By Michelle Paulman
You eat it. You drive by it
on Interstate 80. You can
even test the water in your
house with it. The applica
tions are endless. And it’s
happening all around you.
Research is big at the
University of Nebraska. And
Bill Splinter, vice chancellor
for research, predicts the
university will continue
making a name for itself in
the discovery game.
Splinter said NU ranks
fourth in the nation in its main
field of research — agricul
ture. Farmers in Nebraska
were some of the first to
adopt conservation tillage, a
product of NU research that
saves fertilizer, soil moisture,
pesticides and fuel.
Ana it crop stuDDie naan i
been left on many Nebraska
fields during heavy flooding a
few weeks ago, Splinter said,
much of the soil might be in
the Missouri River now.
But there’s more to
agriculture than farming.
The Agricultural Research
Division, part of NU’s Institute
of Agriculture and Natural
Resources, boasts “every
thing from conception to
consumption,” said Gene
White, director of the Institu
tional Animal Care Program.
The ARD includes more than
300 research projects, from
water conservation and wheat
varieties to plastics made
from com to how car acci
dents affect society.
And there’s more to NU
than agriculture.
Many people don’t see
Nebraska as high-tech, but
“we’re moving that way,"
Splinter said.
One of the fastest growing
new fields is biotechnology,
and NU is growing along with
it.
BioNebraska, a commer
cial enterprise started by
three UNL professors, had a
kit on the market for testing
tary and secondary education
— NU is at the forefront of
research, Splinter said,
thanks to an “excellent base”
in areas from architecture to
engineering.
Currently, the Teachers
College is working on a
multimillion-dollar business
education program for high
school kids. A nationally
recognized program called
WISE — Women In Science
on the Licor sequencer,
Splinter said, so the university
can use money from sales to
further its research.
But research isn’t all
roses and royalties.
Often things don’t pan out
as planned. Hypotheses fall
apart. One wrong turn can
wreck a project.
A glitch was found in
Licor’s first DNA sequencer,
developed by a business
"We have everything from foreign
languages to theoretical physics."
Bill Splinter
vice chancellor for research, UNL
mercury in water or soil and is
developing a product to test
lead levels in blood that will
be available soon.
• ‘ * :** ^
Also, a DNA sequencer is
being made in a joint venture
between UNL and Ucor Inc*
a scientific equipment
manufacturer in Lincoln. With
so much emphasis on DNA
these days, Splinter called
this project "the best one
going" in the field of biotech
nology. v
But research isn't limited
to laboratories. Other disci
plines also conduct experi
ments, in a variety of environ
ments, in order to grow up
and out.
“We have everything from
foreign languages to theoreti
cal physics,” Splinter said of
NU.
In a field that includes a
little of everything — elemen
and Engineering — opens the
eyes of girls in rural areas to
science with experiments and
access to computers.
But to play the game, NU
needs funding. Professors
draw grants to the university
through unique and useful
research proposals. In March
1992, NU had garnered $34.5
million in research awards. By
March of this year, that
/ number had risen to almost
$48 million.
\ Grants aren't the only
things that propel research.
Experiments bom in the
laboratory can grow into
something profitable. Ideas
turn into products, which
develop into companies,
which employ people, which
means the state's economy
has a lot to gain from the
university.
UNL controls the patents
graduate student’s company,
Splinter said. Luckily, the
bugs were discovered before
s
Licor marketed the equip
ment; otherwise, Licor could
have lost millions of dollars
on the venture.
As for the venture, “the
little company went kaput,"
Splinter said. ‘They were jiist
ahead of their time.
“A very significant amount
of research comes up with
negative results; you just
have to expect that,” Splinter
said.
But not all failures mean
that years of work must be
thrown out the window.
Innovative researchers can
take a dead end and turn it in
a new and better direction.
BioNebraska is a good
example of a profitable 180
degree turn, Splinter said.
The researchers had a grant
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Sa’dSince research can be so
unpredictable, it can also J
dangerous.
These hazards became
apparent in September 1992,
when a graduate student was
injured during a chemistry
procedure. Besides chemis
try, other areas such radioac
tivity studies, veterinary
medicine or even psychology
pose a risk to those conduct
ing the research and any live
subjects involved.
“We do everything we can
to guard against" potential
dangers, Splinter said.
Several regulatory commit
tees check everything from
human subjects in the social
science experiments to
infectious wastes and
microorganisms.
These faculty-run groups,
such as the Institutional
Animal Care and Use
Committee led by Rodger
Johnson, inspect areas like
the livestock grounds on East
Campus unannounced to