July 2, 1999
SCIENCE TIPS FROM UAB OFFICE OF MEDIA RELATIONS
1. CULTIVATING SEA URCHINS AS A CASH CROP University of Alabama at Birmingham biology professor Stephen Watts, Ph.D., believes sea urchins, valued for their roe, could be a money-making crop for Alabama based on strong economic feasibility. The National Sea Grant Program awarded him $335,000 to study sea urchin farming in Alabama. Watts proposes the development of a land-based aquaculture system similar to land-based fish farming systems. He will cultivate the sea urchin Lytechinus variegatus, a fast-growing native of the Gulf Coast. By experimenting with this particular species, including high nutrient feed, Watts hopes to grow urchins to marketable size-about two inches-within about a year.
Call Nick Patterson, UAB Media Relations, k205-975-8858/[email protected]. News on the Web: http://www.uab.edu/news.
2. UAB UNVEILS SPACE STATION HARDWARE Researchers with the University of Alabama at Birmingham Center for Macromolecular Crystallography have unveiled a finished prototype of the X-ray Crystallography Facility developed for NASA's International Space Station. "The prototype confirms that the flight version, currently scheduled for launch in 2003, is doable," says Michael Harrington, project engineer. The facility will be used aboard the Space Station to preserve and analyze high-quality protein crystals, an essential process in the design and development of disease-fighting drugs. In-orbit assembly of the Space Station began in December, and completion is targeted for 2004.
Call Joy Carter, UAB Media Relations, 205-934-1676/[email protected]. UAB News on the Web: http://www.uab.edu/news.
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