University researchers can now study new agricultural threats such as bioterrorism and the West Nile Virus, with an additional $2.8 million in federal funding announced by U.S. Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) Tuesday.

Durbin hosted a roundtable discussion about the future of agricultural research at the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences Library Tuesday with University agricultural researchers and state agricultural industry leaders.

Durbin, a member of the U.S. Senate Agricultural Appropriations Subcommittee, said the funding will be poured into the fiscal year 2004 budgets of five University research initiatives that focus on addressing issues such as diseases harming corn and soybean crops, combating the West Nile Virus, establishing a World Food and Health Center and conducting genomic research on livestock genetic material.

University agricultural researchers are already national leaders in producing cutting-edge technology, but more federal funding will bolster the agricultural industry through focusing on new problems targeting crops and human health, Durbin said.

"The University of Illinois is recognized across this nation for its world-class agricultural research," he said. "The research funded at the federal level and conducted at the U of I is helping to create jobs and economic growth throughout the entire state. The faster the research findings can be delivered to Illinois farmers ... the stronger our agricultural industry will be."

Terry Niblack, a professor of plant biology, said the additional $844,000 appropriated to the Soybean Disease Biotechnology Research Center will fund continued research to counter diseases that threaten the national soybean industry. It takes just one disease attacking the crops for the soybean industry to lose nearly $200 million in lost produce, Niblack said.

"(Soybean research) is providing new tools to attack known and emerging threats to soybean profitability," she said. "You can't just spray and pray; you have to do it more eloquently and know about the plants."

Harris Lewin, professor of animal sciences, said $318,000 in funding for a livestock genome sequencing initiative will allow researchers to study the DNA in major species of food animals — which could aid in tracing diseases in animals and containing the spread of disease through food to humans. This initial research will also contribute to later studies on bioterrorism and early detection of contaminant diseases at the University Institute for Genomic Biology, which Lewin will direct once it is built.

Durbin said although the appropriations will not fund all University agricultural research, it will provide valuable information for the state's agricultural industry.

"Although it's a tiny part of the research, it's a great investment for the future," he said.

Representatives for Sen. Peter Fitzgerald (R-Ill.) and the Illinois Republican Party were unavailable for comment Tuesday evening.