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uesday, August 29, 2000
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rof garners grant for instruction
'eterinary students to learn about bioterrorism in academic environment
g this Wednesday at
ew CD, Heritage Way
IyNoni Sridhara
The Battalion
“Olympic Park bombing suspect sought.” ”Ok-
ahoma victims remembered.”
As these headlines flash across
merican newspapers, one thinks of
errorist attacks on U.S. soil and won-
ers when and if the next will take
lace. Arecent terrorism threat less ob-
ious than bombings is bioterrorism.
The United States spends $10 bil-
annually to fight terrorism, and a
ftrge part of that sum goes toward
lighting bioterrorism , the use of ter-
jbrism by infecting a country’s animal,
lant or water supplies.
One of the people fighting this
natch is Dr. Gale Wagner, a professor
if veterinary pathobiology at Texas
&M. Wagner received a $389,000
ant from the Department of De-
’s National Security Education
togram to develop a new curriculum
emerging diseases, food safety and
.COURTESYOFSP.TUNER E C^ 6i()terrorism Wagner j, COO p erating
his efforts with veterinarians at the
University of Georgia as well as with
veterinarians in Chile, Argentina and
Brazil
Wagner said he first decided to in
corporate bioterrorism issues into the
veterinary program after working with
students in Mexico for the past 20
years. He said he believes that the Unit
ed States will see a rise in the number
of animal diseases in the future.
As free trade increases, the animal diseases
increase, whether it is by accident or inten
tion,” Wagner said.
Wagner said veterinary students would be ex
posed to these different issues throughout the
course of their veterinary schooling. He said he
will use this grant to take several veterinary stu
dents, along with students of other disciplines,
to Chile and ask them to write a report on the
possibility of certain diseases posing a health
threat.
would want them not only to focus on the
health impact of these veterinarian diseases but
"Tj also the severe social and economic conse-
'flCy IT ( If fences,” Wagner said.
" J'JiL -*■*' ' Wagner said they must identify areas that are
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vulnerable to bioterrorism and prevent them from
being targeted.
He said these issues need to be in the veterinary
curriculum because veterinarians will be some of
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the first people to respond to acts of bioterrorism.
He added that he is concentrating on South Amer
ica because the United States trades a great deal
with these countries. Wagner said the most signif
icant outcome of this linkage between U.S. and
South American veterinary colleges Avill be the re
duction of the threat of infectious diseases of ma
jor health importance.
Vulnerability was the key word from Dr.
Catherine E. Woteki, undersecretary for food safe
ty at the United States Department of Agriculture,
when she was asked about the potential for a
bioterrorist attack on the United States.
“I think that the opportunity for terrorists to dis
rupt American agriculture and use the food supply
as a vehicle for achieving their goals is a real po
tential threat,” Woteki said.
-
Woteki said she does not think that free trade
has raised the potential for a bioterrorist attack be
cause of the existing openness of the food supply.
“Many analysts who study the security of the
United States are very much con
cerned about organizations [both do
mestic and in other countries] that do
have access to both biological agents
that can cause disease as well as
chemical agents. And, both agricul
ture and the food supply are very vul
nerable because we are so open,” she
said.
Woteki said that some people fear
that the agricultural market is being
sought out to manipulate the futures
market because approximately 16 per
cent of the U.S. gross domestic prod
uct comes from agriculture.
The Philadelphia Inquirer pub
lished an article in July reporting'that
many agencies were preparing for a
possible anthrax attack at the Repub
lican National Convention. According
to the Inquirer, an Internet-based
health surveillance system was creat
ed by the city’s Department of Public
Health in cooperation with the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) and state health departments in
Pennsylvania, New Jersey and
Delaware.
Another article published in the
May issue of the British Medical
Journal titled “U.S. Plans Drugs
Stockpile to Counter Bioterrorism
Threat” references a statement from the CDC en
titled “Bioterrorism Preparedness and Re
sponse.” The CDC states that it is working to de
velop tools to detect biological and chemical
agents on a national level, strengthen surveil
lance and enhance communication systems.
Wagner said the presumption is that the more
discussion there is about such acts, the less likely
it is that they will actually happen.
“I do believe we need to raise awareness, but
I’m not an alarmist and don’t believe in crying
wolf,” he said. “We have to remember to keep sci
ence as our basis and be cautious of expecting too
much and reacting too quickly.
“The risk today [of bioterrorist attacks] is
greater than ever, so our methods of prevention
have to be greater than ever, too.”
■■■■■■■I
Researchers transfer
animal spinal tissue
(AP) —Scientists have success
fully spliced pig cells into the injured
spines of paralyzed mice and restored
some nerve impulses.
In an additional twist, the pig cells
were bioengineered with a human
protein that helped to prevent the im
mune systems of the mice from re
jecting the foreign tissue.
The study, conducted at Yale, pro
vides the latest evidence yet that pigs
may provide the most promising new
source of cells and organs for trans
plant into humans.
Researchers said the experiment,
published in the September issue of
Nature Biotechnology, is also anoth
er step toward repairing spinal cord
injuries.
“Though unthinkable only a
decade or two ago, it now appears
that reparative treatment for spinal
cord injury may be within reach,”
said Lars Olson of the Karolinska In
stitute in Sweden, who reviewed the
Yale experiment.
Researchers said the experiment
shows how transplantation of cells
and organs across species lines,
known as xenografting, may prolong
patients’ lives and improve their
health, at least until a human trans
plant became available.
Other researchers were surprised
that the bioengineered pig cells were
so readily compatible with the ner
vous systems of the mice.
Restoring nerve function with cell
transplants is just one promising area,
they said. As the immunological bar
riers are lowered, pigs also may pro
vide humans with hearts, lungs, kid
neys and livers.
Earlier this month,, research
groups in the United States, Japan
and Scotland announced they had
successfully cloned pigs. But it may
take several generations of laborato
ry-bred pigs over many years to weed
out the genes that trigger immune-
system rejection.
In the experiment, Yale re
searchers severed the spinal cords
of mice. Then they implanted cells
derived from the snouts of pigs.
The pig cells were engineered to
express a protein that suppresses
the immune system’s rejection for
foreign tissue.
The pig cells were two kinds of
nerve fiber-ensheathing cells - olfac
tory ensheathing cells, or OECs, and
Schwann cells.
The researchers reported the pig
cells served as a bridge across the
mice’s damaged spines, prompting
new nerve connections and some re
growth of the myelin sheath that in
sulates nerves.
In seven of 10 mice, nerve fibers
grew at a typical rate of 1 millimeter
per day. The regenerated nerves con
ducted impulses faster than normal
mouse nerves.
Other researchers said the mice
did not regain motor function, but
said the nerve impulse results were
notable.
“Did the mice feel their toes?
They didn’t ask that question,” said
Naomi Kleitman of the Miami Pro
ject to Cure Paralysis. “They
showed the axons were functioning,
not that there is a functional con
nection all the way to the brain and
a relay back.”
Kleitman said the experiment also
shows little performance difference
between Schwann cells and olfacto
ry cells. That could be important be
cause Schwann cells are easier to ob
tain, she said.
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Welcome Back Aggies!!
Do you have general questions? Need help finding your way around?
Don’t really know the questions that you need to ask?
Maybe we can help. Drop by Rev's info Station for campus and community maps,
bus routes, hike
engraving, campus dining locations and more.
Dates:
Tuesday, August 29*
Wednesday, August 30*’
Location:
Rudder Fountain
Tunes:
10:00am until 2:00pm (both days)
Contact:
Student life Orientation
845-5826
Gig ’Em Week
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