A group of Australian engineers had figured out how to silence the gene for PPO in potatoes.
coordinator of the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network, tells Co. Exist's Ariel Schwartz that's not true.
This mobile biofuel processor looks promisingpurdue University researchers developed a new biofuel processing center that can be built on a mobile platform.
The new process could turn agricultural waste and biomass into biofuel, which would cut down the cost of transporting the biomass back to a central refinery.
By using a method called fast-hydropyrolysis-hydrodeoxygenation, hydrogen is added to the mobile biomass-processing reactor.
Once the biomass and hydrogen go into this high-pressure reactor, it only takes seconds until it gets as hot as 900 degrees Fahrenheit.
The hydrogen and catalysts turn the biomass into a liquid fuel on the mobile platform.
It will sort of work like a garbage truck where it takes the trash from your house and transports it to a landfill.
But in this case, the mobile unit would turn the biomass into liquid biofuel before transporting it back to the main processing facility.
The researchers anticipate that it will be much cheaper to transport liquid biofuel than biomass in bulk.
Furthermore, what's important is that you can process all kinds of available biomass--wood chips, switch grass, corn stover, rice husks, wheat straw ââ Â,
Diversifying the source of biomass is a good thing considering that more than 1 billion tons of biomass is available annually.
But for now, this patented idea will have to prove itself in the laboratory before it ever makes its way into the market.
Rakesh Agrawal, Purdue University School of Chemical engineering
Three decades of Apple's design history in 30 secondsapple's shares and market capitalization hit remarkable highs this week--its shares closing at $493. 42 on Friday,
but the usual suspects (viruses and bacterial infections) didn't have anything to do with the poor health of the trees.
and working with geneticists for purity. His company Anson Mills, now grows more than 300 exceptional products,
and biochemical and biofuel company Virent Energy have developed successfully a drop in gasoline and jet fuel made from pine trees in a $900,
Virent has made fuels and chemicals from sugars in cellulosic biomass before. But this project used Virdia's sugars generated from pine trees,
and established a viable route to drop in hydrocarbons from biomass. Virdia uses acid hydrolysis to convert cellulose found in biomass into fermentable sugars and lignin,
a process the company says is more effective and cheaper than extracting sugar from corn or sugarcane.
biochemicals; and nutritional additives such as baker's yeast and amino acids for the animal feed industry. A few weeks ago, Virdia unveiled its new name,
CEO and financing--all developments that signal plans to scale up commercially. To be clear, the pine tree-based jet fuel has a long way to go before its commercially available.
New enzyme cuts cost of next-gen biofuels USDA bets (again) on advanced biofuels Poet s cellulosic ethanol strategy:
They isolated four key genes involved in the production of natural sex pheromones of two moths:
Genes that code for pheromone biosynthesis were injected into the tobacco plant Nicotiana benthamiana via bacteria cultures (pictured.
By doing so, the team got the tobacco plants to express genes for moth pheromone production.
No matter what you may think about GM CROPS, this is a cost-effective way to produce large amounts of a safer alternative to bug sprays with minimum amounts of hazardous waste.
UN conference on biodiversity kicks off in Indiadelhi--For the next two years, India will steer efforts to save the Earth's biodiversity during a time
India is hosting the UN Conference on Biodiversity, which kicks off today in the southern city of Hyderabad.
what has been declared as the UN Decade of Biodiversity. 192 countries and the European union are participating.
The fight to save biodiversity began in 1992 with the UN Convention on Biodiversity which currently has 193 parties.
conservation of biodiversity, sustainable use of its components, and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of genetic resources.
Since then, UN conferences held every two years have produced policies and programs. But little progress has been made to put these objectives into action.
Latha Jishnu, the biodiversity expert at India's top environmental magazine Down to Earth, said that parties were still trying to figure out how much money was needed,
Jishnu said that CBD parties had been asked to submit suggestions on innovative ways of funding biodiversity
Some innovative thinking has focused on evaluating the economic value of losing biodiversity. For instance what does it cost to cut down a tree or a forest?
Indian economist Pavan Sukhdev has led the global study on The Economics of Ecosystem and Biodiversity.
Understanding the cost of losing biodiversity, experts say, will be critical to saving it. Now, it's India's time to demonstrate leadership in getting words translated into actions.
