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New biosecure facility may study threat to Green Revolution Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Agri News staff writer w
ST. PAUL -- Brian Steffenson hopes to study a rust that could undo Norman Borlaug's Green Revolution in a new biosecure facility unveiled last week at the University of Minnesota.
The $6 million Biosafety Level 3 Plant Pathology Containment Facility is like only three others in the nation, said U of M Regent Dallas Bohnsack.
It will be used for research into plant diseases not common to Minnesota that would pose a threat if they escaped, said Dean Malvick, a University of Minnesota Extension plant pathologist.
The UG99 rust Steffenson, a plant pathology professor, hopes to study fits the description. It was discovered in Uganda in 1999 and has now spread to other east African nations. It attacks 70 percent of the wheat and barley grown in the world.
"We're really excited about this," he said of the new containment facility. "It's very, very nice."
The facility was paid for by the University of Minnesota and the state of Minnesota. The $6 million price tag includes equipment. The building cumulates a $24 million investment in plant growth facilities that include classrooms, 15,000 square feet of greenhouse growing space and an Insect Quarantine Facility.
The Minnesota Soybean Growers Association and Minnesota Soybean Research and Promotion Council were active in securing funding for the facility from the Legislature. Soybean checkoff dollars paid for the building's predesign, said Rob Hanks of LeRoy, chairman of the Minnesota Soybean Research and Promotion Council.
Thanks to the hard work and dedication of many people and organizations, funding was secured in just five months, said New Richland farmer Larry Muff, who's vice president of the Minnesota Soybean Growers Association.
The facility is important not only for farmers, but also for those who don't farm, Hanks said.
Muff agreed.
"Every sector of the state is going to benefit from this," he said.
The secure facility will allow researchers to conduct studies on the basic biology of pathogens to help them develop new ways of managing those diseases, said Carol Ishimaru, head of the plant pathology department. The facility also provides an opportunity for researchers from a variety of backgrounds to conduct research in a unique research environment and respond in a rapid way to diseases as they come about.
It is hoped plant research projects can begin in spring 2008 in the new facility. |
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