The Environmental Biotechnology Initiative at URI
Patrick Logan, Director
R.I. Agriculture Experiment Station
In December 1997, faculty
from URI marine and environmental science departments met to formally endorse
a new idea for the University. Although some might say that academicians rarely
agree on anything, these 50 faculty unanimously endorsed a major expansion of
its programs in environmental biotechnology, called the Environmental Biotechnology
Initiative (EBI).
Biotechnology in the context of this initiative
is defined as the ability of scientists to understand and use genes in new ways.
The media often reports on medical biotechnology. URI's strengths in biology
including marine, environmental, and agricultural sciences make it particularly
well suited for development of a biotechnology initiative with a focus other
than medicine.
EBI will emphasize the study of nature and will
support new ways to use genes to better understand plants, animals, and the
ecosystems where they live. Another emphasis will be new gene-governed processes
that can be used to create products with practical uses in industry, agriculture,
environmental protection and remediation, and human and veterinary medicine.
Applications of biotechnology in the environmental
sciences are being discovered at an astounding rate‹there are myriad ways that
biotechnology can be applied. In studies of population genetics, a field very
important to global conservation efforts, new technologies are being used to
study individual genes or proteins and to detect subtle evolutionary patterns
in microbes, plants, and animals. For life on a resource-limited planet, these
same technologies offer strong hopes for domesticated crops and animals, on
which we depend for food and fiber. Biotechnology can help make better use of
nutrients and water and increase resistance to insects, disease, and environmental
stress.
EBI will focus on four areas to enhance the educational,
training, and research missions of the biological and environmental sciences
at URI. EBI will emphasize developing centralized state-of-the-art laboratories
to address common needs. The four areas of technology in a central facility
include:
Genomics. Isolating and identifying elements
of genetic material and characterizing their functions.
Transgenics & Cell Culture. Moving genes
from one organism into another, modifying the latter in organisms such as microbes,
plants, and animals (fish, insects, and livestock).
Imaging. Examining the sites within cells
that show the expression of new genes or proteins using electron or light microscopy
and using sophisticated computer graphics programs to construct two-dimensional
and three-dimensional models of these expressions at near macromolecular levels.
Informatics. Tracking gene sequences, processing
volumes of digital information and extensive DNA and protein databases.
As a Land Grant University, URI has a responsibility
to apply environmental, agricultural, and natural resources research to practical
problems. As a Sea Grant institution, it has a mandate for stewardship of marine
resources. EBI will provide training facilities for natural resource managers
in these technologies.
Health and agriculture make up 15 percent of
the nation's economy: Biotechnology affects both areas. EBI will modernize the
research capabilities of URI faculty and enhance their ability to conduct cutting-edge
research. This will foster opportunities for University-industry collaborations
in general biotechnology (methodologies), aquacultural pathology (disease diagnosis,
vaccines, and stock improvement), and horticulture (insect and disease resistance,
enhancement of quality and quantity of yield). There will be new opportunities
for alliances in agronomy (e.g., improved efficiency of water and nutrients),
food safety (pathogen recognition and quality analysis), and environmental management
(conservation of endangered species, detection of pollution).
EBI provides a means for industry and academic
scientists to exchange ideas, to share methods and equipment, and to collaborate
in training the next generation of scientists and technicians at URI. Training
workshops will allow scientists to keep abreast of the latest technologies for
cell culture and fermentation, polymerase chain reaction, cloning and recombinant
DNA techniques, and emerging tools for diagnosing environmental pathogens that
threaten food and drinking water.
EBI will provide students access to specialized
training facilities, including many in the centralized research and outreach
laboratories, and teachers of non-biology majors with a general understanding
of concepts and applications of biotechnology. More importantly, it will provide
an opportunity for environmental and biology students to undertake research
early in their academic careers, something usually reserved for graduate students.
New course offerings may also be available, especially in the core areas of
genomics, transgenics, imaging, and informatics.
EBI will accelerate active research programs
and integrate them into the undergraduate curriculum. Ranger Hall, the proposed
site of centralized laboratories and instructional facilities, is a magnificent
granite building on URI's main campus. Nearly 90 years old, Ranger was scheduled
for major renovation, with funds provided by a 1996 state bond issue. A study
is underway to look at the feasibility of redirecting the renovation to accommodate
the new programs of the Initiative. The Champlin Foundation and URI have approved
funding to renovate and equip two satellite labs for plant, animal, and microbial
biotech curricula. Even in its early stages, the Initiative has led to development
of on-campus collaboration with AgriBioTech, the world's largest research and
development biotech company specializing in forages and cool-season grasses.
This is one of the most exciting developments
shaping the future of URI. These early successes signal promise as EBI grows
from an idea to reality.