The South Asian nation will be president of the Conference of the Parties (COP), the decision-making body on biodiversity, for the next two years.
The key issues picked for this conference are biodiversity and livelihoods, integration of value of biodiversity in national planning, strategy for resource mobilization,
coastal and marine biodiversity and operationalization of Nagoya Protocol (explained below). Khosla stressed that India in its role as a leader needed to push for a fair deal, new technology from developed nations and research from both developed and developing nations.
India, with over 7%of recorded species in 2. 4%of the world's land, is among the megadiverse biodiversity rich countries.
and Benefit Sharing (ABS). Countries rich in genetic resources and traditional knowledge want companies and researchers who use that knowledge to pay for
Biodiversity-rich countries are wary of companies from developed countries using their knowledge for free. They feel it's unfair for these companies to make huge profits, especially in the field of medicine,
Biodiversity exists in developing countries and it's been destroyed in the developed world, said Khosla of IUCN.
India has been a victim of misappropriation or bio-piracy of our genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge,
Biodiversity Act 2002, didn't provide enough protection to communities against exploitative agencies within India as well as multinationals.
The scientist further added that a Biodiversity Register listing all of India's knowledge should not be prepared
Pushpangadan, now Director General of Amity Institute for Herbal & Biotech Products Development, who remains wary of his past experience,
How biotechnology will feed help us the worldhow do feed you a hungry world, where the population is increasing,
I talked to Dr. Beachy recently about how biotechnology can help put food on the table,
how grocery stores of the future may allow us to buy food that match our genetic bar code
If we grow more biomass how do we ensure those plants are not susceptible to diseases?
It may be more use of biological control mechanisms. We can expect to see more animal diseases,
so we can engage the scientists who work on cell biology and immunology. We have collaborations with the Doe in our challenge of producing an appropriate biomass that can be converted to biofuels.
We have a relationship with NIH and the National Cancer Institute and Centers for Disease Control on a program to look at the sociology of healthy eating,
You are known for your groundbreaking research on developing virus-resistant plants through biotechnology. What are some of the ways biotechnology can be used today?
In the scope of maximizing food production and reducing the use of agrochemicals, biotechnology is a piece of the toolbox.
The bigger question is, how do you fight the challenge if nature doesn t give you all the diversity you need?
or to fight a virus, do you stop growing the crop? It s been largely the purview of the agrochemical companies.
At the same time, some scientists are under the conviction that this can be done through genetics. With a greater number of people, we re going to have to have more crop yield per acre.
and you have to adjust their genetics to be more resistant to diseases or drought or flood.
We need to be ready to use safe and effective technologies and genetic engineering. What industry publications do you follow?
or some biotechnology methods that we don t even know yet. I think grocery stores are paying more attention to the science and food of nutrition,
That might pressure the food manufacturers regarding certain kinds of additives that might best be removed or reduced.
I know my genetic code and my microbial flora in my intestine, so I can go to the grocery store
I could barcode my genetics. And my doctor knows it and prescribes drugs accordingly
USDA, Russian scientists develop interactive crop mapthe U s. Department of agriculture and St petersburg State university have partnered to create a new website that offers geographic distributions of 100 crops,
Led by USDA plant geneticist Stephanie Greene and St petersburg State university scientist Alexandr Afonin, the project also aims to help students learn how to use geographic information system,
But Anke Domaske, a German biologist and fashion designer, has come up with a clever way of making sure it doesn't just go to waste.
However, only the ROI, in the form of increased energy independence, was taken into consideration in the politically-motivated push for biofuels.
Biofuels can't do it; tar sands can't do it; oil shale (with an EROI between 1 and 2. 5) can't do it.
Up to now, we've had a lot of great science in the area of bio-acoustics and environmental acoustics.
Bio-acoustics has been the study of the vocalization of animals, studying behavior, physiology, anatomy related to that.
In working with issues dealing with climate change and land use and biodiversity, we realized we needed measures that allowed us to incorporate all of those aspects into something that was unifying.
It allows us to measure the biodiversity that occurs in a habitat. But also--because humans make noise--we can use noise as a surrogate of human activities.
Biophony-To be able to understand the biological voices that occur in the landscape Geophony-Sounds from the geophysical environment,
there are few biological vocalizations occurring. There are fewer organisms that are singing and calling and chirping.
we're in danger of losing the biological signals that we're all used to in the landscape.
