From isjd@ars-grin.gov Mon Nov 22 11:54:41 1999
Date: Mon, 22 Nov 1999 08:15:25 -0500
From: ARS News Service <isjd@ars-grin.gov>
To: ARS News List <ars-news@ars-grin.gov>
Subject: Guayule Latex Blocks Viruses

STORY LEAD:
Shrub-Derived Latex Products Block Viruses, Bacteria

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ARS News Service
Agricultural Research Service, USDA
Marcia Wood, (510) 559-6070, mwood@asrr.arsusda.gov
November 22, 1999
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Surgical gloves, condoms or other products made from the natural rubber
latex of a southwestern desert shrub called guayule are an effective
barrier against disease-causing bacteria and viruses.

That's according to preliminary tests with the high-quality, hypoallergenic
latex made from guayule (pronounced why-YOU-lee). The research was done by
Katrina Cornish of USDA's Agricultural Research Service in Albany, Calif.,
and C. David Lytle, recently retired from the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration.

The tests provide new evidence that medical, home and industrial products
made from guayule latex may offer a safe, practical alternative for the
estimated 20 million Americans allergic to latex products made from the
most common source, the Brazilian rubber tree.

Prototype patient-examination gloves and condoms made of guayule latex
passed standard virus-permeability tests, according to the scientists.
Those tests determined that a test virus, especially chosen for its small
size, could not slip through the guayule latex. Known as phi X174, the
virus is smaller than bacteria and is the same size, or smaller than, human
pathogenic viruses such as HIV, hepatitis B and herpes simplex.

The prototype gloves and condoms used for the tests were made of latex from
Arizona-grown guayule. They were the same thickness as commercially
produced gloves and condoms made of natural latex from the Brazilian rubber
tree. The findings will appear in the December 5 issue of the Journal of
Biomedical Materials Research.

In 1994, Cornish's team was the first to show that guayule latex is free of
the allergens that can cause severe reactions such as anaphylactic shock or
even death.

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Scientific contact: Katrina Cornish, Crop Improvement and Utilization
Research Unit, ARS Western Regional Research Center, 800 Buchanan St.,
Albany, CA 94710; phone (510) 559-5950, fax (510) 559-5777,
kcf@pw.usda.gov.
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