GLICKMAN AWARDS $1.3 MILLION FOR BIOTECHNOLOGY RESEARCH
                                             Release No.0388.99


                     Media Contact: Andy Solomon (202) 720-4623
                                           andy.solomon@usda.gov
                        Public Contact: Len Carey (202) 720-1358
                                             lcarey@reeusda.gov 


GLICKMAN AWARDS $1.3 MILLION FOR BIOTECHNOLOGY RESEARCH
                    
     WASHINGTON, Sept. 30, 1999  Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman today
announced grants totaling $1.3 million for research on the environmental
effects and risks associated with agricultural biotechnology.  

     "These research projects will provide government, industry, and
consumers with valuable additional information on the effect of introducing
genetically modified organisms into the environment," Glickman said.  "We want
to be smart about biotechnology, embracing its potential, remaining responsive
to consumer concerns, and, above all, letting science be our guide." 

     USDA's Biotechnology Risk Assessment Research Grants Program supports
research on introduction into the environment or large scale deployment of
genetically engineered organisms.  The program also supports development of
statistical methodology and measures of risk associated with field testing. 
Research proposals for the competitive grants program are evaluated by a peer
panel of experts.  

     Here are the grants that were announced today -- 

          Ohio State University, Columbus, OH; $230,000 to study the effects of
     transgenic insect resistance on wild sunflowers.   Contact: Allison Snow
     (614) 292-3445.

          North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC; $223,000 to assess the
     risk of bollworm adaptation to Bt crops.  Contact: Fred Gould (919)
     515-1647.

          University of California, Davis, CA; $175,000 to study the incidence and
     origin of new viruses in multiple virus-resistant cucurbits.  Contact:
     Bryce Falk (530) 752-0302.

          University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN; $203,151 to examine resistance
     evolution of corn rootworms in resistant transgenic corn and weedy
     grasses.  Contact: Kenneth Ostlie (612) 624-7436.


                             -more-


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          University of Maryland, College Park, MD; $110,000 to field test a
     hyper-virulent fungus.  Contact: Raymond John St. Leger (301) 405-5402. 
     

          Agricultural Research Service, Madison, WI; $250,000 to look at gene
     flow from transgenic cucurbits into the wild.  Contact: Jack Staub (608)
     262-0028.  

          Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS; $160,000 to study the potential
     for gene-escape in imidazolinone-resistant sunflowers and its impacts on
     related wild species.
     Contact: K.M. Al-Khatib (785) 532-5155.  

     Additional information about the grants and this program can be found on
the web at www.reeusda.gov/crgam/biotechrisk/biotech.htm.  

                                
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