Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, July 19, 1990 TAG: 9007190320
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By DANIEL HOWES and MADELYN ROSENBERG
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
But the university still has to find nearly $8 million more from the federal government and the General Assembly, which this year denied Tech's requests for funding.
The center, which would be built near the university golf course, would apply advances in biotechnology to agriculture. Biotechnology enables scientists to remove genetic information from one organism and insert it into another, endowing organisms with desirable traits they did not previously possess.
Tech officials welcomed the news Wednesday, calling the vote "a good start."
"It's great. Now we need to see if our senators can help us out," said Ernest Stout, associate provost for research. The bill moves next to the Senate for consideration.
"We're hopeful. We're one step closer than we were on Friday" when the House Appropriations Committee approved the request, he said. "Our big challenge will be to see if the state will match it."
Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Abingdon, who sponsored the amendment to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Appropriations Bill for fiscal year 1991, said the vote "indicates a strong federal commitment to the project."
The Ninth District representative acknowledged that "very severe budgetary restraints" could make additional federal funding difficult. But Boucher vowed to request additional funding in the future.
Tech already has a substantial investment in biotechnology, with more than 60 faculty members and 150 graduate students doing research in the burgeoning field. The new center would bring the research teams together under one roof.
by CNB