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]
