AN Asian scientist has accused a world-famous Cambridgeshire research centre of racism after he was overlooked for a job. Dr Prim Singh is seeking £1 million in damages from the Babraham Institute - the pioneering bio-science centre near Sawston - at an employment tribunal in Bristol. Mr Singh’s case centres on allegations of race discrimination and victimisation against the Babraham Institute.Dr Singh, 45, also alleges genetics expert Prof Ian Wilmut - the celebrated creator of Dolly the Sheep - bullied him, was racist and stole his scientific ideas while they both worked at the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh.He says he was the victim of a witch-hunt and was forced out of a £40,000-a-year job at Roslin.He then applied for a job at the Babraham Institute but says because of his previous complaints against Roslin he was deliberately overlooked for the job, despite being better qualified than several other candidates. He now works in Germany.He is also suing Roslin for a further £1 million in a separate race discrimination claim due to be heard by an employment tribunal in Edinburgh in November.Another discrimination case is being brought against Roslin by British scientist Dr Jeremy Brown. He claims he was also forced out of Roslin after backing Dr Singh and now works at Harvard University in the United States.During the tribunal, Dr Singh will claim he was axed from his job at Roslin in June 2004 after he accused Prof Wilmut of racism, and Prof Wilmut then refused to continue working with him.Dr Singh, who still has a home in Edinburgh, will tell how he then applied for the post of director at Babraham in February this year.The job was eventually given to Professor Philip Ingham, a Cambridge University graduate and former head of genetics at Sheffield University.
