In A field test for fatal deer disease? Minnesota scientists say it's just months away, Forum Communications staff writer Dana Ferguson reports:
Minnesota hunters and farmers could soon carry handheld tools to test deer for fatal brain disease in the field.
In labs across the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus, scientists are months away from making that a reality.
After lawmakers and the governor approved $1.8 million to fund the creation of a test to detect chronic wasting disease within hours, rather than days, a team of veterinary experts, microbiologists, genomics professors and engineers started a two-year timeline to create a breakthrough tool to test for the disease.
“This is a clear threat to deer heritage. I hate the fact that deer are being labeled as zombies,” University of Minnesota Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences Professor Peter Larsen told members of the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources on Monday, June 17. Some have described the malformed prion protein disease as a "zombie-like" condition. “We need new tools to fight that disease." . . .
Read the rest at online here. The Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund planning document from the University of Minnesota's College of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Veterinary and Biomedical is worth a read for the details:
M.L. 2019 ENRTF Work Plan: ... uploaded by Sally Jo Sorensen on Scribd
Photo: A big whitetail buck.
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