(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – On Friday, September 29, 2006, President Bush signed into law legislation containing funding obtained by Congressman Dennis Moore (Third District – Kansas) for military health-related research at the University of Kansas. The funding was included in the conference report of H.R. 5631, the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2007. The conference report of H.R. 5631 passed the House of Representatives on Tuesday, September 26, and the Senate on Friday, September 29.

The $1 million in funding will be used to purchase a transmission electron microscope, which will be utilized to conduct key research in the fields of biology and vaccines for the Department of Defense and other federal agencies.

“This state-of-the-art equipment will not only place the University of Kansas at the forefront of new advances in scientific research, it will also enable the University to showcase the benefits that can be achieved from sustained investments in biomedical and military health technologies,” Moore said.

In addition to allowing scientists to explore properties of materials at the atomic level, the transmission electron microscope will provide researchers with the ability to do microscopy at low temperatures, examining so-called “soft” samples, such as tissue and cells. This is a major military health issue, as such research will allow scientists to examine tissue structures and study the design of scaffolds upon which tissue can be regenerated for the reconstruction of bones or connective tissue.

The transmission electron microscope will also be used to directly examine issues in cell biology/cell morphology related to vaccines and cancer.