Committee lays over $371,000 bill to study prion uptake in crops amid CWD concerns

House File 2,778, carried by Chair Hansen, would provide funding—$371,000 as stated by the author—to the University of Minnesota’s MnPRO (Center for Prion Research and Outreach) to research uptake of chronic wasting disease (CWD) prions by plants and possible impacts on crop growth and food safety.

Dr. Peter Larson, associate professor and co-director of the University of Minnesota Center for Prion Research and Outreach, told the committee that CWD is endemic in parts of southeastern Minnesota and that prions shed by infected deer can persist in soil for long periods. Larson said laboratory experiments show prions in soil can be taken up by plants, including vegetable and commodity crops, and that prions may remain infectious in plant tissues. "This research also shows that CWD prions may negatively impact plant growth and yield," Larson testified.

Committee members asked why the funding was coming from the agriculture budget and not the Department of Natural Resources. Dr. Larson and Dr. Stuart Lichtenberg explained the bill’s focus is the potential impacts on agriculture and commodities rather than wildlife management, making the agricultural research investment appropriate. Members also asked about parallel research into eradication, vaccines and remediation; testifiers said vaccine research is ongoing but distant and that this bill is specifically aimed at plant uptake and infectiousness in crops, and whether remediation approaches could address prions taken up by plants.

Members asked whether recent federal grants had already funded similar work; testifiers said U.S. Department of Agriculture APHIS funding supported wildlife-focused research and that the specific plant-uptake experiments requested in the bill were not covered by recent federal awards. The committee laid House File 2,778 over for possible inclusion.