PEORIA, Ill. — For the 75th anniversary of the Peoria "Ag Lab," the USDA agricultural research center – best known as where penicillin was perfected for mass delivery during World War II – opened to the public this month for the first time since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Some 5,000 people, including about 800 area schoolchildren, took advantage of an open house weekend Oct. 9-11 to tour laboratories, interact with researchers and crop scientists and learn more about the work and some of the many products developed at the National Center for Agricultural Utilization and Research (NCAUR), the official name of the lab.
Completed for less than $1 million in 1940 as one of four nearly identical-in-design regional ag research centers across the nation, NCAUR (formerly the Northern Regional Research Laboratory) is now the work home of 80 Ph.D. scientists and 120 support staff conducting research on mycotoxin prevention and crop bioprotection, renewable product technology, bioenergy, bio-oil, plant polymers and in other areas with the goal of adding value to existing organisms and plants.
Some of the products developed at NCAUR are part and parcel of consumers’ everyday lives, such as the "Super Slurper" absorbent polymer technology used in everything from baby diapers to soaking up deep sea oil spills; and xanthan gum, a product in most salad dressings.
In agriculture, NCAUR is famous as a leader in the development of biofuel and bio-oil (soybean-based oil developed there is being used on elevators inside the Statue of Liberty), as well as binding materials that remove toxins from grains, among other discoveries.
"The mycotoxin prevention and applied microbiology research unit works to detect toxin-contaminated grain," said Greg Grose, a physical science technician who led a group of visitors through the facility. "We create materials that bind the toxins so they can be removed easily. We study the challenges that come from environmental conditions – the changes in temperature, rainfall levels – how they affect a plant’s growth.
"This group is also responsible for the maintenance of the Agricultural Research Service’s culture collection. We have the largest public collection of bacteria and fungi in the world."
NCAUR’s culture collection houses 86,000 different strains of bacteria, molds and yeasts, and supplies specimens to researchers around the world. The collection is anchored by its most famous specimen, a penicillium strain dating back nearly 70 years. The strain was first discovered on a moldy cantaloupe purchased from a Peoria produce vendor.
"Some of the strains might only last three years or 10 years preserved this way," said April Stanley, a biological science research technician, as she held up a clear specimen disc exhibiting it for tour participants, "so we either make new stocks every now and then or preserve them in liquid nitrogen."
Many new and widely used products have been developed at NCAUR by scientists who, through the process of trial and error, discovered alternate uses for the materials they were working with, according to Grose.
"Our group developed a protein for plywood glue. I shouldn’t be telling you this, but normally it is made from animal protein, as in blood. We found a soy-based version that is being used currently by Georgia Pacific," he said.
NCAUR is also known for its pioneering work in the use of pennycress, also known to farmers as stinkweed, as a secondary crop to enhance farm profits. Known for its biofuel properties – its tiny seeds contain as much as 30 percent oil suitable for biodiesel – the overwintering plant is now being studied for its nutritional benefits.
"We found that (pennycress) protein is very similar to soy protein. It is edible and has the same nutrients. It could be used for animal feed or human food," Grose explained.
Exploring the uses for pennycress oil and protein is just one of the ongoing areas of research taking place within the walls of the Peoria ag lab, according to Director Paul Sebesta.
"We have some new technologies out of our functional foods unit, looking at alternatives to gum arabic. We have some really strong programs in crop bioprotection to control a pest and disease complex that’s plaguing avocados in California and Florida. We are starting a program with the U.S. Golf Association that has implications for homeowners to control a grub that plagues golf courses and lawns," said Sebesta, who greeted or shook hands with nearly all of the 5,000 people who filed through the ag lab during the open house.
"And we are, of course, advancing our biofuels and renewable bioproducts technologies, as well."
NCAUR is located across from the Peoria County Farm Bureau at the corner of University and Nebraska streets in Peoria, just off Interstate 74. For more information, call 309-685-4011.