That's why we hearken back to Rachel Carson's original statements that by modifying the landscape we could be pushing out organisms that are creating the biological voices of that landscape.
we can use them as rapid assessment tools to assess the biodiversity or whether key species exist in a landscape.
and using that to come up with measures of biodiversity. Is there anything else you'd like to add?
You can imagine that a rotten apple might biodegrade faster than a newspaper. We have a race between how fast the methane is being produced
If something biodegrades rapidly, much of the methane can be produced before the gas collection system is in place.
On the other hand, if something biodegrades slowly then you have an opportunity to capture most of that methane
it doesn't all biodegrade. Some of that carbon is stored in the landfill. That also is a positive for the environment
I had a chance to debate this topic a bit with Gene Bodenheimer, senior vice president of product lifecycle logistics for Genco ATC
Why the biodiversity crisis is worse than the global economic crisis: There's no bailout for this onebob Bloomfield will make you worry about the state of biodiversity
and will inspire you to do something about it. The urgency in his voice is very telling,
Already, the global biodiversity crisis costs more than the economic crisis. And it is considered by scientists to be as great a threat as climate change.
As the coordinator of the UK partner response to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity 2010 International Year of Biodiversity
Bloomfield is largely organizing the biodiversity engagement activities in the UK which, he is optimistic,
will increase people's awareness of the grave situation of biodiversity loss. But time is limited.
Many scientists estimate that the loss of biodiversity is happening 1, 000 times faster than it should be because of human impact.
Bloomfield talks about the UK's involvement in raising awareness to the biodiversity crisis which is the focus of the International Year.
When did the UK get involved in setting up biodiversity awareness program? The International Year was established by the UN General assembly to help mark 2010 the year that the UN Convention On Biological Diversity will be renegotiated in Nagoya Japan in October.
The UK like the other 193 signatory countries to the conventions has a biodiversity action plan,
and also like them has met only partially the target to reverse the loss of species
Darwin s work lies at the heart of our modern understanding of ecology and biodiversity,
refocusing it on the current issues of biodiversity loss, more than 380 partners in the UK are now collaborating to raise awareness of the issue, working through a joint,
and to many other sectors oe all drown together by a common concern around the tragic costs of biodiversity loss.
What are people missing about biodiversity? Most people have regarded tended to the loss of biodiversity as an unfortunate thing to be happening,
and often disturbed by the aesthetic consequences of human impact, but until recently many people have not really been aware of its true significance.
What is the cost of the loss of biodiversity? Economists now estimate that global biodiversity losses cost trillions of dollars annually
and directly affects the quality of human life and future wellbeing. A large portion of the losses of habitats and species-is irreversible,
Biodiversity loss is a major crisis and is bigger than global bank crisis. It s a permanent loss,
What is the scale of the biodiversity crisis? Biodiversity loss in intimately linked to the two other massive issues facing people today.
The first is with human sustainable development, at the heart of this issue, for a safer,
and we rely on biodiversity to provide these, to protect our future resources of food, textiles, pharmaceuticals,
and it s the biological resources in nature which we will need to adapt. Equally important is the ability of biodiversity to mitigate against the impact of the carbon we release.
Carbon is sequestered naturally in the environment, fixed in the wood of forests, the coral of reefs, the peat of bogs,
We need to reengage with the significance of biodiversity to make a difference in environmental management.
The loss of genetic resources affects how we produce new crops, medicines and the creation of novel products in industry.
It is recognized also that a decade ago the Convention of Biological Diversity was achieved by a political mechanism
Are there hot spots in biodiversity that we do prioritize? Biological diversity is being eroded by human impact across the globe,
and we need a far sounder understanding across human activity that biodiversity loss is one leg of a 3-legged stool,
the other two being the sustainable development and environment/climate management issue I referred to earlier.
In the first example there are a primary regions where there is high genetic and species diversity and where the complexity of ecological roles are significant.
Here among other things is the high genetic variety which offers us hope for medicines and future food stocks.
Biodiversity loss affects everyone. But everyday it is realized increasingly and parts of society are responding.
For example utility companies that manage watersheds are seeing how biodiversity helps provide clean water, by protecting biodiversity they reduce their water-treatment costs,
biodiversity protection is good for business. This is part of a much bigger need, to think ecologically,
and to realize that by working with nature we can do more sustainably, and for the longer-term,
Many people are getting engaged with monitoring their local biodiversity, another step to becoming custodians of it.
