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The following HTML text is provided to enhance online readability. Many aspects of typography translate only awkwardly to HTML. Please use the page image as the authoritative form to ensure accuracy. Page 15 ant might lead to solutions that would help soldiers carry even heavier loads. Biological systems might also serve as models for improving materials for uniforms, particularly by reducing their weight and increasing their functionality. A soldier’s clothing must protect against extremes of weather, chemical and biological agents, heat and humidity, and other factors. Many animals cope with similar drastic changes in their environments. For example, an ordinary horse can withstand winter cold and desert heat protected only by hair and its leathery skin. Passive heat transfer alone cannot account for the resistance and isolation necessary to cope with these extreme temperature differentials. Understanding how horses and other animals overcome drastic changes in their environment would be extremely useful. As a measure of the importance of biomimesis, the Army has declared biomimetics one of its Strategic Research Objectives (primary focus areas for basic research). The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has investigated the behavior of insects and other animals in research for the Department of Defense (DOD) (Rudolph, 2000). The principles of design, biosynthesis, and structure-property correlations in “living” materials and systems will be very important in determining new military applications of biotechnology. Thinking in terms of biological systems may not only provide solutions to specific problems, but may also provide clues to future opportunities. Genomics and ProteomicsClassical approaches to the study of biology have involved biochemistry (the study of proteins in isolation) and genetics (the study of individual genes in isolation). But the examination of an entire genome and its products, a relatively new subdiscipline known as genomics (the study of the genetic material of life), may unlock the secrets of the communication, structure, organization, and interaction of cells and molecules and how they create function. The long-term implications of genomics will present the Army with opportunities and challenges even in the next decade. Genomics will provide tools for identifying the underlying basis of complex traits, shedding new light on human behavior and performance. It will also help scientists uncover the genetic bases of diseases, such as early-onset Alzheimer’s and Huntington’s chorea. The term proteome is often attributed to Marc Wilkens, an Australian researcher who proposed the study of all proteins in a genome about five years ago. The subdiscipline of proteomics now encompasses a range of technologies related to the characterization of protein expression, post-translational modifications, and interactions in complex biologic samples (Blackstock and Weir, 1999). Proteomics complements genomics by bridging the gap between genetic message and protein-expression levels (Anderson and Seilhamer, 1997). As discussed later in Chapter 7, genomics and proteomics have already been instrumental in the development of tools for DNA research, as well as for identifying new materials and applications for biotechnology. However, new applications and capabilities for the Army will require a methodical, systems approach that incorporates a range of scientific and engineering disciplines. Genomics will provide many, but not all, of the answers. The committee believes that no single entity or institution can change the influence of biology or the trends in biotechnology. The Army can, however, promote development of new products and processes that will be consistent with or specific to its missions and needs. This will require that the Army be fully aware of the synergistic effects of biological tools on the new developments in biotechnology.
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