CORDIS publishes new FP6 project profiles

CORDIS, "the Community Research and Development Information Service, has updated its 'Find a project' service for the sixth research framework programme (FP6) with project profiles from the first thematic priority, covering 'life sciences, genomics and biotechnology for health'. Each project factsheet details funding, objectives and the lead organisation and contact person.

The objective of research funding in this area is to integrate post-genomic research into more established biomedical and biotechnological approaches. Involvement of key stakeholders such as industry, healthcare providers and physicians, policy makers, regulatory authorities, patient associations and experts on ethical matters are also aims. The indicative budget allocated to life sciences, genomics and biotechnology for health for the duration of FP6 is 2514 million euro, distributed between two main areas. "

Before you act

Check out this series of articles from about.com for guidance before you:

Invest in Biotechnology...
License Your Product or Technology Platform...
Seek Venture Capital...
Select a Biotechnology Lawyer...
Start your biotechnology company...

FDA Issues Final Report on Pharma Regulation

From FDA News:

"Following the second anniversary of the launch of its Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Initiative, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today issued a final report that highlights specific steps the agency has taken and will take to develop and implement quality systems management and a risk-based product quality regulatory system.

The report describes the accomplishments and plans for the future resulting from FDA’s completed assessment of the current good manufacturing practice (CGMP) regulations, current practices, and the new tools in manufacturing science that will enable a progression to controls based on quality systems and risk management."

More information as well as the final report, is available here.

Jaw Dropping Discovery of Dwarf Hominid

From Nauture:

"A new human-like species - a dwarfed relative who lived just 18,000 years ago in the company of pygmy elephants and giant lizards - has been discovered in Indonesia.

Skeletal remains show that the hominins, nicknamed 'hobbits' by some of their discoverers, were only one metre tall, had a brain one-third the size of that of modern humans, and lived on an isolated island long after Homo sapiens had migrated through the South Pacific region.

"My jaw dropped to my knees," says Peter Brown, one of the lead authors and a palaeoanthropologist at the University of New England in Armidale, Australia.

The find has excited researchers with its implications - if unexpected branches of humanity are still being found today, and lived so recently, then who knows what else might be out there? The species' diminutive stature indicates that humans are subject to the same evolutionary forces that made other mammals shrink to dwarf size when in genetic isolation and under ecological pressure, such as on an island with limited resources."

Pro and Con on CA Proposition 71

This post from Law & Entrepreneurship News does a good job of explaining some of the pros and cons published on Proposition 71 in California, which would establish the "California Institute for Regenerative Medicine" to regulate and fund stem cell research.

Government development policies, not communities, main threat to forest conservation projects

From EurekAlert:

"A current backlash against collaborative conservation and wildlife management schemes is unjustified, according to new ESRC-sponsored research into communal reserves in Peru.

Government policies encouraging immigration and timber exploitation, and a lack of presence by state authorities at ground level, have been the main underlying threats, rather than increasing pressure on resources from local communities, it found.

The study, led by Dr Helen Newing of the University of Kent, examined the Peruvian reserves - a prominent example of collaborative management which was profiled at the 2003 World Parks Congress. It dismisses claims that such approaches to conservation 'haven't worked'.

Over the past 25 years, says the report, biodiversity conservation has moved from a 'fences and fines' approach based on a system of heavily guarded, protected areas, to a more inclusive way of doing things, in which local communities are invited to take part in management.

Communities are on the ground, and can therefore more easily control access to a nearby protected area. Often, too, they have legal and moral rights based on ancestral use of the area.

But, the study points out, there is now a backlash amongst conservationists against this approach on the basis that such schemes have failed and cannot work in the long term because local populations will always grow and pressure on natural resources will increase indefinitely. "

Smallpox: A Disease of the Past or a Weapon of Tomorrow?

From Life Sciences World:

" Can this once eradicated killer return as a weapon of mass destruction?

- Information published in this month's International Journal of Infectious Diseases discusses the potential return of smallpox - one of the deadliest viruses known to man - and whether we would be equipped to deal with a bioterrorist outbreak. "

EU Commission OKs Modified Maize Variety

From Newsday.com:

"The European Union head office cleared the sale of food and food ingredients derived from a new genetically modified corn variety, arguing Tuesday that clear labeling will give consumers a choice of whether to use it.

