Biotechnology news from www.synbio.org.uk

Amyris IPO

Sat, 02 Oct 2010 23:27:10 +0100

Amyris trading at $16/share

By How close are we to nitrogen-fixing cereals?: "Publication Date: 2010 Sep 2 PMID: 20817544
Authors: Charpentier, M. - Oldroyd, G.
Journal: Curr Opin Plant Biol

Engineering nitrogen-fixing cereals is essential for sustainable food production for the projected global population of 9 billion people in 2050. This process will require engineering cereals for nodule organogenesis and infection by nitrogen-fixing bacteria. The symbiosis signalling pathway is essential to establish both bacterial infection and nodule organogenesis in legumes and is also necessary for the establishment of mycorrhizal colonisation. Hence this signalling pathway is also present in cereals and it should be...

The Purple Cauliflower Arises from Activation of a MYB Transcription Factor.

Sat, 02 Oct 2010 23:00:54 +0100

The Purple Cauliflower Arises from Activation of a MYB Transcription Factor.: "Publication Date: 2010 Sep 20 PMID: 20855520
Authors: Chiu, L. W. - Zhou, X. - Burke, S. - Wu, X. - Prior, R. - Li, L.
Journal: Plant Physiol

Anthocyanins are responsible for the color of many flowers, fruits, and vegetables. An interesting and unique Purple (Pr) gene mutation in cauliflower confers an abnormal pattern of anthocyanin accumulation, giving the striking mutant phenotype of intense purple color in curds and a few other tissues. To unravel the nature of the Pr mutation in cauliflower, we isolated the...

Deletion of the Cel48S cellulase from Clostridium thermocellum.

Sat, 02 Oct 2010 22:49:16 +0100

Deletion of the Cel48S cellulase from Clostridium thermocellum.: "Publication Date: 2010 Sep 13 PMID: 20837514
Authors: Olson, D. G. - Tripathi, S. A. - Giannone, R. J. - Lo, J. - Caiazza, N. C. - Hogsett, D. A. - Hettich, R. L. - Guss, A. M. - Dubrovsky, G. - Lynd, L. R.
Journal: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A

Clostridium thermocellum is a thermophilic anaerobic bacterium that rapidly solubilizes cellulose with the aid of a multienzyme cellulosome complex. Creation of knockout mutants for Cel48S (also known as CelS, S(S), and S8), the most abundant cellulosome subunit,...

Next-generation protein-rich potato expressing the seed protein gene AmA1 is a result of ...

Sat, 02 Oct 2010 22:46:47 +0100

Next-generation protein-rich potato expressing the seed protein gene AmA1 is a result of proteome rebalancing in transgenic tuber.: "Publication Date: 2010 Sep 20 PMID: 20855595
Authors: Chakraborty, S. - Chakraborty, N. - Agrawal, L. - Ghosh, S. - Narula, K. - Shekhar, S. - Naik, P. S. - Pande, P. C. - Chakrborti, S. K. - Datta, A.
Journal: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A

Protein deficiency is the most crucial factor that affects physical growth and development and that increases morbidity and mortality especially in developing countries. Efforts have been made to improve protein quality and...

MIT Registry

Mon, 17 May 2010 23:14:54 +0100

MIT is Organizing New Genetic Parts

by Aaron Saenz

Shell's billions to convert Brazilian biomass into fuel

Emily Waltz - Nature Biotechnology

RNAi patent jolt

Charlie Schmidt - Nature Biotechnology

Amyris Files to go Public—Biofuels from Microbes

BLOG REPORT FROM GREENTECHMEDIA by

Top 50 VC-Funded Greentech Startups

Fri, 02 Apr 2010 12:12:29 +0100

Greentech Media announces the top 50 startups in greentech

From: http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/Top-50-VC-Funded-Greentech-Startups/

By Joyce Tait and Banji Oyelaran-Oyeyinka

SciDev.Net, From: http://www.gmagazine.com.au/node/1876/full

The founders of Boston-based Ginkgo BioWorks think assembling synthetic biological systems should not be for experienced researchers only. So they have put together a kit — “scissors and glue for putting together pieces of DNA,’’ cofounder Reshma Shetty says.

Switchgrass Produces Biomass Efficiently

A USDOE and USDA study concluded that 50 million U.S. acres of cropland, idle cropland, and cropland pasture could be converted from current uses to the production of perennial grasses, such as switchgrass, from...

$100M DOE research program

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 21:32:27 +0100

DOE Opens Up $100M for High-Risk Battery, Biofuel & Carbon Capture Tech
Chart: How the ‘Darpa for Energy’ Is Slicing Its $150-Million Pie

Simpler, cheaper, biodegradable plastic without using fossil fuels: "
In recent years, polylactic acid (PLA) has attracted attention as a replacement for petroleum-based plastics. It is made from corn-starch, or other starch-rich substances like maize, sugar or wheat, and is biodegradable - reverting in less than 60 days in ideal conditions. PLA is already used as a material for compost bags, food packaging, and disposable tableware, and also for a number of biomedical applications, such as sutures, stents, dialysis media and drug delivery devices. Although...

World's first blue roses go on sale

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 17:53:53 +0100

World's first blue roses to go on sale

Five Companies Making Fuel From Algae Now

Ubiquitous and easy to grow, algae has long been a promising biomass-to-fuel candidate in the eyes of researchers. Now algae is a burgeoning sector in biofuels with several high-profile start-ups, including Craig Venter’s Synthetic Genomics, and the interest of...

Amyris Biotechnologies Raises $41M

Sat, 03 Oct 2009 22:04:43 +0100

Amyris Biotechnologies Raises $41M

Fri Oct 2, 2009 4:12pm EDT

Biofuel company Amyris Biotechnologies, Inc. announced that it has raised $41.75 million in a current Series C round, from new investors GrupoCornelioBrennand of Brazil and Naxos UK, as well as from previous investors including Khosla Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, TPG Biotech and Votorantim Novos Negocios.

The Company anticipates additional closings this fall, targeting a total funding...

New microbial fuels: a biotech perspective.

Sat, 13 Jun 2009 08:05:39 +0100

New microbial fuels: a biotech perspective.

current opinion in microbiology
Publication Date: 2009 May 15 PMID: 19447673
Authors: Rude, M. A. - Schirmer, A.
Journal: Curr Opin Microbiol

Bioethanol and plant oil-derived biodiesel are generally considered first generation biofuels. Recognizing their apparent...