and engineering analyses to identify the targets of natural selection researchers report in the current issue of Evolution that the new tool opens a way of discovering evidence for selection for biomechanical function in very diverse organisms
and of reconstructing skull shapes in long-extinct ancestral species. Evolutionary biologist Elizabeth Dumont and mechanical engineer Ian Grosse at the University of Massachusetts Amherst with evolutionary biologist Liliana Dá
As the authors point out adaptive radiations that is the explosive evolution of species into new ecological niches have generated much of the biological diversity seen in the world today.
The engineering model allowed us to identify the biomechanical functions that natural selection worked on. Some form or function helps an animal to perform better in its environment
and if there is a potential genetic component to it as well. Advice for feedlot operatorsthomson said that he is very pro-technology.
and re-circulate this with additives and nutrients that are beneficial for plant matter. You mentioned Europe is ahead of the game on hydroponics,
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,
but others criticized it for ushering in an age of monoculture in which farmers turned their backs on biodiversity in the interest of maximizing food production per acre.
He acknowledged the protection of biodiversity as a legitimate goal for public policy, but noted that the costs of saving species often fall on landowners and businesses,
but often with limited success. In 2009 Spanish biologists cloned the calf of an extinct subspecies of Pyrenean ibex from tissue samples preserved for that purpose,
Even if one assumes that future advances in biotechnology can overrule all those objections, however, problems remain
and freeze'em approach--was primarily a way to preserve the genome heritage of vanishing ecosystems, not the biodiversity itself.
Indeed, only by preserving in vivo a wide cross section of biota can we plausibly use much of the genetic library frozen in vitro...
to undertake salvaging operations weakens arguments for biodiversity preservation. To avoid this, the two parallel programs of preservation
The problem is that biodiversity and species-rich wild habitats are fast disappearing. Conservation cannot keep up.
Can biofuels make a comeback? To be sure, biofuels have been around a long time--almost a century. At the 1900 World Exhibition in Paris, a clever engineer named Rudolf Diesel demonstrated his namesake engine with peanut oil.
The rest, they say, is history.)But in the age of cheap petroleum, biofuels could never really overtake gasoline as the fuel of choice.
And now, the popularity of solar and wind power suggest that the entire discussion is moot.
The CEO of Silicon valley startup Cobalt Technologies says ethanol fuel has given biofuels a bad rap
We are emerging to be one of the successes. The original concept was that we really need a better biofuel than ethanol.
So we're using cellulosic biomass waste streams--corn cobs, treetops and limbs, dead pine trees from pine beetles.
How did you convince them that biofuels could be done? RW: You put a slide pack together
You're keen on biofuels; that much is clear. What's the potential market? RW: It's huge.
Nobody's been successful in the biofuels business because it's really hard. From a volume perspective, the fuels market is much better than the chemicals market.
Dupont's big bioscience bets: butanol, cellulosic ethanol, omega-3 acidsnew YORK--Dupont wants to help raiseã Â sustainably-farmed salmon by offering them a diet loaded with omega-3 fatty acids that it manufactures from soybeans.
Binetti, theã Â president of Dupont's Nutrition & Health and Applied Biosciences divisions, says he sees large potential market opportunities for his group that will lead to 7 percent annual growth
The Applied Biosciences division, which counts $1 billion in revenue, is comprised of two primary businesses:
à  biomaterials, which includes the company's Bio-PDFO, Sorona, Omega-3, biosurfaces and biomedical products;
and biofuels, which includesã Â cellulosic ethanol and biobutanol. BIOTECHNOLOGY The biomaterials group expects to see an estimated $1 billion in revenue by 2015.
Currently, it stands at $200 million. Through the downturn, our businesses grew significantly, he said.
Highlights included: One of the world's largest aerobic facilities, a 100million-lb plant in Loudon, Tenn.
We have a unique capability to have both science in advanced materials as well as biotechnology, Binetti said.
Our goal is to be aã Â powerhouse in industrial biotechnology. BIOFUELS On the biofuels side, Dupont is working simultaneously on cellulosic ethanol--for
which it has opened a demonstration plant--and biobutanol, for which it has a demonstration plant under construction.
