The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, December 05, 2000, Image 5

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    Je sday, Decem
■esdny. December 5, 2000
science
Page 5A
THE BATTALION
(Germination termination
A.&M biology professor uses genetic sequencing to create pest-resistant strains of rice
Bv Arun Arjunan
The Battalion
Crop biotechnology has made headlines recently as one of the latest in-
tovative technologies in agricultural science.
Dr. Timothy C. Hall, a Texas A&M distinguished professor of biology,»
nd his team of researchers have developed specific genes called “stealth
genes’’ to increase rice plants’ resistance to insects and other pests.
Traditionally, toxic chemicals have been used to keep insects from dam-
iging rice crops.
Hall said that instead of spraying plants with insecticides, genetic engi-
10 are nolle neering may make the rice plants resistant to pests. He is looking to devel
op wnit 0 p strains of rice that will produce insect- killing proteins, which would
liminate the need for chemical insecticides.
“We are interested in killing insects that eat rice plants, like the rice wa
ter weevil,” he said. “This insect feeds on the leaves and lays its eggs on
them. When the eggs hatch, larvae grow and spend about a month chewing
the roots.”
Hall and his research team insert the new genes in the seeds of rice plants.
When the plants develop, the genes express, or produce, insect-killing pro
teins in their roots. Hall said ideally, this procedure should keep water wee
vils from eating the roots.
He said that although the process can be carried out effectively, it is not
simple. Through its research, Hall’s team discovered that many of the in
sect-killing genes were either not expressed or expressed only in the early
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steps of plant growth.
“This lack of expression, also called gene silencing, is a way for plant
cells to protect themselves from invasion,” Hall said. “When we put the
gene in, it is seen by the plant cells as an invasive event, so there are vari
ous ways in which the cells turn off the expression of the foreign gene.”
Hall said gene silencing works like a human immune system. As soon
as a new piece of DN A enters the genome (the complete set of genes on the
chromosome of an organism), the plant recognizes it as a foreign element
and silences the gene through biochemical means. Silencing mechanisms
may permanently eliminate the genes.
Hall and' his team have encountered various silencing systems. One
method of silencing involves a process known as methylation. This is when
a gene is introduced and then chemically modified to distinguish the new
gene from the native gene to determine if the genes are affected by the si
lencing mechanisms.
Hall and his team are designing fluorescent markers to highlight the po
sition of the introduced genes in the plant genome.
“We hope to be able to tell exactly where our genes are inserted and
whether it really does make a difference where the (introduced gene] is in
serted,” Hall said.
Hall said the rice genome sequence should be completely finished in the
next few months, which should aid in the study of gene silencing.
“By changing various regions in [the introduced genes], we hope to be
able to make the rice resistant to the water weevil,” he said. “But we still
need to learn a lot about the many ways in which gene silencing is achieved.”
RUBEN DELUNA/The Battalion
nternational antibiotic project helps prevent blindness in Africa
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^ ing disease in two African pilot projects, and
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GENEVA (AP) — An international pro
gram to eliminate trachoma said Monday it
has made major progress against the blind-
will expand to target 30 million more people.
The International Trachoma Initiative said
its combination of hygiene and antibiotics
has cut the disease’s prevalence by more than
half in the programs since they started last
year.
The findings from the project involving 2
million people in remote regions of Tanzania
and Morocco will be presented this week to
the World Health Organization, which wants
to eliminate by 2020 what it calls the world’s
leading preventable cause of blindness.
The initiative was established in 1998
through a public-private partnership between
the New York City-based Edna McConnell
Clark Foundation and drug giant Pfizer Inc.,
which donated its oral antibiotic Zithromax
to the program.
The Tanzanian and Moroccan projects
combined Zithromax with health education
that emphasized facial hygiene.
Pfizer will now contribute 10 million dos
es of the drug — valued at $14 per dose —
and $6 million to cover operating expenses
over the next three years, the initiative said
Monday.
It said $27.4 million will be contributed
over the next five years by the Clark Foun
dation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation,
and Britain.
The money will be used to target millions
more people in the six countries where the
initiative is already underway — Ghana,
Mali, Morocco, Sudan, Tanzania and Viet
nam — and start new programs in other
countries.
Trachoma once was a threat worldwide.
With improved sanitation, it was eliminated
from North America and Europe.
But it still has left some 6 million people
blind in developing countries and affects an
estimated 150 million.
It is easily transmitted, with blindness fol
lowing multiple infections that leave scarring
on the inside of the eyelids, causing it to turn
inward and damage the cornea by brushing it
constantly with the eyelash.
Infections are spread person-to-person,
mostly by children as they rub red, sticky eyes
or by flies that pick up the germs from faces
unwashed because clean water is so scarce
that families walk miles for a mere bucket.
Since the 1950s, treatment had meant ap
plying an ointment of the antibiotic tetracy
cline directly to the eyes twice a day for six
weeks. The thick ointment stung and children
in particular did not comply.
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AIR NEEDS
OAK MAH
S WELCOUf
lOar 61
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/VvT'T
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yutfa .. HOUMY CH££R
1 sprig of mall shopping
1 gathering of family and friends
1 dash of common sense
1 mug under mistletoe
0 drinks are needed if you are a minor, pregnant,
intending to drive, or an alcoholic
3 cups of holiday spirit (optional)
3 cups of water (more to taste)
Assemble your ingredients
(Before going out to celebrate, make a plan about your
drinking behavior and how to get home safely)
Guarantee the quality of your ingredients
(Never leave your drink unattended and always know what you are drinking)
Recipe is best prepared on a full stomach
(Eat a high protein meal before drinking to slow absorption of alcohol)
Add 1 cup holiday spirit, alternating with as much
water to taste CAUTION: More than 3 cups holiday
spirit per recipe may spoil your holiday cheer
(Drinking no more than 1 drink per hour while alternating alcohol
free drinks, like water, and setting a limit at 3 drinks, will maintain a
lower blood alcohol concentration)
For the best Holiday Cheer:
use ingredients in moderation
Alcohol and Drug Education Programs
Ph: 845-0280
Texas A&M University
.. a pan of the Division of Student Affairs
Best wishes for a safe and happy holiday!!!
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Deadline: 4:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 8 for staff
positions.Turn applications in at 014 (basement)
Reed McDonald Building. Interviews will be
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deadline.