Contact: Maridith Geuder
A June 26 public event will introduce the Mississippi State community and the general public to the university's new Life Sciences and Biotechnology Institute.
A 1-4 p.m. open house at the Pace Seed Technology building on Stone Boulevard will include tours and brief information sessions on the institute's various research efforts. Light refreshments will be provided.
The institute was formed in 2000 to encourage scientific collaborations among faculty members in biology, agriculture, human and animal medicine, food science, and bioinformatics. Proteomics, a research area dealing with proteins produced by cell type and organism, is its primary focus area at present.
LSBI also offers two-year startup grants to any MSU faculty member whose research falls under the umbrella of biotechnology, which broadly encompasses the use of organisms and biological processes to improve human health, enhance environmental sustainability and make agriculture more productive.
Among those discussing their investigations will be Drs. Shane Burgess, Cody Coyne, Larry Hanson, and Mark Lawrence of the College of Veterinary Medicine; Dawn Luthe, Yean Jung and Zhaohua Peng of biochemistry and molecular biology; William Holmes of the State Chemical Laboratory; Gloria Thomas of chemistry; Peter Ma and Gerald Baker of entomology and plant pathology; Susan Diehl of forest products; Terry Smith of animal and dairy science; and Felix Fritschi, Jeffrey Ray and Rusty Smith of the USDA/ARS Crop Genetics and Production Research Unit in Stoneville.
While the Pace Lab will continue as the home for faculty and staff members in seed technology, the building is about to undergo a $3 million renovation. Beginning later this summer, the yearlong project will result in improved laboratories and administrative areas.
For more information about the open house, telephone (662) 325-9208.