Newspapers / The Chowan Herald (Edenton, … / Jan. 13, 1983, edition 1 / Page 13
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Thursday, January 13,1983 Farmers Need New Perspective, Says Ag Expert b GREENVILLE Eastern North Carolina fanners, reel ing from several stiff punches to the midsection, need a pause to reflect and to get a new perspective for the future, an agriculture leader announced. Raymond D. Meiggs of Tar boro, chairman of the 21st Century Agriculture Planning Committee of Eastern North Carolina Chamber of Com merce, says farming now stands at a crucial crossroads in'the region and some sound planning is needed. Meiggs heads a committee of: specialists that has been meeting since April to plan a project to provide farmers with an opportunity to try to regain their equilibrium. It is hoped that at least 500 Eastern North Carolina farmers, the kind that actual ly: till the soil, will be on hand for the results of the commit tee’s work, a 21st Century Farming Conference to plan farming’s future to be con ducted at McKimmon Center in. Raleigh all day on 4$ February 8,1983. it is also hoped that another 500 persons who make their living related to agriculture, will also be on hand. will be an important conference” Meiggs said. ‘While we will have some significant speakers like Gov. Jim Hunt, President Bill Fri day of UNC, and a top official 1$ oJ the Federal Land Bank, tiro other portions of the pro gram promise some signifi cant developments,” he observed. Meiggs said the first of these will be when a panel of N.C. State Universi ty professors reports on fin dings of a special task force that has been at work to find some new long range promise 2 for agriculture, and the se cond will be discussion ses sions in which farmers will I* CHICKEN"** ANORE \ f ForS&BjM Will consider t l delivery. Call Emmett Winborne - 221- 4204. 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Coop Buys Vepco Power Station Virginia Electric and ■Power Company and Old Dominion Electric Cooperative on December 28, signed a final agreement under which Vepco will sell portions of its North Anna Nuclear Power Station to Old Dominion. After almost eight years of discussions and negotiations, officers of Vepco and Old Dominion have signed a final agreement, which calls for the cooperative to purchase 12.5 per cent of North Anna Units 1 & 2,12.5 per cent of the Nuclear fuel and common facilities at the power station, and a portion of spare parts, inventory and other support facilities. Based on a mid-1983 clos ing, Vepco will receive ap proximately $265 million, of which about S2OB million will be paid at closing. In addition, Old Dominion will be responsible for 12.5 per cent of all future expenditures on the facilities and for its share of operating costs. The agreement is subject to the approval of the approval of the Virginia State Corpora tion Commission, The West Virginia Public Service Com mission, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), The Federal Energy Regulatory (FERC) and the Rural Electrification Ad ministration (REA). Vepco and Old Dominion anticipate that the agreement signed yesterday will receive the approvals of these THE CHOWAN HERALD representatives from the Governor’s office, the N.C. Department of Agriculture, the N.C. Department of Com merce, the Agriculture Ex tension Service at N.C. State, the N.C. Agribusiness Coun regulatory agencies by mid-1983. The agreement, which has been approved by the Boards of Directors of both Vepco and Old Domi nion, will be filled with all five agencies in early 1983. The purchased capacity from North Anna will provide about 20 per cent of Old Domi nion’s power needs. The cooperative will continue to purchase nearly all of its re maining power requirements Science Making Progress With Genetics by Susan Talanda In December, scientists from four U.S. universities announced they had succeed ed in transferring a genetic trait of rats into mice. After transplanting a regulatory gene (one which regulates rat growth) into fer tilized mouse eggs, the growth trait of the rat was passed on to some of the mice. “This study is excellent,” said Dr. John G. Scandalios, 1982 president of the Americam Genetic Associa tion. By manipulating regulatory genes, scientists may one day be able to pro duce crops and livestock with ideal traits, such as faster growth, higher yields and more resistance to parasites or adverse climates, he said. Scandalios, who is head of the genetics department at North Carolina State Univer sity, has recently discovered two new regulatory genes in corn. The transfer of the rat growth hormone gene points out a crucial issue in genetic he said. The* | desirable grou#*t!