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Published
by the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. CLICK FOR NEWSPAPER DELIVERY
Friday, November 9, 2001
UT researchers ready to help in bioterror fight
Institute seeks $40 million annually to develop vaccines, sensors within two years
By Susan Parrott
Associated Press
University of Texas researchers could begin rolling out a new generation of vaccines, antibodies and sensors to fight anthrax and other bioterrorism agents within two years if $40 million annually in national research funds are available, officials said.
The Biological and Chemical Countermeasures Program at the Institute for Advanced Technologies, based at the University of Texas at Austin, has pioneered research that could quickly lead to mass distribution if research and development is accelerated, said director Dr. Steve Kornguth.
Kornguth told UT System regents Thursday that before the Sept. 11 attacks, the Institute had sought $9 million in federal funds for the fiscal year. He now sees an immediate need to speed up production and will seek additional funding.
He called the institute "a Manhattan Project" for biological defense, combining the expertise of several University of Texas campuses, the U.S. Army, FBI, Texas National Guard, health departments and others.
"This is the premiere organization in the United States," he said, "combining scientific research, medical countermeasures and communications skills."
Kornguth said he has advised national security officials and agencies about countermeasures available now and the institute's developing technology.
"We are now in a real world battle," he said. "We are trying to (rapidly) transition all this technology, which normally takes 10 to 15 years to pipeline."
If research is accelerated, vaccines, antibiotics, antivirals and sensors could be marketed within two to five years.
He said the United States has shown it can handle the relatively limited outbreak of anthrax cases in recent weeks because only four people have died.
"But there is enormous caution about what might happen in the next two or three years."
Anthrax is not the only threat. Smallpox contamination also is a concern, as well as naturally occurring illnesses, like Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, that American troops may encounter in Afghanistan.
Some sensors being developed by the Institute are so small they could be implanted into cell phones.
They would identify biological or chemical agents in a person's breath within hours of exposure, instead of waiting days for clinical systems to appear.
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