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Congressionally mandated grant funds are used to support research. Program focus includes: Biofuels and Specialty Chemicals; Plant Biology; Food Safety; New Uses and Material Sciences of Agricultura Commodities; Animal Health Care, and Technology Development.
APPROACH: Biofuels and Specialty Chemicals: Develop new and unique methods for converting plant materials into alternative fuels and specialty chemicals via enzymatic conversions. Initial efforts will focus on developing enzyme systems that can be used for producing a variety of alcohols. Plant Biology: Develop new methods and systems for genetic manipulation of agronomically important crop plants. Emphasis placed on procedures for introducing and selecting new genetic traits including, but not limited to, disease, pest and stress resistance and metabolic enhancement of desirable traits. Food Safety: Continue funding programs designed to create alternatives to the use of antibiotics and chemical preservatives in carcass treatments and the prevention of spoilage in processed foods. New Uses and Material Sciences of Agricultural Commodities: Develop new uses and applications for commodity agricultural products through, but not limited to, the applications of polymer chemistry, biocatalytic conversions, direct chemical modifications and the study of the physical properties of these materials. This includes rheological studies of new compositions and the methods for modifying them. Animal Health Care: Development of technology and/or product opportunities that have the potential to improve animal health and production efficiency in poultry, dairy cattle, beef cattle, swine, and sheep. This includes: (a) conduct comparative microbial genomics studies for priority disease of livestock to determine genetic and biological determinants of infection and pathogenesis; (b) food animal genomics research to advance our understanding of host responses to microbial infections, disease susceptibility, and disease resistance; and (c) discovery of diagnostics, biotherapeutics, and vaccines that have been specifically designed for the prevention, control, or eradication of priority infectious diseases of food animals Technology Development: Support the growth and success of new businesses based on technology developed with BRDC funding. This will be done by supporting early to mid technology development through funding of work in collaboration with the originating institution, e.g. NCAUR.