The social sciences, philosophy, and the cultural turn in the 1930s USDA.

One of the more unusual attempts by the American state to mobilize academic expertise unfolded in the late 1930s, when the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) hired scholars in the "culture and personality" fields and philosophy to aid its efforts to promote economic, social, and cultural change in the countryside. USDA progressives also reached out to disciplinary scholars in other ways as they sought to institute a deliberative mode of planning in local communities and to remake the curricula of the land-grant colleges in support of that project. These USDA initiatives and scholars' responses reveal that scientific knowledge was mobilized in the 1930s not just for the instrumental purpose of regulating economic behavior but also to explain and legitimate federal programs and to inform ambitious projects for cultural change. At the USDA, as at many other sites between the wars, scientific thinkers turned to the social sciences and philosophy in order to understand and then change the public mind.

USDA Human Nutrition Center, 1978-1982, and coordination of human nutrition research agencies.

Survey findings, confirming widespread malnutrition, led to the 1969 White House Conference on Food, Nutrition, and Health and increased funding of related Federal programs. In 1976, the ARS Administrator proposed to Congress a greatly expanded program for human nutrition research. This led to the development of USDA Human Nutrition Research Centers at Universities. Funding of these Centers resulted mainly from efforts of scientists and others from the states where Centers were located. USDA formed the Science and Education Administration (SEA) by merging several related research and education agencies, expecting to improve coordination and focus. Human nutrition research activities were placed in SEA under a USDA Human Nutrition Center in 1978, which was terminated in 1982 when SEA was disbanded. Coordination of human nutrition research within USDA and with other federal agencies required specific mechanisms. Within USDA, a subcommittee met regularly to exchange information and generate policy recommendations. Quarterly meetings of USDA Human Nutrition Center directors were held to enhance information exchange and cooperation. A Human Nutrition Board of Scientific Counselors was established to advise the Secretary regarding program direction and priorities. Human nutrition at the federal level was coordinated through the Interagency Committee on Human Nutrition Research (ICHNR). ICHNR devised a computerized database of ongoing federal food and nutrition research, developed a comprehensive 5-y research plan, and held biennial conferences for scientific presentations. Most important were the several interagency committees, which worked together to ensure that all federal agencies spoke with 1 voice. These committees functioned most effectively.

The origin and evolution of the Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center, 1970-90.

In the early 1960s William E. Cornatzer, MD, PhD suggested the need for increased USDA research concerning human nutrition and creation of the Grand Forks Human Nutrition Laboratory (later the Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center). He shared ideas with Senator Milton R. Young of North Dakota who requested that the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) prepare a proposal for such a program. In 1963 Senator Young submitted the proposal that included construction of regional centers to the U.S. Senate. The Grand Forks Human Nutrition Laboratory began operation in 1970. The attentions of Senator Young, Representative/Senator Mark Andrews, and Senator Quentin Burdick concerning the budgetary and construction needs facilitated development of the Center from its inception through 1990. Success of the enterprise rests on the creativity, industry, and other qualities of the Center's scientists and support staff, and collaborators at cooperating institutions. Their work resulted in a greater understanding of trace element nutrition and it role in human health.

Legacy of Wilbur O. Atwater: human nutrition research expansion at the USDA--interagency development of food composition research.

The systematic chemical analysis of foods for human consumption in the United States had its origin with Wilbur O. Atwater. This activity began in the 1860s while Atwater was a student at Yale University and continued through his tenures at Wesleyan University and the Storrs (Connecticut) Experiment Station. These activities moved with Atwater to the USDA in Washington, DC and ultimately to the Henry D. Wallace Beltsville Agricultural Research Center in Beltsville, MD early in the 1900s. During the first half of the 20th century, food composition activities were guided by the discovery of new essential nutrients and the need to measure and tabulate their levels in foods. Later in the century, the association between diet and chronic diseases was recognized. As a result, collaborations were established between other food- and health-related government agencies, the food industry, and many universities. At the same time, computer and communication technology greatly advanced, which became integral to laboratory instrumentation and allowed data in the National Nutrient Databank System to be available electronically. Simultaneously, accuracy of analytical data came under scrutiny and a new paradigm was established in collaboration with governmental metrology units worldwide. Advances in computer technology and the increased focus on accuracy of analytical data subsequently led to the development of quality indicators for all food composition data. Recently, increased consumption of dietary supplements resulted in the broadening of food composition efforts and development of new collaborations with government agencies, several industries, and universities.

