Development of biochemistry and molecular biology in Malta

Abstract

Malta is the largest island of a small archipelago (total area 316 sq km) in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. Its population now stands at over 400,000 compared to about 300,000 in 1945. It has one university (the University of Malta, whose origins go back to 1592) which now has a complement of about 9,000 students attending a very wide variety of diploma or degree courses (including Biochemistry and Molecular Biology) at undergraduate or graduate level. This evolved from the Royal University of Malta, which in 1945 had a total of about 300 students attending courses only in Theology, Law, Medicine, Pharmacy, Dentistry, and Engineering and Architecture. Many changes and great expansion of academic programs started with the arrival, in 1964, of Independence and the creation of the Republic of Malta, which is a member of the British Commonwealth of Nations and also of the European Union.