Half the Energy Needs of Europe from the Oceans?
Saturday, October 30th, 2010
The Marine Board Vision Document, Marine Renewable Energy sees Europe sourcing 50% of its electricity needs from renewable ocean energy, through offshore wind, wave and tidal energy. Such a scenario will have and impact not only on the quality of environment through reducing carbon dioxide emissions and other result but also on energy security, economic and technological development and jobs creation in Europe.
The vision document was presented at the Eurocean 2010 Conference at Ostend during October. The conference sought to highlight the role of the seas and oceans in the earth and climate system and as an important source of wealth and job creation for Europe.
Issues such as sustainable seafood harvest, opportunities from marine biotechnology, blue energy, marine transport, human health, environmental and conservationist challenges such as climate change and marine biodiversity, and governance issues such as maritime spatial planning and importance of international cooperation make the oceans and marine research key focus areas.
Among other things, the conference highlighted the need for clear identification of economic and social benefits arising from marine research and communication of research outputs in a useful and usable format.
Marine Board Position Paper Marine Biotechnology: A New Vision and Strategy for Europe was also presented at the conference. Developments in genomics have created new research possibilities and priorities, for example.
Read about the conference at Afloat, Ireland’s sailing and boating magazine.
Tags: marine biotechnology, oceans, renewable energy
Posted in biotechnology, energy generation, environment, marine life research, renewable energy | No Comments »
University Develops Treatment for better Cancer Outcomes
Wednesday, October 20th, 2010
University of Queensland in Australia has developed Theraphil that can prevent neutropenia in cancer patients undergoing high doses of chemotherapy. Neutropenia results when the chemotherapy destroys white blood cells that fight bacterial and fungal infections. As a result, the cancer patients become highly susceptible to infections that can often lead to death.
Theraphil was developed by UQ researchers working at the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN). It is a cell based therapy that UniQuest, the university’s main commercialization company, will be promoting at the annual Ausbiotech Conference. UniQuest has been working with the researchers to create a commercially viable prospect for potential investors, according to the company’s Managing Director.
UniQuest is seeking an investment or licensing partner to get the product into hospitals. The product incorporates valuable intellectual property and now needs a partner with requisite financial strength to see it through clinical trials and marketing. It can produce financial, clinical and economic returns to the partner, University, Australia’s biotech industry and the health services sector, according to UniQuest MD.
UniQuest hopes to announce the partner at the Ausbiotech Conference scheduled this week. The partner will be benefiting patients in critical need according to UniQuest.
Read the news at UUQ News website.
Tags: biopharmaceuticals, biotechnology, cancer treatment, nanobiotechnology
Posted in biopharmaceutical, biotechnology, diseases | No Comments »
DNA Sequencing has Applications in Numerous Fields
Sunday, October 17th, 2010
DNA sequencing identifies the order of nucleotides (building blocks of DNA) in a segment of DNA. Knowledge of this order can help identify the genetic makeup of an organism. Researchers have been able to associate vulnerability to certain diseases with specific genetic makeup. The DNA sequence of individuals can help determine their vulnerabilities, as well as the type of treatment that will work for them. Such personalized treatment is the future of medicine.
Genetic therapy that replaces defective genes with healthy ones is another medical application.
DNA sequences are unique for individuals and this characteristic has been used in forensics to identify the presence of individuals at crime scenes. Hair, nail, skin or blood samples can be analyzed and the DNA sequence can be compared with that of suspect’s. DNA sequencing is also used to determine paternity.
And genetically modified crops with higher yields, better resistance to pest attacks and even greater nutritional value have become possible with the help of DNA sequencing and manipulation.
Scientific projects such as the human genome project involved extensive DNA sequencing. It is this project that helped researchers identify the relationship between disease and genetic makeup.
DNA sequencing has several applications and the industry is growing fast. A report goes into specific detail starting with a look at DNA, the methods used for DNA sequencing and an analysis of the market for DNA sequencing industry by methods, applications and regions.
Tags: biotechnology, dna, dna sequencing, personalized medicine
Posted in biopharmaceutical, biotechnology, crop science, diseases, genetic modification | 1 Comment »
Updating Biotechnology Students with fast Changing Biotech Scenario
Thursday, October 14th, 2010
Changes are fast in emerging technologies such as biotechnology. Students following standard courses based on older text books might not be equipped to deal with the scenario they face on entering the job stream. A new kind of initiative is needed to keep them up to date on current developments.