Establishment of the USDA/ARS Children's Nutrition Research Center at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital in 1978.

The Children's Nutrition Research Center (CNRC) is a unique cooperative venture among Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Children's Hospital, and the USDA/Agricultural Research Service. The CNRC is dedicated to defining the nutrient needs of children, from conception through adolescence, and the needs of pregnant women and nursing mothers. Scientific data from the Center enable healthcare providers and policy advisors to make dietary recommendations that improve the health of today's children and that of generations to come. CNRC research has already impacted feeding guidelines for normal U.S. children and all children of the world.

US regulatory system for genetically modified [genetically modified organism (GMO), rDNA or transgenic] crop cultivars.

This paper reviews the history of the federal regulatory oversight of plant agricultural biotechnology in the USA, focusing on the scientific and political forces moulding the continually evolving regulatory structure in place today. Unlike most other jurisdictions, the USA decided to adapt pre-existing legislation to encompass products of biotechnology. In so doing, it established an overarching committee (Office of Science and Technology Policy) to study and distribute various regulatory responsibilities amongst relevant agencies: the Food and Drug Administration, Environmental Protection Agency and US Department of Agriculture. This paper reviews the history and procedures of each agency in the execution of its regulatory duties and investigates the advantages and disadvantages of the US regulatory strategy.

Emergence of Veterinary Parasitology in the United States: Maurice C. Hall and the Bureau of Animal Industry.

By 1883 a Veterinary Division had been established within the United States Department of Agriculture, itself established in 1862. Federal concern about animal health in the U.S.A. emerged as early as 1865 when Congress adopted regulations aimed at controlling importation of livestock. It was not until 1884 that the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) was formally created by Act of Congress, and shortly after that the Zoological Laboratory was established and assigned responsibility for study of parasites and the diseases they produce in animals. Classically trained parasitologists working in USDA's BAI soon became internationally recognized for their contributions to basic research and development of programs for prevention and control of parasitic diseases. Leadership by a series of BAI-employed parasitologists led to the emergence of veterinary parasitology as a sub-discipline. Maurice C. Hall who served as president of both the American Society of Parasitologists and the American Veterinary Medical Association was a central figure in development of veterinary parasitology in the U.S.A., which flourished in his country and elsewhere today.

The color of hamburger: slow steps toward the development of a science-based food safety system in the United States.

Concerns about food safety have played a key role in the emergence of the public health system in the United States. Unfortunately, the food safety regulatory system that was established in the early part of the 20th century in response to these concerns has not kept pace with our advancing scientific knowledge. In 1995, basic changes were made in the structure of the U.S. food safety regulatory structure, including implementation by USDA of the Pathogen Reduction: Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) Systems; Final Rule for Meat and Poultry, from USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS); this was accompanied by creation of FoodNet, a sentinel surveillance system for active collection of foodborne disease surveillance data. The most recent FoodNet data show a 21% decline in the incidence of major bacterial foodborne diseases since implementation of the new regulations, a decrease paralleled by reductions in the frequency of contamination of meat and poultry with Salmonella. These data strongly support the public health importance of these regulatory changes. However, questions remain about the relative degree of responsibility of industry vs. the consumer in assuring safe food; the appropriateness of microbial standards for raw food products; and the directions that should be taken in the development of the "next generation" of food safety regulations.

The U.S. National Parasite Collection--a century of service.

The U.S. National Parasite Collection will complete its first century of service to the field of animal parasitology in 1992. A brief history of the collection and a description of current policies on deposit and loan of specimens are provided. The collection, started in 1892 by Charles Wardell Stiles and Albert Hassall, now includes several constituent collections: The USNM Helminthological Collection, The USDA Parasite Collection, The Hoffman-Bangham Collection of Parasites of Freshwater Fish, and The Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Diseases Study Collection of Parasites of White-tailed Deer. Major personal collections have been donated by F. W. Douvres, J. H. Fischthal, A. O. Foster, A. Goldberg, E. P. Hoberg, R. Honess, R. A. Knight, D. C. Kritsky, R. E. Kuntz, G. L. LaRue, D. R. Lincicome, E. Linton, G. A. MacCallum, J. H. Sandground, L. Schultz, and H. J. Van Cleave. In addition to Stiles and Hassall, the collection has been curated by B. H. Ransom, M. C. Hall, A. McIntosh, W. W. Becklund, M. B. Chitwood, and the authors of this report. Other USDA researchers closely associated with the collection over the years include B. G. Chitwood, E. B. Cram, G. Dikmans, J. T. Lucker, E. W. Price, and E. E. Wehr. The collection includes about 90,000 lots of specimens, mostly helminths, but also significant numbers of ticks, mites, protozoans, and other miscellaneous parasites. Annually about 600-1,000 lots are accessioned and 300-400 lots are loaned to researchers around the world.

