They spray now instead of dust, and the planes are mostly turbo props, he adds. They still fly low, though. Like most other agricultural commodities, cotton is now trading on the low end of a 10-year range, Kohlmeyer says. As a research leader in the Cotton Textile Chemistry Group at the U.S. Department of Agriculture s Southern Regional Research Center, Bertonniere spends her time finding ways to give value-added properties to cotton to make it compete with synthetics. Durable press was one lab discovery.
Smart bandages are one new cotton possibility.
This is to help bed sores or chronic wounds heal, she says. Chronic wounds have a high level of a protease called elastase in the wound fluid, and so one of my scientists has developed chemically modified cotton that removes the elastase from the wound and helps it heal, Bertonniere explains. We are getting ready to put this into clinical trials. Replacing Fiberglas with cotton in insulation is another project. The insulation is only about half an inch thick, bonding cotton in the form of matting onto aluminum foil, Bertonniere says.