Dallas, TX, Nov. 6, 2004 – Mr. Xuebing Zhang, a research scientist with Biological Targets Inc., a Dallas-based biotechnology company, recently won the O. B. Williams Award. The Award was presented to the graduate student who gave the best scientific talk in general microbiology at the recent fall 2004 meeting of the Texas Branch of the American Society for Microbiology in Houston, TX.

The meeting, organized by the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics of the University of Texas Health Science Center-Houston, included sessions on post-genomic approaches to microbiology, DNA and RNA metabolism, vaccines, host-microbe interactions, membrane transport systems, emerging infections, and educational recourse. The program included talks and posters by faculty, post-doctoral associates and graduate students.

"We are pleased that Mr. Zhang won this prestigious award with his talk entitled Molecular Mechanism of Bacillus thuringiensis Cry1Ab Cytotoxicity,” said Dr. Lee Bulla, BTI’s founder and CEO.

Mr. Zhang will receive a PhD in the spring of 2005 at The University of Texas at Dallas and will continue with Biological Targets. 

Biological Targets is a new life science company that is developing biotechnological products for agriculture, medicine and the environment.  The Company offers novel technologies and safe, environmentally friendly products in areas such as molecular targets,  biopesticides, beneficial biofilm products and products for control of biofilms and microbes.