Furthermore the knowledge of biodiversity and the potential to create green industry around managing all of the ecosystem services it provides could help boost our economy,
Join in the activities of the International Year of Biodiversity, together we can help influence the future in a positive way.
Enter the Butterfly Explorers exhibition Why you need to be biodiversity aware
Why thousands of bees are flying around with sensors  Wireless data-collecting sensors are everywhere:
This will help us understand how to maximize their productivity as well as monitor for any biosecurity risks,
A new article in The Biologist by professors at The University of Sussex says that the beekeeping boom in London is actually doing more harm than good to bees.
Why you need to be biodiversity aware2010 was the year the world s governments agreed to achieve a significant reduction of the current rate of biodiversity loss at global, regional,
 Eleanor Sterling thinks we have failed to meet our biodiversity goal. Sterling has been working on conserving biodiversity since 1996,
when she joined the American Museum of Natural history Center for Biodiversity and Conservation. Today, Sterling discusses the loss of biodiversity.
Where were you last in the field? What research were you doing? Did you find anything surprising?
What does it feel like to be out in nature and how does it feel to see the biodiversity diminish?
In the summer 2009 I went to the remote Palmyra Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, located about halfway between Hawaii
As part of the Center for Biodiversity and Conservation (CBC) s Sea turtle Research and Conservation program, our program goals here are to study sea turtle distribution and abundance, focusing on ecological interactions, behavior, conservation, health issues,
and hopeful that the research conducted by the CBC will contribute to the conservation of endangered sea turtle species. Each visit reaffirms my commitment to the incredibly important field of biodiversity conservation
and the work of the CBC to mitigate threats to biodiversity. How do you make people think about their impact to an ecosystem?
or teach about biodiversity, I usually start with the deceptively simple question What is biodiversity?
 The term refers to the variety of life On earth at all its levels, from genes to ecosystems,
and the ecological and evolutionary processes that sustain it. Biodiversity includes not only species we consider rare, threatened,
or endangered, but every living thing oe even organisms we know little about, such as microbes, fungi and invertebrates.
I usually use the lens of threats to biodiversity. Over the last century humans have come to dominate the planet.
and the planet is undergoing a massive loss of biodiversity due to habitat loss and fragmentation, overexploitation, pollution, invasive species,
Many of our everyday actions, from consumption to our choices of where we live, impact biodiversity.
We all have a role to play in meeting the challenges of the biodiversity crisis
over time this will have a cumulative and positive impact on the Earth s biodiversity. The CBC s website has a list of simple
Can you talk on how biodiversity can influence your food supply? Any other issues? GM foods?
Biodiversity and a sustainable food supply are linked intimately by way of both ecosystem goods and services.
Also, studies suggest that biodiversity loss is one of the environmental factors associated with disease emergence.
including the Lyme spirochete, West Nile virus, and Hanta viruses. Recent studies suggest that contact with nature can have positive effects on our mental health.
How has the UN International Year of Biodiversity helped raise awareness? It s perhaps too early in the year to gauge its full impact.
However, the International Year of Biodiversity (IYB) has served as a unifying theme by which a variety of institutions around the world have joined in an effort to highlight a wide variety of aspects related to biodiversity
and the current biodiversity crisis. The IYB has been the driver of many biodiversity-centric events including meetings, conferences, film screenings, panels, international policy discussions and instruments around the world.
It has spanned new websites, blogs, podcasts, and publications related to biodiversity. More information about partnering institutions
and events can be found here. The hope is that all the efforts during IYB will inspire the world s leaders
institutions, organizations, industries and citizens to take specific action to abate current rates of biodiversity loss.
The IYB can be an opportunity to reflect on why we failed to meet the 2010 biodiversity target
and conservation management plans to more effectively incorporate biodiversity conservation as a dynamic process in a human-dominated world.
what remains of 2010, including discussions about biodiversity during the United nations General assembly. What worries you about declining species?
So biodiversity can influence culture? Beyond those impacts of biodiversity loss on the functioning of ecosystems, human cultures around the world have been,
and continue to be inspired, and even defined in large part by their relationships with the natural world.
biodiversity loss represents a significant moral failure. Image: Eleanor Sterling at the North american launch of 2010 as the International Year of Biodiversity.
