Evolution Creation Debate

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has given or commited to give the Discovery Institute more than $10 million. The Foundation donated $1 million in October 2000 and in July 2003 pledged $9.35 million through to 2013, including $50,000 of the Institute's founder and president Bruce Chapman's annual salary.

The Discovery Institute is a conservative Christian foundation, founded in 1990 based in Seattle, Washington. Its main division is the Center for Science and Culture which lobbies aggressively for wider acceptance of intelligent design and against the theory of evolution. Since 2001 it has compiled at list of 500 scientists who agree with the statement:

"We are skeptical of claims for the ability of random mutation and natural selection to account for the complexity of life. Careful examination of the evidence for Darwinian theory should be encouraged."

The Gates Foundation has said their grants are not used in the creation / evolution debate but to support research, development, promotion, and implementation of a long-term transportation plan for the Puget Sound region.