Contact: Bob Ratliff
Biotechnology research at Mississippi State is receiving a $2 million boost from the Jackson-based Robert M. Hearin Support Foundation.
The grant provides support for university scientists whose research includes human and animal health, disease- and insect-resistant crops development, natural resource protection, and computational biology.
The Hearin Foundation is the namesake of the late Mississippi business leader and philanthropist who created it in 1965.
"These are areas of long-term importance to the state's economy," said Alan Wood, director of the MSU Life Sciences and Biotechnology Institute.
"While the 20th century was the era of the physical sciences, biotechnology will be the dominant science in the 21st century," he said. "The support from the Hearin Foundation will provide equipment and other resources for MSU scientists conducting research needed by many of the state's industries."
The institute was established in 2001 to enable the university to build on its strengths in the biological sciences and the use of biotechnology. "This funding provides resources to enhance the competitiveness of our research programs and to begin work in new areas that support current state industries and help attract new high tech firms," Wood explained.
Proteomics is a major new focus of MSU's biotechnology research.
"Proteomics is the study of proteins and has potential for commercial applications ranging from plant breeding to medicine," Wood said. "New protein-related businesses are being started all over the world."
Though not an alumnus, Robert M. Hearin Sr. was, during his life, a major supporter of MSU's College of Engineering, where his endowment established student scholarship and faculty development programs. Hearin, who died in 1990, was chairman and chief executive officer of Mississippi Valley Gas Co.