(L - R) Dr. Roger Beachy President of the Danforth Plant Science Center explained the significance of plant research during Gov. Nixon's tour of the new Bio-Research and Development Growth Park.
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Bio-Research and Development Growth Park to Lead in Promoting the Future of a 'Green Society'
By Bob Moore, SLFP.com
ST. LOUIS, MO, (SLFP.com), March 1, 2009 - Gov. Jay Nixon visited the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis to discuss the importance of transforming Missouri's economy by creating next-generation jobs in the life- and plant-science fields and by attracting new high-tech businesses to the state.
During his visit, Gov. Nixon met with the Center's leaders to discuss their plans for growth and expansion, and he also underscored the state's commitment to competing for additional research funds made available under the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
In remarks at the Danforth Plant Science Center, Gov. Nixon said, "During these difficult economic times, we must transform Missouri's economy by embracing emerging science and technologies as opportunities to create next-generation jobs, and by ensuring that our state has a workforce that is trained, ready and prepared to fill those highly skilled positions."
"Institutions such as the Danforth Center here in St. Louis, the Stowers Institute in Kansas City and the research facilities associated with our major universities are more than just world-class scientific institutions. They're also potential hubs of economic growth and expansion in our state," stated the governor.
Under the federal recovery act, Missouri's scientific and research institutions would be eligible to compete for approximately $2.1 billion in additional funding from the National Institutes for Health. This includes about $800 million for research grant programs, including new "challenge grants," which are part of a small, fast-track program that will focus on health and science projects from which progress can be expected in two years. This $800 million pool also will provide additional support to current grant projects. In addition, the NIH will be awarding about $1 billion for construction, repairs and alterations at current NIH-affiliated institutions, and about $300 million for shared instrumentation and other capital equipment for NIH-supported research activities.
During his tour of the Danforth Center, Gov. Nixon received a briefing on the facility's new Bio-Research and Development Growth Park, which is scheduled to open the first of its three buildings in April 2009.
The Park will be a national leader in promoting plant- and life-science business and research by helping businesses and companies utilize research, resources and relationships to achieve commercial success. Facilities at the Park will include world-class wet laboratories, office space and a prominent incubator. At the Park, businesses will also have access to the scientists and researchers at the Danforth Center, as well as to the Center's greenhouse, growth chambers and laboratories.
"Success comes in little drips and drabs from the perspective of the public," stated Dr. Roger Beachy, in an interview during the tour. "For scientists, every new publication is a discovery. Perhaps the biggest excitement we have going for us now is that we hope these new varities of Cassava will be tested in Africa by African farmers sometime during 2009. We are excited about that opportunity," stated Dr. Beachy.
"African farmers grow Cassava because sometimes it's the only thing that will grow. They can propagate it year after year by making cuttings just like we do for potatoes that are planted in the ground. So for farmers who can't afford seeds for vegetables and seeds corn, they can plant this year after year," noted Dr. Beachy. He acknowledged that that Cassava is very susceptible to diseases, which results in perhaps only a tenth of the normal yield, adding to the problem of starvation.
"The second is a very different application that was discovered recently," he continued. "We can produce the polimers - or the precurser material - to make plastic material. So with the end seeds of plants like camelina and soybeans, we think that we are on the way to a green future by producing materials in plants that could be used by the consumer on a daily basis yet not made from petroleum."
"We see a great future for what we call a 'Green Biology' or a 'Green Society' built on the backs of plants. So plants can make more than just food and feed and fiber. They will have this material that can be used in the industrial sector or in manufacturing," stated Dr. Beachy.
The Danforth Plant Science Center plans to open the first of three new buildings in the Bio-Research and Development Growth Park in April 2009.
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Green Tea "Enviga" Will Tone Down Weight-Loss Claims
ST. LOUIS, MO, (SLFP.com), March 1, 2009 - Attorney General Chris Koster has announced that consumers will begin seeing more explanation about potential weight-loss benefits from drinking Enviga, a green tea offered by Coca-Cola.
Missouri, along with 27 other states and the District of Columbia, announced a settlement with Coke that will require Enviga to change its label information and pay a total of $650,000 to the states, with Missouri receiving more than $14,000.00.
Enviga claimed that drinking three cans a day would burn an extra 60 to 100 calories per day. The investigation by Attorneys General found no valid scientific study to back up that assertion. In the future, marketing messages about Enviga and other similar products will say clearly that there is no weight loss benefit and that the only true path to weight loss is through diet and exercise.
"Consumers are bombarded with ads for diet and weight-loss products that make all kinds of wild claims about results they can expect," Koster said. "Consumers can rest assured that those of us who enforce consumer fraud laws will be watching for misleading ads like these and not allow them to continue."
Others participating in today's agreement are: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Louisiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington and the District of Columbia.
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