To begin, Binetti offered a look at the global biofuels market. A quick summary of his points:
Biofuels are growing rapidly thanks to a large service economy. 2010 was a $50 billion marke. 2015 prediction:
The projected outlook for biofuels as a whole: Ã Â $100 to 200 million in pretax earnings by 2015,
when that rapid growth in biofuels takes place in the next decade. Photo: Anthony Masterson/Getty More from the 2011 Jefferies cleantech conference:
And better biofuels research, like re-engineering plants, so they do a better job of turning sunlight into fuels than current plants do.
But, while it may take decades to transmit something as complicated as a virus or a single molecule of DNA,
and bacteria are the two most important biofuel technologies of the 21st century. As a replacement for oil, algae is extremely practical,
the cost of halophytic algae biofuel is less than the cost of petroleum trading at $70 per barrel or higher.
It like getting a remote checkup from your doctor all the time. 2. Genome Specific Cures. A few years ago, the notion of cancer treatment that was specific to a person genome was seen as a fantasy.
But, as geneticist and open-source medicine evangelist Andrew Hessel wrote in the January-February 2010 issue of THE FUTURIST, oethanks to rapidly moving technologies like synthetic biology,
the prospects are very different today. This is a powerful new genetic engineering technology founded on DNA synthesis that amounts to writing software for cells.
It the ideal technical foundation for open-source biotechnology. Moreover synthetic biology drops the cost of doing bioengineering by several orders of magnitude.
Small proteins, antibodies, and viruses were amenable to the technology and within reach of a startup.
According to Hessel, individualized drugs could lower the cost of drug development across the entire spectrum of the development chain.
Only very small-scale manufacturing capability is necessary. Lab testing is simplified. And clinical trials are reduced to a single person:
biotechnology genetic manipulation of food DNA to meet consumer desire has frequently been cited as the cause,
Timothy Wise recently cited biofuel production as a oedemand shock that consumes crop production and yields price increases.
And Nestle Chairman Peter Brabeck-Letmathe also cited rising production of biofuel and the high subsidies it receives as the direct cause of rising food prices. oethe only difference is that with the food market you need 2,
The move towards biotechnology Prior to 8, 000 BC, nomadic hunter gathering was the norm.
GMOS oecan be defined as organisms in which the genetic material (DNA) has been altered in a way that does not occur naturally it allows selected individual genes to be transferred from one organism into another, also between non-related species. Simply put,
genetic modification involves manipulating the genetic makeup of food to create or enhance characteristics that are desired by humans.
The success of the first tested genetically engineered cotton in 1990 led biotech company Monsanto to introduce herbicide-immune soybeans aka, oeround-Up Ready in 1995,
and vitamins has made biotechnology a global giant in the world of food production
Mixed-use 2. 0: The office building of the futuresocial forces and advances in communications technology are driving changes in how and where people work.
Synthetic biology. What woes it mean for agriculture? Today post was prompted by an invitation from Andrew Revkin to join in on a discussion spawned by his recent post at NYTS oedot Earth titled,
oewill Synthetic biology Benefit or Threaten Wild Things?.A recent conference at Cambridge university brought together two unlikely groups for a groundbreaking conversation between conservationists and synthetic biologists over the subject of synthetic biology.
The two groups attempted to discuss all aspects of the subject including ethics, the science, concerns, regulation, purpose,
whether synthetic biology that utilizes plants for food, energy, and medicine might lead to an increase or loss of biodiversity.
The framing paper for the conference was oehow will synthetic biology and conservation shape the future of nature?
