Search results for: “Search”
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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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UK Guardian: Synthetic Biology Advocates Woo Conservationists with Bio-Engineering “Solutions” to Species Extinction
Reposted from the Guardian: Call for DNA biologists to join fight against deadly new threats to wildlife Research into creation of a new generation of synthetic organisms could be the way to save some of the natural world’s most endangered species, according to conservationists The Panamanian golden frog has been pushed close to extinction by […]
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Richmond Neighborhood Council’s Recommends Mitigations to the LBNL Proposal
PDF version of this document: LBNL – RANC Recommended Mitigations The Lawrence Berkeley “National” Lab (LBNL) in partnership with the Department of Energy plan to build a high profile, billion-dollar laboratory on Richmond’s South Shoreline. While public pronouncements tell us the lab will focus on ‘green’ energy research, the reality of it is much more […]
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Food Made from Scratch By Eric Hoffman
Reposted from GENEWATCH March 29, 2013″ “Agriculture as we know it needs to disappear. …We can design better and healthier proteins than we get from nature.” – J. Craig Venter1 A (very) short history of agriculture For ten thousand years humans have been manipulating plants for food production. This began at a very basic level, […]
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Synthetic Biology Comes Down to Earth
Note: This article presents an even-handed exposition of the synthetic biology industry’s effort to sell a lot of sizzle, while its steak isn’t quite cooked. One of the most striking points we find here is a clear picture of the frighteningly reductionist — even myopic — view of some of the field’s researchers. Assistant Professor […]
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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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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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Harmful algae blooms increase as water warms in the world’s major lakes
By Erica Rex, E&E correspondent, cross-posted from E&E News Tuesday, January 8, 2013 – The warming waters of one of central Europe’s most popular holiday destinations, Switzerland’s Lake Zurich, have created an ideal environment for a population explosion of algae including Planktothrix rubescens, a toxic cyanobacterium. It has the potential to harm humans, animals and […]