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A-B Tech has received grants of $445,741 to establish a natural products laboratory and to purchase laboratory equipment in the 2006 grant cycle for the North Carolina Community College System BioNetwork.
A comprehensive natural products curriculum proposal has been recommended for full funding of $38,123 as part of the innovation fund awards. An additional $407,618 equipment grant was awarded for the Biotechnology department to establish a Natural Products Quality Branch Laboratory and for the Biology and Biotechnology departments to purchase equipment for curriculum courses. �The Biotech innovation grant will allow the Small Business Center to produce a curriculum for natural products,� Russ Yelton, Small Business Center and Incubator director, said. �We will be able to assist people to determine what natural products can be produced from the area and how to market and sell items.� The curriculum program will also allow access to the new lab where students will learn some of the basic methods for testing for impurities in the laboratory environment. �While natural products have long been a hot topic in the Western North Carolina area, this is the first time that the College has received funds to support a curriculum to produce such endeavors. We are excited to support this initiative and the jobs it will create,� Yelton said. �The equipment grant will allow the Biotechnology and Biology departments to purchase or replace equipment used in the laboratory experience students receive,� Toby Mapes, Biotechnology chair, said. �The Biology Department will receive 12 new microscopes for the labs. The Biotechnology Department will obtain a filter cassette used for cell harvesting/protein purification and concentration.� The second equipment grant will be used to establish the Natural Products Quality Branch (NPQB) of the Technology Commercialization Center�s core laboratory. Equipment to be purchased includes a gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy and a mass spectroscopy for an existing high-pressure liquid chromatography system. Both systems are used for the identification and quantitation of natural products and pesticides. �This demonstrates the BioNetwork�s support of activities at A-B Tech,� Jon Lawrie, BioBusiness Center manager, said. �There were competitive grant proposals and it was outstanding that A-B Tech received three of them. It�s a way to support people in the community who use herbs and a way to support and educate people in the herbal industry. We hope several herbal businesses would like to use the equipment on a regular basis.� The biotech industry is growing by an estimated 3,000 jobs annually, of which 2,000 require education and training at the community college level. BioNetwork has funded 142 grants since its inception in 2004, totaling more than $12.2 million. The grant process is competitive and review panels are comprised of representatives from industry, the State Board of Community Colleges, the N.C. Biotechnology Center, and the N.C. Community College System office. For more information about programs at A-B Tech, call 254-1921, or visit the college�s website at www.abtech.edu. (Images provided by AB Tech.)
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