This week’s opening of new incubator laboratories at UConn Health’s Cell and Genome Sciences Building adds 32 new labs, doubling the University’s incubator space.

The expansion is part of Bioscience Connecticut, the state investment in UConn Health and other hospitals in the region designed to create jobs and transform Connecticut into a destination for health care and biomedical research.

The addition to the Cell and Genome Sciences Building, 400 Farmington Ave., includes 40 new offices and support space for biotech startup companies to lease. The business incubator concept is to provide a place for startups to grow and develop, often with shared resources to reduce overhead costs. In the case of UConn’s incubator labs, companies also have access to expertise unique to a research institution.

“This marks yet another milestone for UConn and Bioscience Connecticut, as we get even closer to realizing Governor Malloy’s vision of growing the biomedical research and health care sectors of Connecticut’s economy,” says Tom Trutter, UConn Health’s associate vice president for campus planning, design and construction.

The expansion is two stories and 28,000 square feet.

Down the road on the main campus, Bioscience Connecticut’s most visible remaining projects continue moving forward. UConn Health’s new hospital tower is rapidly progressing toward opening in the spring. The adjoining parking garage, Garage 2, is scheduled to open later this month on a limited basis, and eventually will add about 330 employee spaces and 35 spots for emergency department patients and visitors, plus space for emergency vehicles. And by the summer, the academic building addition will be complete.

It’s estimated that Bioscience Connecticut has created more than 4,700 construction jobs since the first project’s groundbreaking in 2012.