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Posted on Feb 17, 2004, 5 a.m.
By Bill Freeman
But from tires to surgical gloves to condoms, natural rubber is a part of everyday life. Yet, three countries in Southeast Asia produce 80 percent of the world's natural rubber from only one species of plant - the Brazilian rubber tree. David Shintani, an assistant biochemistry professor at the University of Nevada, Reno, is leading a project that might one-day lead to commercial rubber production in the Silver State using the abundance of native rabbit brush.
But from tires to surgical gloves to condoms, natural rubber is a part of everyday life. Yet, three countries in Southeast Asia produce 80 percent of the world's natural rubber from only one species of plant - the Brazilian rubber tree. David Shintani, an assistant biochemistry professor at the University of Nevada, Reno, is leading a project that might one-day lead to commercial rubber production in the Silver State using the abundance of native rabbit brush. Shintani is working with three other UNR professors - Martin Gollery, Christie Howard and David Schooley - and in conjunction with the U.S.
Source: http://www.rgj.com/news/stories/html/2004/02/12/63847.php
[Editor: The preceding article was not written by A4M/WHN]
