Friday, October 12, 2001
The announcement that a Michigan firm associated with the University of Michigan's Center for Biologic Nanotechnology has developed NanoProtect, a liquid that can destroy anthrax spores and smallpox virus, could not have come at a better time. Now more than ever, the United States needs a new arsenal of weapons to fight new kinds of assaults.
But it's not as if scientists all over the country haven't been working on ways to thwart bioterrorists. The problem is that even with the newest techniques research can take months or even years before successful results are attained. With the recent anthrax scare from Florida -- one man died, and so far two others have been infected with the rare and potentially deadly disease -- research activities should have received greater impetus from state and federal governments.
Too little, too late: Although a report from the General Accounting Office shows that the federal government will increase spending for research into technology to fight biological agents by 11 percent, the $156.8 million budget for this fiscal year is a drop in the budgetary bucket.
Nanotechnology, which involves the manipulations of atoms and molecules, has untold potential, but requires the sophistication of multimillion dollar laboratories.
That's why last year, Gov. John Engler of Michigan proposed a $1 billion Life Sciences Corridor initiative and why Wisconsin's then-Gov. Tommy Thompson proposed spending $1 billion to build R & amp;D centers at the University of Wisconsin.
Ohio State University has asked for a similar commitment from this state's legislature, but especially as lawmakers refuse to acknowledge the role Ohio's colleges and universities can and should play in driving the state's economy, we may get left behind in developing the technology that is expected to lead the next industrial revolution. The penny-wise, pound-foolishness that has infected Columbus will have serious, long-term effects.
The United States must accelerate its funding for the science that can protect Americans from chemical and biological warfare and no doubt will -- probably sooner rather than later. Ohio could be in line for some of those funds, but only if the state's leadership acts responsibly.