers Program of the National Cancer Institute

National Cancer Institute

The National Cancer Institute is part of the National Institutes of Health , which is one of 11 agencies that are part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The NCI coordinates the U.S...

 (NCI) and has been a NCI-designated cancer center since 1987.

The lab is located in the village of Laurel Hollow, New York

Laurel Hollow, New York

Laurel Hollow is a village in the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, New York in the United States. The population was 1,952 at the 2010 census.- History :The settlement began around 1653 with purchase of land from the local natives...

, on the shores of Cold Spring Harbor

Cold Spring Harbor, New York

Cold Spring Harbor is a hamlet in Suffolk County, New York on the North Shore of Long Island. As of the United States 2000 Census, the CDP population was 4,975.Cold Spring Harbor is in the Town of Huntington.-History:...

.
The laboratory began its history in 1890 as an extension of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences; in 1904, the Carnegie Institution of Washington established the Station for Experimental Evolution at Cold Spring Harbor on the site.