WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31 | SERVING TEXAS A&M SINCE 1893 | © 2018 STUDENT MEDIA
WARRANT AMNESTY PROGRAM ON PAGE 2
CITY COUNCIL CANDIDATE GUIDE ON PAGE 3
Photos By Brandon Holmes — THE BATTALION
Leanne Campbell, Devendra Pandeya, Keerti Rathore and Stephany Toinga’s research produced a new variety of cotton containing significantly less gossypol in its seeds.
FUTURE OF COTTONSEED CONSUMPTION
Rare USDA deregulation opens doors for two-decade-old research program By NB Yoga @yogaNB
Texas A&M researchers have been working to unlock a potentially powerful new food source. Earlier this month, soil and crop sciences professor Keerti Rathore and his team received USDA approval for the edible cottonseed research that Rathore has been working on for 23 years. This approval is a milestone as it means the team’s genetically modified strain of cotton is closer to being grown on a larger scale.
“Cotton plants produce a toxic substance called gossypol, which is present throughout the cotton plant, and it protects the plants from insects, but the compound is also present in the seed,” Rathore said. “Cottonseed has a lot of protein, about 23 percent, but because of this toxin, we cannot utilize cottonseed either as food or feed for single-stomach animals such as chicken, fish, pigs and so on.” While cotton seeds are currently used as cattle feed, cows have a low protein conversion ratio, so it takes 20 pounds of feed protein to get one pound of beef protein. Chicken and fish are five times more efficient in producing protein, so being able to feed them a low-gossypol form of cottonseed could have major benefits for food production.
According to Rathore, if the gossypol is substantially removed from the cottonseed, it can even be used directly for human nutrition. The researchers’ strain of cottonseed is now in the process to receive FDA approval, which looks at whether the product is safe enough for consumption, said postdoctoral research associate Devendra Pandeya, who has worked on this project since 2011. “The USDA approval means that we can grow these cotton seeds anywhere. There is no restriction on that,” Pandeya said. “We have to receive the FDA’s approval for the consumption part.” After the seed is approved by the FDA, Rathore and his team are planning to make it accessible to farmers across the nation. The journey to USDA approval has been
long, and research assistant LeAnne Campbell said she has seen many challenges during her 19 years on the project. “The first couple of times we tried it did not work the way we wanted it to,” Campell said. “And then we finally got some good results and we published the paper. Then we had to conduct field trials and collect the data over several years to show that we had changed only one thing in the cotton plant and everything else was the same, including the fiber, the plant, the pollen, the seeds, et cetera.” According to Texas A&M Today, the university is now one of only four public institutions to have received the USDA’s deregulation approval for an engineered crop.
Annie Lui — THE BATTALION
Marketing senior Justin Martin’s mother presented his Aggie Ring to him on Sept. 21.
Making the most of Ring Day Association of Former Students reps share quick tips on parking, weather By Shakirat Adetunji @shakeeraah On Friday, more than 3,000 students will receive their Aggie Rings – a symbolic representation of the Aggie Network. Although the Aggie Ring has been around since 1889, the current tradition of Aggie Ring Day began in 2000. At this upcoming Ring Day, rings will be distributed at the Clayton W. Williams, Jr. Alumni Center from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Association of Former Students Vice President for Communications and Human Resources Kathryn Greenwade said students and guests can be better prepared for Ring Day by reading all emails they receive from The Association prior to the event. “We want this day to be shared with
people that are important to the students,” Greenwade said. “Therefore, there are no restrictions on the number of friends or family members willing to celebrate the Aggie Ring Day with the students.” It is also important for students who will be receiving their rings to have all required documents. The Association’s assistant vice president for communications, Scot Walker, said students should have their ring tickets, as well as any two of the following: driver’s license, student identification card, passport or ring receipt. “The ring ticket is what gets you and your family and friends into the building,” Walker said. “Students are encouraged to have a screenshot of their ring tickets and ring receipts on their phone because of a potential failure in internet connection. If you realize that you don’t have the required identification, talk to any of The Association staff. RING DAY ON PG. 2
PROVIDED
Professor Nick Duffield was named the director of the Texas A&M Institute of Data science.
Duffield’s data dreams New institute director encourages cross-departmental collaboration By Katie James @kaytayjames The Texas A&M Institute of Data Science gained a new leader when electrical and computer engineering professor Nick Duffield was named director this month. Created at the end of 2017, TAMIDS exists to promote data science research collaboration and educational opportunities within the university. Duffield brings both industry and teaching experience to his new role and hopes to unite various fields where data science is currently being used. “One of the things that attracted me to
A&M was the amount of activity in data science and potential for growth, particularly because A&M is very strong in some areas which are just poised to take off,” Duffield said. “As soon as I got here, I started trying to build community in data science and connect people who were doing related work but might not be aware of each other.” After spending most of his career working for AT&T Labs, Duffield came to A&M in 2014, focusing his personal research on algorithm design and the practical application of what he considers to be A&M’s core areas of research strength — transportation, precision agriculture, soil and crop science and energy. “I’ve always found a lot of satisfaction in putting these pieces together — joining the DUFFIELD ON PG. 4