%it of the I raWHI 4>£s#9i some of ith« mice, but the scientists could not predict or control the growth rate of the mice. “Putting a useful gene into an organism does not til, the East Carolina Univer sity Regional Development Institute, the Eastern Chamber, and the Washington Chamber of Commerce. The idea for the conference from Vepco. Old Dominion, a power supply cooperative head quartered in Richmond, is responsible for obtaining power for its 15 member cooperatives. Ernest M. Jordan, Old Dominion’s executive vice president, said the agreement would benefit Virginia’s cooperatives by helping to provide their future genera tion requirements at lower guarantee a useful change,” Scandalios said. We may be able to transplant a gene which trig gers insulin production in diabetics, but questions re main. How much insulin would be produced? When will the insulin be produced and will it be produced in the right place? “With regard to plants, much noise has been made about transferring genes to make corn that needs no fer tilizer. But will that trait be expressed at the proper time, in the proper place?” Scan dalios said. “In order to regulate growth and other traits, we have to understand how the cell’s genetic activi ty is regulated.” In his studies with corn, Scandalios began with the basic questions: How does a plant cell know whether to become a leaf cell or a root cell? How does the simple plant cell know when to become a more complex root cell? And what determines JJje number of root cells "prosuce3PT" w r veAs. nf *- ■ to,- y KJbAates* have discovered temporal regulatory genes in corn. He believes these genes dictate the time certain products in corn seed cells will change, Page 3-B was spawned in the Agriculture Development Council of the Washington Chamber of Commerce. It asked the Eastern Chamber to take on the regional task. costs. Vepco president William W. Berry, who signed the agree ment on behalf of the com pany, said Vepco will use the Funds it receives from the sale to meet future financing requirements. As a result, Berry said, “All of our customers and stockholders will benefit from this transaction.” causing the corn seed to sprout or bringing about other changes in seed metabolism. Temporal regulatory genes also play a part in determin ing the number of cells that will undergo such changes and develop specific traits. Scandalios has pinpointed a second regulatory gene in plants, which he tentatively refers to as “topogene.” It is too new to have been christen ed with an official name, he said. “Topogenes” (or process ing genes) tell the protein pro ducts of other genes where to go in the corn cell. The loca tion of these gene products in specific cell compartments determines whether the sim ple corn cell will function pro perly as a leaf cell, a root cell, a stem cell, etc. Scandalios now is studying how regulatory genes give in structions, so scientists can control the expression of gene traits in the future. His theory is that regulatory genes may be making “macro-molecules” which carry i flßpes. These father f tpjpgnize the signals and res pond, triggering changes in the cells. But what if these precise cell changes are disrupted? What happens if the wrong signals are given or the right signals are misinterpreted? When cell changes are not properly regulated in humans or in animals, birth defects, cancer, abortion or any number of genetic disorders can result, Scandalios said. In plants, the result may be ab normal plant or seed growth, premature aging or poor physiology. If scientists can eliminate or correct these abnor malities at a genetic level, they will be dealing with ab normalities at their source, not just treating the symp tons, Scandalios said. Scandalios hopes to gain in sight into abnormal plant growth by studying the tem poral regulatory gene(CAß‘) in corn. The CAR 1 gene pro grams the amount of catalase enzyme. (CAT 1 ) producedby the CAT* structural gehe at a specific time during develop ment of the corn plant. By mutating the structural genes and varying external signals such as light, temperature and hormones, his research team will try to disturb this process and discover how it works. Since catalase enzymes are found in all forms of life, Scandalios’ findings could have applications for human as well as plant and animal growth. “From the development of hybrid corn to modem techni ques for detecting diseases, genetics has affected human society more than any other science,” he said. “We are progressing so rapidly, there’s no telling what we may discover in the next five to 10 years.” j*sr SCNfftTS I FlM*TKkG*ar WMI Tyfer | downtown edenton -I: mamiixn HBg&si LfLM Iri 111 k* Ml Ki §} I Shop Monday Through Thursday 9:30 a.m. Until 5:30p.m., I Friday9:3oa.m. Until9p.m., Saturday9:3oa.m. UntHßp.m. - Phone 492-3221
The Chowan Herald (Edenton, N.C.)
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Jan. 13, 1983, edition 1
13
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