Credit: R. Mickens/AMNH Related Post: Why the biodiversity crisis is worse than the economic crisis:
There's no bailout for this one
Wild monkeys with radiation collars to help Fukushima researchersresearchers from Fukushima University are planning to equip local,
Bedbug genome uncovers pesticide resistance Beyond bedbugs-lay your head to rest in the greenest hotel Watch robots climb trees,  helicopter  in and sniff bugs
A number of years ago we started looking pretty seriously at biomass. We need a lot of energy
Which is turned why you to biomass specialist  Envergent. DC: Envergent was really putting the finishing touches on the development side of bringing this forward.
The size of the original plant that we had looked at for the traditional biomass approach...
and just switched it around for biomass. We established the joint venture in November of 2008.
You create a densified power source out of biomass, which is 50 percent water. You take that and densify it into a liquid with lower moisture content and higher density,
At 80 percent diesel and 20 percent biofuel, the blend, called B20, burns cleaner than the standard#2 diesel.
The cows came from Texas. The P32-8 engine did need not much modification to accept the biofuel
He also called on the European union to support genetically modified crops and for the United states to kill domestic subsidies for biofuel.
biofuel subsidies are absurd, not least because they drive up food prices, siphoning grains from the bowls of the poorest into the gas-tanks of the richest--with limited environmental gains, at best.
Biomimetic irrigation system wins James Dyson Awarda concept for efficiently harvesting water to irrigate crops by condensing water underground
Linacre expanded on this concept to create his biomimetic design as a possible solution for growing crops in drought-stricken areas--such as in Australia, his home nation.
Weve worked with Amgen, Bristol-myers squibb, usually biotech or pharmaceutical companies. Weve also worked with companies in the forestry industry.
which is important in the development of biofuel, looking at how you could grow this plant in areas that are not usually hospitable for agricultural plants,
or bioreactor a rotating wall bioreactor. But you really cant make a microgravity chamber On earth.
Biosphere imbalance: should we worry about engineering algae for biofuels? The Great American Algae Rush is in full swing.
Dozens of companies and hundreds of scientists are working hard to engineer algae to produce green--literally and figuratively--fuel.
or the soybeans used to make biodiesel. Better still, you can grow algae on arid land and in brackish water,
and suddenly you have an organism that's out of whack with the biosphere, stripping water of its oxygen
and Synthetic Genomics founder J. Craig Venter (the guy behind the first self-replicating synthetic cell),
Venter says algae should be engineered with a suicide gene to shut down if they escape. Mayfield says he's not losing sleep over it.
Turning algae into oil the NASA way Scientists create high-capacity batteries from algae Pressure-cooking method makes an algae-based biofuel Plane takes first flight on 100
%biofuel Can algae-based plastics reduce our plastic footprint? Green algae used to make plastics that dont contain petroleum The algae bloom of alternative energy Video:
or even a faecal note, perhaps like that of a well rotted manure heap, writes an online ambergris guide.
These ambergris molecules are lipophilic-meaning they like lipids. So they can bind the lipids in the fragrance together
Ambergris critics argue that it endangers the already vulnerable sperm whale from which it comes. Others dislike the use of animal products in their cosmetics in general.
One gram of ambergris goes for $20. Enter: science. Researchers at the University of British columbia have discovered a plant-based alternative to ambergris that is similarly lipophilic.
Å Weve now discovered that a gene from balsam fir is much more efficient at producing such natural compounds,
which could make production of this bioproduct less expensive and more sustainable, Â Joerg Bohlmann said in the press release.
So now, rather than crawling the beaches for little hunks of whale vomit, researchers could manufacture a similar compound in the lab. Ambergris in a bowl Before you go check your perfume bottles,
take solace that ambergris isn't generally used in American perfumes, according to Scientific American, but European companies still use it.
For a long time it was in Chanel No. 5. The market is big enough that there are ambergris dealers, like Bernard Perrin.
He sells stock to not only perfume companies but to wealthy families as well. We also sell it to a royal family in the middle East
It's also worth noting that no one has seen ever actually a sperm whale vomit up ambergris. Some think it might come out the other end.
Sperm whale by Archibald Thorburn, Wikimedia Commons Ambergris by Peter Kaminski, Wikimedia Commons
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