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K-State efforts aim to beef up biosecurity The Kansas City Star Jon Wefald believes that grocery stores jam-packed with food that is both cheap and safe have left Americans complacent. Outbreaks of naturally occurring diseases such as West Nile virus and monkey pox or terrorist attacks on the nation’s food supply raise such disturbing specters that they are worthy of everyone’s serious attention, said Wefald, the president of Kansas State University. “We understand that if something untoward were to happen to our food supply, it could wreak havoc on our economy,” Wefald said last week in Kansas City. Wefald is not only calling for greater vigilance. He has mustered a substantial and growing biotechnology research operation focusing on food safety and security. A $54 million Biosecurity Research Institute, for example, is to open this fall on the K-State campus. The initiative has major implications for the region’s efforts to boost the bioscience economy. K-State leaders are expanding laboratories and scientific staff in Manhattan, and they have plans to bring the food safety and security work to the university’s proposed campus in Olathe. “We are a major research engine for the state and the region,” Wefald said. A K-State contingent, including Wefald and Ralph Richardson, dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine, had key roles in last week’s event that offered an update on the KC Animal Health Corridor initiative. The Kansas City Area Development Council and other organizers of the initiative aim to build on the 116 animal health industry companies already in the region. Showcasing researchers at the vet school in Manhattan has become a big part of the pitch to persuade companies in the animal health industry to move their development operations or headquarters to the area. Many companies no longer rely solely on internal teams for innovation. Skilled academic researchers who can help overcome a company’s product development obstacles are an attractive asset. Wefald takes pride that his university is no Johnny-come-lately to the issue. He and other K-State leaders spoke at a congressional hearing in 1999 about potential attacks on the food supply. Food safety and security research and other work have become the university’s No. 1 priority, he said. The late-1990s outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease started on a single farm in England but was allowed to spread to the point that it decimated the entire country’s agricultural industry, Wefald said. Reproduced with permission of The Kansas City Star © Copyright 2006 The Kansas City Star. All rights reserved. Format differs from original publication. Not an endorsement. |
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