A few years down the road, a new plant perhaps co-owned by Southern Illinois University Carbondale could take used grease and turn it into valuable biodiesel fuel.

The future already is here for soybean growers looking to combat Sudden Death Syndrome, a fungal disease that has destroyed $100 million worth of Illinois soybeans just in the last three years.

Thanks to the biotechnological brains at SIUC, particularly from David Lightfoot, growers now have access to seedlings that can withstand the SDS disease.

The grease-to-biodiesel-fuel plan also comes courtesy of SIUC research, and it stands on the cusp of competing in the commercial world through chemist Yong Gao's newly formed Midwest Energy Group Inc.

They are two of the more recent shining examples of faculty research at SIUC spotlighted this week in The Southern. SIUC, after all, has a national reputation for clean coal research and technology as well as commercial success through material developed through SIUC's Center for Advanced Friction Studies, among dozens of other advancements.

The university, according to its Southern at 150 blueprint, aims to become a research institution ranked in the top 75 nationally. It is an aggressive goal, an attainable one, and unquestionably worthwhile.

Financially, faculty research (with assists from students) at SIUC has an enormous economic impact that will only grow in time.

Research grant money received for the fiscal year ended June 2006 at SIUC totaled about $43.5 million.

License income for that same year totaled about $354,000. According to John A. Koropchak, vice chancellor for research, license income likely stood near $500,000 the following year.

Patents connected with the grease-to-fuel and soybean projects, as well as from others, could ultimately lead to big bucks as SIUC's share of royalties from commercial success.

We applaud the formation of the Commercialization of University Technology Committee, an arm of the Jackson (County) Growth Alliance, which is already assisting with Gao's venture. The committee has 12 members and is a healthy mix of current and former business executives, university leaders and entrepreneurs geared toward helping new businesses spring from SIUC research.

But the significant benefit behind SIUC's emphasis on research is the relationship and impact it has on faculty and students.

"They're teaching not only what is in the textbooks of today, but also what will be there in the future based on the research they do," Koropchak said. "And students are working closely with faculty, doing research and creating new knowledge."

Sounds like a textbook plan worth supporting and growing to us.