|
NEWARK - Gov. Ruth Ann Minner wiped away tears at a
luncheon Friday as she formally acknowledged the naming of a $10,000
scholarship in her honor.
Beginning in March 2006, the Fraunhofer USA
Center for Molecular Biotechnology, a nonprofit biotechnology research
organization based in Newark, will award annually the $10,000 Gov. Minner
Biotechnology Scholarship to a Delaware college student majoring in biology
or biotechnology. The student must attend one of three schools: the
University of Delaware, Delaware State University or Delaware Technical &
Community College.
"Every time I think about the scholarship, I get
emotional," Minner said to the nearly 50 people gathered at the
Delaware Biotechnology Park. "It means a lot to me."
It also may potentially mean a lot to several students
who attended the luncheon honoring Minner.
When Aditya Shiuprasad and Anjali Gupta enter college,
they'll be perfect candidates for it.
Shiuprasad and Gupta, both 17 and students at the
Charter School of Wilmington, recently partnered on a project to develop an
HIV vaccine using tobacco plants.
"We still have a long way to go," Shiuprasad
said.
But the students' research, some of which was done at Fraunhofer,
is the wave of the future, they said.
Fraunhofer specializes in plant biotechnology,
and recently received a $1.2 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation to develop a sleeping-sickness vaccine.
Executive director Dr. Vidadi Yusibov said cutting-edge
biotechnology starts with students.
"We need to impact the future work-force
development," he said. Fraunhofer, which has been in Delaware
for four years, will have 33 employees by the end of the year, Yusibov
said.
"We recognize that Delaware colleges are doing
wonderful jobs," he said. "But we also can help train these
people not only through scholarships but through programs, internships and
expose them to new procedures of biotechnology."
Dr. William Hartman, vice president of Fraunhofer
USA, said the company named the scholarship after Minner because of her
support of biotechnology, mentioning that Minner recently was named
"BIO Governor of the Year" for 2004 and 2005 by the Biotechnology
Industry Organization.
"Advances in science take place in proportion to
the resources - especially the human resources - available," he said.
Contact Victor Greto at 324-2832
or vgreto@delawareonline.com.
|