It is in this context that initiatives like Abhyuday in India become relevant. It started out as an inter-collegiate event aimed at providing biotechnology students a way to keep themselves up to date. Abhyuday seeks to organize talks by eminent personalities, give students a chance to network with industry representatives and encourage idea interchange through debates and competitions.
The latest event associated with Abhyuday is the National Conference on Molecular Medicine and Nanobiotechnology being held at the time of this writing, at the NIMHANS, Bangalore. Molecular Medicine is concerned with understanding the pathogenesis of diseases at the molecular level. Such understanding can help develop molecular tools for diagnosis, treatment and prevention of diseases.
Nanobiotechnology involves using the tools and processes of nano/microfibrication to build devices for studying biosystems. These tools allow unprecedented accuracy and sensitivity while studying biological and medical problems.
Details of the conference and selected abstracts of papers are available at Conference Website.
Tags: biotechnology, training
Posted in biotechnology | 2 Comments »
Epigenetic Therapy for Cancers
Sunday, October 3rd, 2010
Genes work by expressing themselves as proteins that build our cells and organs. Each gene expresses itself by making unique and specialized proteins and in normal situations this leads to the development of healthy organisms. Epigenetics is a phenomenon that results in modifying the molecular protein expression.
Epigenetic modification of gene expression can lead to diseases by, say silencing tumor suppressing genes. Such silencing can lead to development of disease, cancer in this case. One serious issue is that epigenetic changes can be passed on to progeny.
Epigenetic therapy is a field that is expanding. In 2009, the value of epigenetic therapeutic drugs sold has been estimated at $517 million. Annual cost of cancer therapy with epigenetic drugs has been estimated between $45,000 and $50,000. Epigenetic Therapeutics is thus a highly profitable field for drug makers.
A market report titled Epigenetics Therapeutics to 2017 – High Market Potential for Epigenetics Drugs in Acute Myeloid Leukemia, Multiple Myeloma and Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma reviews the scenario up t 2017. One drug, Vidaza, is in the late stage of clinical trials for the treatment of Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML). As Vidaza is approved for MDS, which is a precursor to AML, it is expected to be widely accepted after being approved for AML.
Tags: biotechnology, disease, epigenetic therapy, genetics
Posted in biotechnology, diseases | 1 Comment »
A Cure for Type I Diabetes?
Wednesday, September 29th, 2010
Type I Diabetes is an auto-immune disease in which the insulin producing beta cells (one type of islet cells) of the pancreas are destroyed over time by antibodies. When insulin production goes down, the body is unable to process the glucose in the blood and diabetic problems appear. Treatment has been attempted through transplantation of islet cells from external donors.
Such transplantation poses two problems. One is the shortage of donor pancreases for extracting islet cells. Two is the rejection of foreign cells by the body which sees them as it sees disease-producing viral organisms, and destroys the foreign intruders. To counteract this tendency, the transplantation must be accompanied by immunosuppressant drugs.
A new treatment seeks to use the patient’s own stem cells to regenerate islet cells. Stem cells are master cells from which all specialized cells such as the islet cells in the pancreas are created. Differentiation of stem cells into islet cells has been achieved in labs and this holds the potential to tackle the problems of transplantation.
And now a company is seeking partners to test a drug developed by it. The company believes that by adding its product to the transplanted islet cells (regenerated from stem cells as above) the success of the transplantation can be improved.
Read the news release at MarketWatch.
Tags: biomedicine, biotechnology, stem cell treatment
Posted in biopharmaceutical, biotechnology, diseases, stem cell research | No Comments »
Renewable Chemicals: Boon or Bane?
Wednesday, September 15th, 2010
Renewable chemicals are produced from agricultural feedstock such as grain and cellulose, i.e. renewable raw materials. Refining these bio products can produce a range of products. Polymers, bio-fuels, green solvents and fibers are examples.
In Brazil, Dow Chemicals has set up a plant to produce ethylene and polyethylene from sugarcane. Bio-plastics made from agricultural feedstock is considered carbon neutral as the carbon dioxide is absorbed while growing the sugarcane to offset the carbon released during the production process and during the final decomposition process. Petroleum based plastics, on the other hand, leave a large carbon footprint, and also contribute to waste accumulation unless they have been treated to be biodegradable.
Production of renewable plastics from agricultural feedstock typically involves processes such as fermentation, dehydration and polymerization. Presently, the renewable chemicals market is dominated by alcohol. Renewable polymers production is the sector that is expected to grow fastest in the immediate future.
