will be introduced into E. coli, which will in turn be given to mice to test its ability to produce disease. A third experiment will test whether the presence of foreign DNA in E. coli confers any selective ad vantage. Bacteria that have been ge netically altered in various ways will be fed to germ-free animals. A later check of the animals' intestinal flora will reveal whether one type has overpowered the others. Π
Guayule could be U.S. natural rubber source The guayule plant, cultivated briefly in California during World War II as a potential source of natural rubber, may be about to make a comeback. Last week, a National Research Council report recommended that the U.S. initiate a research and develop ment program leading to commer cialization of rubber from guayule and that it collaborate with ongoing Mexican research in this area. Al ready bills have been introduced in Congress to set up a $60 million, five-year research program on the plant. Guayule (pronounced why-oo-lay) is a desert shrub native to the south western U.S. and northern Mexico that produces polymeric isoprene essentially identical to that made by hevea rubber trees in Southeast Asia. As recently as 1910 it was the source of half of the natural rubber used in the U.S. Since 1946, however, its use as a source of rubber has been all but abandoned in favor of cheaper hevea rubber and synthetic rubbers. How ever, the NRC report concludes, de mand for natural rubber is expected to produce shortages of that material as early as 1980 and rubber prices are expected to double by 1985. Natural rubber is required for many kinds of tires and amounts to about 35% of U.S. rubber use.
Guayule was grown as dryland crop on trial basis during 1940s in California
Guayule can be grown domestical ly, whereas all hevea rubber must be imported, making guayule develop ment potentially important to the U.S. economy and security, the report points out. (The U.S. imported $560 million worth of natural rubber last year.) A further reason to develop guayule as a rubber source, according to the report, is that it can be grown on arid lands, including Indian res ervations, where an agricultural cash crop could have important economic benefits. Both the NRC report and the bills before Congress focus on the need for research into guayule cultivation and processing. The legislation, proposed by Sen. Pete V. Domenici (R.-N.M.) and Rep. George Brown (D.-Calif.), would set up a technology transfer and research effort on the plant within the Agricultural Research Service. Π
Number of engineering graduates drops again The number of engineering graduates in the U.S. still dropped in 1976—1% from 1975 in both the total and chemical engineering at the bache lor's degree level. So finds the latest survey of 281 engineering colleges and universities by the Engineering Manpower Commission of the Engi neers Joint Council. However, the 1976 chemical engi neering class of 3146 may represent the end of the decline, at least at the bachelor's degree level. The reason is the large increases in new chemical engineering enrollments that began in 1973 (C&EN, May 17, 1976, page 6). Through 1976, the slippage in new bachelor's degree chemical engineers had run for six straight years since the peak of 3730 in 1970. New bachelor's degree chemical engineers in 1976 held steady at 8% of all engineering graduates. Total bachelor's degree graduates in all engineering fields in 1976 were 37,970, 14% below the last peak of 44,190 in 1972. At the master's degree level, the number of chemical engineering graduates went up 2% in 1976 from 1975 to 1072. Total engineering graduates with master's degrees in creased 1% to 16,506. Chemical engi neers also formed 6% of total gradu ates at this level. Chemical engineers were a higher percentage of all engineers receiving doctor's degrees in 1976 at 11%. New graduates with doctor's degrees still declined in 1976 from 1975, 9% in chemical engineering to 333 and 5% in total engineering to 2977.
New ChE grads decline for sixth year in row Thousands 4.U
3.5
ÔT 1970
« 71
ι 72
ι 73
ι 74
ι 75
J 76
! Note: New U.S. bachelor degree chemical engineering j graduates. Source: Engineering Manpower Commission/ Engineers Joint Council
These higher degree levels also suffered declines in the first half of the 1970's. The peak year for master's degrees was 1972 in both chemical engineering and total engineering. For doctor's degrees, the largest re cent classes were in 1970 for chemical engineers and 1972 for all engineers. Even though chemical engineering totals have eroded in the past half decade, the commission still holds up chemical engineering as an example of stability. "Chemical engineering has held a remarkably steady course for the past 25 years with slightly more than 8% of all B.S. degrees each year." The commission points out that the ratio of master's to bachelor's degrees in chemical engineering is the highest since the commission took over col lecting these data from the U.S. Of fice of Education in 1968. The ratio of doctorates to bachelor's degrees in chemical engineering has stayed fairly steady during this time. Among all engineering fields, chemical engineering currently ranks fourth in numbers at the bachelor's level behind electrical, civil, and me chanical. At the master's level, chemical engineering comes in fifth with industrial engineering in fourth place. For doctor's degrees, chemical engineering again is in fourth. Π
Portable centrifugal analyzer developed The centrifugal fast analyzer (CFA), which first appeared in clinical labo ratories in 1968, has been greatly re duced in size and improved in capa bility. Until now, however, it has never been portable. The lack of portability was due to a need to keep the analyzer connected to a bulky computer. April 4, 1977 C&EN
5
