Category: Biotech business news
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Synthetic Anti-Malarial Compound is Bad News for Artemisia Farmers
by Jim Thomas Originally published by the Guardian UK Artemisinin breakthrough by synthetic biologists threatens to open new front in battle between microbes and people In the constant fight between microbes and people, attempts to rein in the malarial parasite have just taken an interesting turn. On Thursday April 11 the founder of Amyris […]
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University of California Joins Monsanto in Fight Against Farmer
by Jeff Conant, for synbiowatch Last week, the Supreme Court heard testimonies in the Bowman vs. Monsanto case, wherein the agribusiness giant is fighting an appeal by farmer Vernon Bowman, who the company claims infringed its patent rights by replanting seeds he purchased beyond the bounds of the company’s licensing agreement. The farmer’s claim is […]
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For Autodesk, a Step Into a Nanoscale World
The NY Times ran this article a few days ago, about the pending release of a desktop nano-biotech design program. The reporter mentions that “there are still many open questions that nanotechnology needs to surmount, ranging from viability to safety,” but lapses quickly into a swoon over the inventors’ hyping of the new technology, saying that […]
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San Diego to Host Pacific Rim Summit on Biotech and Bioenergy
Twelve years ago, a biotech conference in San Diego drew thousands of protesters, during a peak of activity challenging corporate patents on life and the cynical smokescreen of pro-poor policies and ‘feeding the world.’ Now, as global trade regimes have further concentrated and biotech has consolidated its role as a keystone industry not just in […]
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Laugh or Cry? Obama’s New Commitment on Climate Change
By Rachel Smolker, cross-posted from Huffington Post In his inaugural address, President Obama spoke eloquently about his intent to address climate change, saying: “We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations.” Following on, the right-wing deniers predictably flew into a frenzy […]
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CDC reports 11 US biolab workers infected with dangerous pathogens from 2004-10; no deaths
By Associated Press, cross-posted from Washington Post HAGERSTOWN, Md. — At least 11 workers at U.S. biological laboratories were infected with dangerous pathogens from 2004 to 2010, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday in a report on security measures stemming from the deadly 2001 anthrax attacks. None of the infected workers died. […]
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The Fiscal Cliff Resolution Could Give Solazyme A Boost
Note: This analysis from Seeking Alpha reveals what could be a significant step toward consolidating federal support for the bioeconomy: The “American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012” expands the definition of “cellulosic biofuel” for the purposes of the Cellulosic Biofuel Producers Tax Credit to explicitly include biofuels from microalgae and cyanobacteria. Additionally, the legislation replaces […]
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Appeals court backs scientist in Pfizer retaliation case
Note: Microbiologist Becky McClain, infected by a genetically engineered virus in a Pfizer lab, became the first whistleblower in the nation to try to shed light on the threats of biotechnology to workers and the public. Now, the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York, has validated her claims that Pfizer “acted willfully, […]
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Life on Mars? Scientists hope to find it by decoding Martian DNA
Note: Aside from our many concrete concerns with the emergence of synthetic biology — questions of accountability, corporate-driven science research, ethics, security, ecological leakage, and so forth — one of our driving concerns is the priority being given to investments in far-flung, high-risk research, at a time when fully one-sixth of the human population is […]
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Hacking the President’s DNA
Cross-posted from The Atlantic The U.S. government is surreptitiously collecting the DNA of world leaders, and is reportedly protecting that of Barack Obama. Decoded, these genetic blueprints could provide compromising information. In the not-too-distant future, they may provide something more as well—the basis for the creation of personalized bioweapons that could take down a president […]