College Station, Texas
December 14, 2006
Like toys and electronics vying
for the season's Hot Picks lists, such are the gadgets of
researchers. Most sought this season? Try a gel documentation
system. How about some protein expressing equipment, a
centrifuge or an autoclave?
This year, an almost $1 million package will be unwrapped:
To: Texas
Agricultural Experiment Station select projects
From: Permanent University Fund.
The monies, created by the Texas
Legislature in 1876, come from the sale of oil and gas pumped
from more than 2 million acres of state land.
The monies are shared by Texas A&M University and University of
Texas systems' institutions. The funds supplement dollars from
other sources, such as federal and individual grants. The
Experiment Station is an agency of the Texas A&M University
System.
Among the projects announced for funding recently are nutrition
and food sciences, horticulture and fishery sciences.
"Our scientists are conducting cutting-edge research that is
relevant to the citizens of Texas," said Dr. Elsa Murano, vice
chancellor and dean of agriculture and life sciences at Texas
A&M. "We are excited to be able to use these state funds to
leverage the funding they are able to obtain from external
sources and to help them purchase the needed equipment that will
keep them competitive in their research programs."
Murano noted that the money is matched by other funds from the
scientists or are used to obtain additional funds to enhance
quality and relevance of our research programs. The largest
single allocation is $100,000 to purchase hoods, cabinets, an
autoclave and other equipment in the newly established nutrition
and food sciences laboratory. Growth rooms will be renovated in
horticultural sciences for $36,000, the second-largest amount.
The renovations of ponds used by fisheries scientists is the
third-largest effort at $35,000.
"Renovation of the pond complex is needed to support a variety
of teaching and research needs within our department as well as
to augment collaborative aquacultural programs with other units
within the Texas A&M University System," said Dr. Delbert Gatlin
III, wildlife and fisheries sciences interim department head.
"The aquaculture industry in Texas represents the most rapidly
growing segment of agriculture, with recent expansion of
production facilities for channel catfish, hybrid striped bass,
red drum, tilapia and marine shrimp having a current farm-gate
value of over $51.7 million, and with economic multipliers
adding $155 million to the state's economy," he added.
Funding support for other ongoing research efforts of the
Experiment Station include:
-
$31,000 for
tissue culture facilities. "Our lab uses tissue culture to
investigate how human prostate cancers become metastatic,"
said Dr. Suma Datta, biochemistry and biophysics researcher
in College Station. "By updating our facilities, we will be
able to identify the pathways that make prostate cancer
malignant and develop diagnostic and prognostic tools to
help with more accurate patient diagnoses." Six other
research groups also will benefit from the upgraded
facilities, with projects ranging from AIDS research to
muscular dystrophy and innate immunity, she said.
-
$30,000 for
three gel imaging/documentation systems. "Two new imagers
will replace two obsolete, 13-year-old gel imaging systems
which could not be upgraded," said Dr. Mary Bryk,
biochemistry and biophysics researcher in College Station.
"In addition, we will purchase a third imaging system with
the capacity to detect light and fluorescence signals from
experimental samples. The new imaging systems will
positively impact the research of every lab in our
department by increasing the overall efficiency of data
collection."
-
$25,000 for
wheat genomics research enhancement. "Our wheat improvement
program develops new varieties for Texas producers," said
Dr. Jackie Rudd, wheat breeder at the Experiment Station in
Amarillo. "We're purchasing equipment that will allow us to
do (gene) marker assisted selection which uses DNA
technology to increase the breeding efficiency. That means a
reduction in the number of years needed to develop a new
wheat variety." Researchers at the Amarillo station are
currently using marker assisted selection to breed for aphid
resistance, rust resistance and wheat streak mosaic virus
resistance. The new equipment will increase their capacity
from a few samples a day to a several hundred samples per
day, he said.
-
$20,000 for
ultrasound console and two transducers. "The monies will be
used to purchase equipment to help determine uteroplacenta
blood flow in an non-invasive way," said Dr. Tom Spencer,
part of a team of Experiment Station animal scientists using
a sheep model to study the use of nutriceuticals to combat
intrauterine growth retardation in women.
-
$20,000 for a
silage chopper. "The chopper will be used for conducting
research on silage corn and sorghum breeding and variety
performance tests as well as biofuel research in the Texas
High Plains,"
said Dr. Wenwei Xu, corn breeder at the Experiment Station
in Lubbock.
Writer: Kathleen Phillips |