Microelectronics changed all that, and the CFA is now portable and self-contained. If all goes well, the CFA may be in the instrument package on the first space shuttle. The newest version of the CFA was demonstrated at the Ninth Annual Symposium on Advanced Analytical Concepts for the Clinical Laboratory at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. According to Dr. John E. Mrochek, one of the developers, the instrument package of the CFA weighs 36 lb and occupies less than 1 cu ft of space. The additional power pack, either ac or dc, will not boost the total weight above 55 lb or the total volume much above a cubic foot. The CFA uses a centrifuge rotating at speeds up to 4000 rpm. Optical property analyses of multiple samples, including their transmission, fluorescence, or luminescence, are carried out simultaneously at 17 different locations on the rotor. Thus the composition of the material at each location can be determined using a reference material. Typical routine clinical analyses include those for protein, glucose, or triglycerides as well as assays for enzyme activities on minute amounts of serum. In the portable instrument, the microcomputer controls the various functions of the CFA in addition to data acquisition and analysis. In fact, one major advance in the portable version of the CFA is a new mode of data acquisition that enables fast reactions to be monitored within as little as 100 milliseconds of solution transfer and as frequently as every 15 milliseconds. All results are printed out on a tape by a thermoprinter in coded form. Although the CFA originally was developed for the clinical lab and remains thus dedicated, it is being tested for use in assaying such environmental pollutants as phosphates and silica in remote areas. •
EPA's Blum discusses federal water policy Environmental Protection Agency deputy administrator Barbara Blum went public on agency policy for the first time last week in Washington, D.C., at a meeting of the Water Pollution Control Federation. Predictably, her remarks focused on the Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1972, "one of our most complex laws," but "one of our most effective tools for cleaning up the environment." Blum warns that water quality improvements obtained thus far under the act should not lull the U.S. 6
C&EN April 4, 1977
time to delegate to the states more of the regulatory activities now performed by EPA. "We must be careful not to compromise the standards or goals mandated by [the act]. But in cases where it is clear that the state would use those powers scrupulously, I favor the idea of delegating more administrative and regulatory powers to the state." Such a move, she believes, could cut down on delay and confusion. On the costs of environmental improvement, Blum says that u we at EPA have a better idea of the longrange-impact of our decisions on commerce and employment. It is encouraging to be able to show that the costs of pollution control do not and Blum: delegate more power to states will not represent an unreasonable proportion of our gross national into a sense of security about the en- product. The costs of pollution convironment, even though "grossly trol contribute less than half of a per polluted waters" may be things of the cent of the annual rates of inflation past. She cautions that "mid-course" we have been experiencing." In ticking off a list of the environcorrections in the law currently before Congress should be approached with mental problems still facing the U.S., care, and adds that although "public Blum warns that "our continued support for environmental goals re- commitment to clean up the envimains strong, there is no longer the ronment . . . cannot be seen as a luxfervor and enthusiasm for those goals ury. . . . We are dealing with the protection of our present and future we saw just a few years ago." • Blum also suggests that it may be health and well-being."
Velsicol the object of gr< id jury probe Grand jury deliberations are supposed to be secret. But a long-running grand jury investigation of Velsicol— rumors of which have circulated for several months—surfaced officially in Chicago last week. Attorneys for Velsicol appeared in open court to ask for limits on the scope of subpoenas for company records and correspondence. In the course of U.S. district court proceedings, it became clear that a special grand jury was investigating whether Velsicol and its parent company Northwest Industries had willfully concealed information that they were legally required to report to various government agencies concerning possible health hazards of Velsicol-manufactured pesticides. The inquiry originally focused on chlordane, heptachlor, and endrin, but later was broadened to include the organophosphate insecticide Leptophos. Leptophos made headlines late last year when it was revealed that some workers who made the chemical at Velsicol's Bayport, Tex., plant had suffered nerve disorders (C&EN, Dec. 6,1976, page 6). Government agencies currently are investigating this situation. Velsicol attorney Lawrence Lucchino told the court that the company
had been advised informally that the local U.S. attorney would recommend indictments against it and certain of its officials. Nevertheless, Velsicol has been cooperating in the investigation for 19 months and already has turned over some 35,000 documents. Velsicol was not trying to hide anything that was material, but, Lucchino argued, the latest subpoenas were too broad and unreasonable. He cited a request for "any and all records containing any discussion of the question whether an adverse health effect experienced by any Velsicol employee may have been caused or induced by exposure to any chemical in the course of employment." That sort of thing amounts to a "fishing expedition." Lucchino said, noting that Velsicol makes hundreds of chemicals and that Velsicol health records go back more than 40 years. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Herbst countered that the subpoenas were not intended as a fishing expedition; the latest requests were made because other documents and testimony received by the grand jury had caused it to focus on certain individuals. At the conclusion of the hearing, the attorneys agreed to get together to work out modifications of the subpoenas so that they would be acceptable to both sides. •
