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For 30 years, the Raptor Center at the University of Minnesota has worked to make the world a friendlier place for birds of prey. The center has rehabilitated injured eagles and hawks, reintroduced peregrine falcons to the wild, researched the habits of and challenges facing wild birds, and held educational programs around the state and nation.

The Raptor Center has succeeded to such an extent—treating an average of 800 birds a year—that in the past few years, the need, and the funding, for that kind of work has declined. "In the ’70s, ’80s, and early ’90s, we were able to garner a good deal of public support for our mission," says Dr. Patrick Redig, director of the world-renowned center. "Now, the peregrine falcon is off the endangered species list and the bald eagle soon will be. When that happens, the California condor will be the only raptor on the list."

Instead of becoming victims of their own success, Redig and his colleagues will put their expertise into new areas of avian research and education: tropical and companion birds. The hundreds of birds broadly known as parrots, or psittacines, will be their particular focus. Many parrots are now captive-bred for pets and have life expectancies of up to 75 years. They have unique behaviors and medical issues and tend to bond with their human handlers. With some 60 million bird owners in the United States, the need for veterinarians and rehabilitation work is great. The Raptor Center also intends to conduct research and hold educational programs about the problems facing the birds in the wild. Redig says working with both wild and pet birds will allow staff to create "greater understanding among the public of the needs and challenges of these birds in the wild."

The College of Veterinary Medicine, which houses the Raptor Center on the St. Paul campus, is fully behind the new mission, recognizing the need to train veterinarians to work with companion birds. Although there are already some skilled bird veterinarians in the area, the Raptor Center gets referrals from them for more complicated matters, such as setting broken bones and some surgeries. That work will increase under the new plan, filling a need for student training and for bird owners alike.

Redig adds that he believes raptors will always be the core of the Raptor Center’s mission. But since the center depends upon private giving and fees for more than 80 percent of its budget, working with tropical birds will provide both a new area for research and education and a way to keep the Raptor Center thriving.

For more on the Raptor Center, visit www.raptor. cvm.umn.edu.

Faculty Research
A look at recent University of Minnesota studies, research, discoveries, and rankings

Potential Crystallizes
In a rare feat of crystal engineering, University of Minnesota researchers have pioneered a way to force a developing crystal to line up to exact specifications. These crystals have the potential to change the wavelengths of light, which could allow for new kinds of laser technology, improved optical switching in communications, and use in purifying drugs. Crystals develop in a series of room-like structures, with a floor, a ceiling, and vertical dividers that repeat to form a lattice. The molecules that fill the space inside the room are notoriously difficult to control, however, so researchers formed the crystal dividers in a curved shape they likened to a banana. Molecules trapped inside as the crystal formed were forced to line up all in one direction and therefore have uniform polarity. The resulting crystal can turn red light into shorter-wavelength blue or green light, meaning blue- or green-light lasers will be easier to build. A shorter wavelength also means more information can be transmitted along optical communications lines. In drug purification, similar crystal lattices could be developed to sift out molecules that develop with similar compositions but come together in a different structure. In the morning-sickness drug thalidomide, for example, one molecular structure is helpful while another of the same chemical composition has been shown to cause birth defects. The research was published in the November 30, 2001, issue of Science (www.sciencemag.org).

Sick of Smoke
Children exposed to tobacco smoke absorb and metabolize a lung carcinogen, University of Minnesota research proves. While long suspected, this is the first study to quantitatively prove the presence of NNK, a tobacco-specific carcinogen. The study of 204 Minneapolis children in grades two through five follows up on a study that found high levels of the same carcinogen in the spouses or partners of smokers. Both studies used urine samples to test for levels of metabolized NNK and both showed that subjects with high exposure to secondhand smoke had an average of five to six times more NNK on average than those not regularly exposed to tobacco smoke. The 204 children were part of a broader study on environmental health risks. Results were published in the November 2001 issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers, and Prevention (http://cebp.aacrjournals.org).

Healing Hemophilia
A severe blood disease appears to respond to gene therapy techniques being pioneered at the University of Minnesota. Working with immune-deficient mice, researchers drew blood, separated out specific cells, and inserted genes for human factor eight (FVIII). FVIII, a protein that helps the blood clot, is missing in hemophilia A. The cells were allowed to reproduce in lab conditions and then were returned to the mice via transfusion. The cells traveled to the marrow and the spleen, where they divided further and became a stable part of the blood. Follow-up testing showed that the mice had double the usual level of FVIII for a sustained period after the therapy. Dr. Robert Hebbel, the lead researcher, hopes that the strong showing will prompt approval of trials in humans. Hemophilia A affects about one in 5,000 males (the disease affects far fewer females) and results in spontaneous bleeding. Current treatment typically consists of injections with clotting factors, but side effects are common and injections can be incompatible or disease-tainted. Since the new therapy uses the patient’s own blood as a base, these risks are virtually eliminated. The findings were published in the January 15, 2002, issue of Blood, the journal of the American Society of Hematology (www.bloodjournal.org).

Overheard on Campus
"No other institute in the state stewards as many valued landscapes as the University of Minnesota. [It is the] discordant, rich, and sometimes jarring diversity of inherited open spaces and building styles that makes the Twin Cities campus so memorable."
—Frank Edgerton Martin, editor of Valued Places: Landscape Architecture in Minnesota, on why the University of Minnesota campus was one of 52 landscapes chosen for the book

"The most important thing you can do is to invest massively in the University of Minnesota. . . . What you want is to turn it into Berkeley or UCLA."
—Carnegie Mellon University economics professor Richard Florida on how the Twin Cities can improve its quality of life and attract talented people, referring to elite state institutions that have spawned vibrant communities brimming with start-up businesses, culture, and creativity

"The country’s aging population appears more interested in issues like health care and public safety than higher education. While higher education’s share of average state spending fell 14 percent from 1986 to 1996, Medicaid’s share nearly doubled. The funds allocated to correctional facilities grew by more than 25 percent."
—University President Mark Yudof, writing in the January 11 issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education