From taxol to Taxol: the changing identities and ownership of an anti-cancer drug.

This paper analyzes the emergence and evolution of taxol, the world's bestselling anti-cancer drug. Over the years taxol has changed its identity, its status as property, and its association with different places (from the old-growth forests of Washington State to the government agencies of Washington, D.C., to laboratories in France). Taxol is not only a profitable pharmaceutical commodity and a substance injected into women with breast and/or ovarian cancer; it is also a natural product found in the bark of Taxus brevifolia (the Pacific yew, which is native to the North American Pacific Northwest) and a chemical substance that was discovered and brought to the point of commercial production in the public sector. We explore its role in several controversies: the destruction of old-growth forests, public participation in policy making, and the privatization of intellectual property and its effect on the price of drugs.

The history of IRM and SPA.

In Columbus, Ohio, in 1988, five economists prepared an executive summary on competitive issues in the beef sector and, specifically, addressed "Can beef compete in the 1990s?" One of the challenges to the beef industry is that the cow-calf sector needed to become more business orientated and create ways of maintaining or reducing costs to maintain a competitive position in the food production cycle. The IRM concept and the National IRM Coordinating Committee have been focusing on helping the cattle industry to achieve that goal.

The Animal Welfare Act, USDA, & research.

In the above discussion, the concept and evolution of IACUC oversight of research facility animal care and use programs and common USDA citations concerning these programs was reviewed. The majority of USDA citations are program-related and involve both IACUC and veterinary care functions. Common IACUC-related citations concern inadequacies involving required information in protocols (such as rationales for the species and numbers used and descriptions of the procedures proposed), searches for alternatives to painful or distressful procedures, and minimization of pain and distress. Common veterinary care citations concern inadequacies involving veterinary care facilities, daily observation of the animals, and veterinary care itself (e.g., maintaining inadequate records or using expired medications). IACUC's are advised to ensure that their program records are comprehensive enough to demonstrate that their facility's animal care and use program complies with the AWA and USDA regulations. The overall ongoing success of self-regulation in the research industry is acknowledged, and APHIS's current concentration on the recognition and alleviation of distress, as well as pain, is noted. In the future, APHIS will continue in its oversight role as IACUC programs continue to evolve in their awareness and application of the advances in pain and distress recognition and management. Together, we will continue to work for the benefit of the animals used in research, whose welfare is so important to the quality of that very research.

High-impact animal health research conducted at the USDA's National Animal Disease Center.

Commissioned by President Dwight Eisenhower in 1958 and opened with a dedication ceremony in December 1961, the USDA, Agricultural Research Service (ARS), National Animal Disease Center (NADC) celebrated its 50-year anniversary in November 2011. Over these 50 years, the NADC established itself among the world's premier animal health research centers. Its historic mission has been to conduct basic and applied research on selected endemic diseases of economic importance to the U.S. livestock and poultry industries. Research from NADC has impacted control or management efforts on nearly every major animal disease in the United States since 1961. For example, diagnostic tests and vaccines developed by NADC scientists to detect and prevent hog cholera were integral in the ultimate eradication of this costly swine disease from the U.S. Most major veterinary vaccines for critical diseases such as brucellosis and leptospirosis in cattle, porcine respiratory and reproductive syndrome (PRRS), porcine parvovirus and influenza in swine had their research origins or were developed and tested at the NADC. Additional discoveries made by NADC scientists have also resulted in the development of a nutritional approach and feed additives to prevent milk fever in transition dairy cattle. More recently, NADC's archive of historic swine influenza viruses combined with an established critical mass of influenza research expertise enabled NADC researchers to lead an effective national research response to the pandemic associated with the novel 2009 H1N1 influenza virus. This review commemorates some of the key animal health contributions in NADC's first 50 years, recaps the newly completed modernization of the center into new facilities, and offers highlights of the ongoing research that will define NADC's mission going forward.