Food packaging made with biodegradable plastics made from renewable sources can, in addition to reducing carbon emissions, make municipal waste more manageable. Presently, these have become somewhat unmanageable as even a small quantity of non-biodegradable plastic in the landfills makes it unacceptable for composting.
On the other hand, renewable chemicals using corn and soybean can reduce the availability of food and lead to higher food prices.
Tags: biodegradable plastics, bioplastics, biotechnology, carbon emissions, renewable chemicals
Posted in biotechnology, clean technology, environment | No Comments »
Focusing on Clean and Green Technology
Sunday, September 12th, 2010
Green in the City is an event where funding executives, entrepreneurs, innovators and opinion makers meet and debate topics related to clean technology. Clean technology is technology that has a smaller environmental impact, as exemplified by solar energy generation instead of coal-burning thermal power generation, and electric cars instead of fossil fuel-burning cars. The debates address the challenges and opportunities involved in the transition to a cleantech economy.
Green in the City is oriented to the UK cleantech space and meetings take place every month. The meeting scheduled for September 30, 2010 at Nomura House, London will focus on “Cleantech meets Biotech.” Biotechnology is already making agricultural and industrial technology cleaner in several areas, e.g. organic pesticides and fertilizers in agriculture, and the use of enzymes as catalysts in industrial processes.
Topics for the September session include Future for next generation biofuels, Using biotech processes to convert biomass into a valuable commodity, Applications of enzymes and other biotech alternatives in the biofuel industry, Alterative treatments for water and carbon dioxide and Accelerating the development of advanced materials for energy and cleantech sectors.
Registrations are now being accepted for the event Green in the City website.
Tags: biotechnology, environmental impact, green technology
Posted in biotechnology | No Comments »
Insights into Biotech Pharmaceuticals Scenario
Saturday, September 11th, 2010
A market research report into biotechnology pharmaceuticals market in the US provides insight into the drivers that propel the growth of this industry. One conclusion the report has is that Blood Modifiers will account for as much as 36.3 percent of the market. Blood modifiers can either enhance or inhibit the clotting or thinning of blood.
What are the drivers that help the expected 7.5% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for this industry? The report mentions the following:
* Biotechnology drugs with greater efficiency and safety are catching people’s attention and becoming ever more popular
* Government is adopting policies and regulatory frameworks that encourage companies engaged in biotechnology research and development; for example, proposals are under way for speeding up the time to market after all regulatory approvals
* An ageing population with chronic and age-related diseases is increasing the demand for biotechnology pharmaceuticals
Some experts are even arguing that biotechnology can provide a solution to the problem of an ageing population, i.e. a population where aged people form an increasing percentage. Aged people need more healthcare costing money, and are typically unable to engage in wealth-producing activities. Biotechnology with promises such as genetic therapy that targets genes underlying disease conditions (instead of working on symptoms) should be able to help tackle the problem better.
Read the report at BioMed Reports.
Tags: ageing population, biopharmaceutical industry, regulatory approvals process
Posted in biopharmaceutical, biotechnology, diseases | No Comments »
Modern Biotechnology’s Significance to Current Agricultural Scenario
Monday, September 6th, 2010
Our world is threatened by food shortage (among other threats) resulting from climate change and population growth. Climate change is making yields of food crops unpredictable as they depend on the weather under traditional farming practices. And population growth is tending to push up demand for food beyond availability.
A solution to the problem under such a scenario might lie in the adoption of modern biotechnology in traditional societies. For example, Professor Walter Sandow Alhassan, Project Coordinator for Safe Biotechnology Management in Sub-Saharan Africa (SABIMA) under the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), recently called upon the people of Ghana, Africa, to adopt modern biotechnology in farming.
Modern biotechnology is seeking to tackle several issues related to farming. The following are some of the major issues biotechnology is seeking to help with:
* Expansion of arable land by developing crops that can grow in areas formerly unfit for the crops
* Increasing the yield of crops through genetic modification of the crops
* Preventing pollution of human and animal habitats that occurs now from agro-chemical runoffs
* Finding a way to tackle the crop pests that have so far proven intractable
* Finding cures for the diseases that affect plants and animals
* Developing alternatives for fossil fuels used in agricultural operations, as the fuel supplies are not only getting exhausted but also becoming costlier
* Tackling the stresses resulting from climate change
Read the news story at GhanaWeb.
Tags: biotechnology, climate change, food crops, food shortage
Posted in biotechnology, crop science, diseases, genetic modification | No Comments »