FIRST, NOTES FROM the CONFERENCE S FRAMING PAPER I ve read through the lengthy paper
This new field of biological engineers appears reckless at times to the conservationists because of their prevailing enthusiasm
First, the paper three oeconcepts of synthetic biology: â oethe design and construction of new biological parts, devices,
and systems and the redesign of existing, natural biological systems for useful purposes â oea scientific discipline that relies on chemically synthesized DNA,
along with standardized and automatable processes, to address human needs by the creation of organisms with novel
and fabrication of biological components and systems that do not already exist in the natural world,
and on the redesign and fabrication of existing biological systems Or, as explained by Paul Freemont of the Centre for Synthetic biology at Imperial College in London,
oewe can now chemically synthesise very large sections of DNA, and that allows us to design biological systems from scratch,
just as an engineer designs and builds a piece of equipment starting from basics. The paper also sums up the six sectors in which innovation of synthetic biology will have an important role to play:
â bioenergy: synthetic fuels, biofuels, electricity, hydrogen, etc. â agriculture and food production: engineered crops, pest control, fertilizers, etc. â environmental protection and remediation:
restoration, monitoring, detection, etc. â consumer products: computers, sporting goods, cosmetics, etc. â chemical production:
industrial compounds, high-value compounds, plastics, chemical synthesis, etc. â human health: medical drugs and devices, over-the-counter medicine, clinical therapies, etc.
and industrial biotechnology (e g.,, fuels, materials, and enzymes) at $115 billion. U s. biotech revenues are growing at an annual rate of approximately 15%.
%Global revenues are similarly growing at a rapid clip; China and Malaysia may each have biotech revenues in excess of 2. 5%of GDP,
and both countries plan to at least double that share by 2020. These revenues are generated primarily through the application of more than three decades of experience with RECOMBINANT DNA TECHNOLOGY.
In this context, a very generous estimate of 2012 total international revenues from synthetic biology would be $1 billion,
primarily consisting of engineering tools and reagents, including synthetic genes. The paper points out that our own Obama administration has embraced oegarage biology entrepreneurs here in the U s. The relevant document
signed by President Obama, can be paraphrased as oegarage biology is good and necessary for the future physical and economic security of the United states. This position acknowledges the historical analysis that
because entrepreneurs and small organizations i e. oegarages have been critical drivers of diverse technological innovation in the U s. for several centuries,
so are garages likely to be critical for future innovation in biotechnology. And it really entered the Star wars realm
when it quoted this, by Freeman Dyson: oegenetic engineering, once it gets into the hands of housewives
Designing genomes will be a personal thing a new art form, as creative as painting or sculpture.
and biodiversity as it relates to synthetic biology must address the topic of land use changes, and so far, the most important category for land use change has come from biofuels policies.
A few things that synthetic biology might bring to us in agriculture are: the ability to raise crops using fewer pesticides;
an offer of greater food security; improved nutrition; livestock which produce medications or biological substances such as spider-silk;
and an optimal source of biofuel. For our health, we may see new ways to target infectious diseases
and cancer, develop vaccines and cell therapies, enable regenerative medicine, or make cancer cells self-destruct.
The paper bioethical discussion was on target for including this key paragraph: Synthetic life delivers private benefits.
Many forms of life being developed by synthetic biology are being patented. The benefits provided by these organisms will reflect the economic interests of those able to invest in
and hence future patterns of biodiversity loss. How will a balance be struck between private risk and gain versus public benefit and safety?
Yet, progressive conservationists recognize that there is potential for synthetic biology to increase biodiversity, too. Not to be overlooked, the paper noted that oepopulation growth
(and corresponding consumption) are key macro-scale drivers of biodiversity loss. It is unclear what role synthetic biology and its products will play in these relationships.
But in fact, I might argue that a bigger driver is the opportunity to profit from using land for production purposes.
They engineered E coli bacteria to contain sets of genes with growth hormone and also with malate, a root detector.
He said that synthetic biology is oegrander in scope than most genetic modification which involves modestly changing a few genes.
By contrast, synthetic biologists work with large networks of genes, thus a new acronym, SMO.
I enjoyed Yong quote of conference organizer, Kent Redford, from the Wildlife Conservation Society, oeconservationists get more pessimistic
but synthetic biologists only get more optimistic. After all of the reading that I did about the event, the subject,
Synthetic biologist Jay Keasling, says that oeanything that can be made in a plant can now be made in a microbe.
While many of these vats of production may help save biodiversity in some regions, they clearly come with new economic winners
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