For the first application of the new molecules, researchers designed a chemical mimic of a neuropeptide chemical that in nature causes adult female corn earworms to produce a sex attractant or pheromone. The strategy is to cause the insect to run out of pheromone- making chemicals, making it impossible for the insect to attract mates. They are becoming resistant to insecticides now on the market. In less than a second, the new machine kills 99.99 percent of bacteria by heating the meat surface with quick bursts of steam at 290 o F, then cooling it with vacuum. The process does not cook the surface of the meat, a problem that has prevented industry from adopting other thermal processes.
Consumers prefer meat with a raw appearance.
A commercial version of the machine for poultry could treat 4,000 birds per hour. Each machine could be built with multiple treatment chambers. Using this equipment should add no more than a cent per pound to processing costs. Plant breeders worldwide might someday use a laboratory-built protein from ARS to screen promising new plants. Plans call for using the monoclonal antibody in a simple, inexpensive test kit that could help breeders identify experimental plants that exceed acceptable levels of glycoalkaloids.