06/23/97

Contacts:
Max F. Rothschild, Animal Science, (515) 294-6202
Amy Litterer, Agriculture Information, (515) 294-2957

USDA PRESENTS AWARD TO ISU PROFESSOR

AMES -- Max Rothschild, professor of animal science at Iowa State University, has received the USDA's Team Honor Award which is the highest award given out for personal and professional excellence. He shares this honor with scientists from Texas A&M, Utah State University, Michigan State University and other USDA Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service (CRSEES) scientists. The award was for the development of the National Animal Genome Project.

Dan Glickman, secretary of agriculture, presented the awards in Washington on June 11 at the 51st annual USDA Honor Awards Ceremony.

Rothschild is in his fourth year as coordinator of the national swine gene-mapping efforts for the USDA's Cooperative State Research Service. In 1989, 50 genes had been successfully mapped. Today, more than 1,700 genes and gene markers have been found.

Rothschild and his colleagues at ISU have been working with pig genes for 12 years. The work led to the identification of a form of the estrogen reception gene that is linked to increased litter size in pigs. The ISU team has earned patents for tests to detect the presence of the desirable form of the gene.

Rothschild and his ISU colleagues are active in outreach as well as research. They provide gene maps to other universities and labs worldwide and work with outreach programs providing information to pork producers, high schools and labs in the genome business.

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