The European Commission said approval for Monsanto Co.'s NK603 maize for food use is effective immediately and valid for ten years.

The commission has authorized several such products since ending a 6-year moratorium on new biotech food in the EU.

It said the product had undergone thorough health checks, adding that the new labeling rules would make the inclusion of the biotech product clear to consumers. "

Fight Continues Over Early Biotech Research

From MercuryNews.com (free registration required):

"It's one of many biotechnology legal disputes that just won't go away.
Last week, Genentech announced that the state Court of Appeal refused to overturn a $500 million judgment won by the City of Hope in a breach-of-contract dispute.

The case, which was decided by a jury in the Los Angeles County Superior Court in 2002, stemmed from one of the earliest achievements of the then-infant biotech industry. In 1976, scientists at the Southern California hospital and research center, working on a contract from Genentech, developed the technology for turning bacteria and yeast into factories for producing human proteins.

The work lead to the first biotech drugs -- human insulin and growth hormone. In return for the scientists' work, the City of Hope was to get 2 percent of future sales.

Genentech argued that it had paid the City of Hope all that was due, more than $300 million over the life of the contract.
The City of Hope contended that it had been shortchanged and was owed much more, including a share of licensing deals that Genentech had made with other companies.

The jurors sided with the City of Hope, awarding $300 million in back payments plus $200 million in punitive damages.
The company appealed to the state appellate court. And this month, Genentech lost that appeal."

This Blog is Back in Service

After a brief hiatus, I have decided to resume publishing this blog rather than continuing with the Bio Lex Tech blog. I apologize in advance for any confusion. I just believe that the name of this blog better suits the subject matter.

I will continue to cover, however, nanotechnology and related matters at NanoTech Lex

BioSafe Locates in Life Sciences Greenhouse

From the Pittsburgh Business Times:

"The Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse said it has signed a new tenant for laboratory space at its business incubator.

BIOSAFE Inc. will locate some of its operations at the incubator, PLSG said in a news release. The organization did not disclose financial details or the amount of lab space taken.

BIOSAFE has developed an anti-microbial process that has a number of applications, including protecting soldiers and citizens from biological warfare agents, according to the PLSG."

Why Is Shareholder Liability Limited?

"What is the best reasoning behind why shareholders have limited liability for a corporation's environmental and social costs? Not on a case by case basis, but why it is the blueprint for the most powerful pillar of society?"

Read a good answer in this post from Due Diligence.

Quarantine: An idea whose time may have come again

From American Medical News:

Public health experts urge today's physicians to think through issues raised by the prospect of the use of quarantine as a solution to pandemics that may be coming.

Issues such as personal liberty versus public health should be examined before they surface. Although typhoid has been supplanted by smallpox, severe acute respiratory syndrome and pandemic flu on today's physician watch lists, isolation and quarantine remain methods to be relied upon to keep infectious diseases in check.

"This historic approach to infection-control may still have a role today, although the human rights implications are troubling."

Collection of Startup How-to articles

bioconsultants.com:

"Effectively Sourcing Commercialization Grant Opportunities for Technology Companies
By Julie Seward Nagel, Ph.D.

Tips on Collecting Market Intelligence
By Michael Kurek, Ph.D.

Everything the Academic Entrepreneur Needs to Know About Market Research
By Mickey Katz-Pek

Lessons Learned
By William Fry, M.D.

Working Successfully with Your Technology Transfer Office
By Ken Nisbet"

An Important Step Toward Molecular Electronics

From ScienceDaily:

" Silicon microelectronics has undergone relentless miniaturization during the past 30 years, leading to dramatic improvements in computational capacity and speed. But the end of that road is fast approaching, and scientists and engineers have been investigating another promising avenue: using individual molecules as functional electronic devices.

Now a team of engineers at Northwestern University has become the first to precisely align multiple types of molecules on a silicon surface at room temperature -- an important step toward the goal of molecular electronics. "

Biotechnology outpacing pharmaceutical growth

From inpharma.com:

"According to a latest report, the growth of the biotechnology company will continue to outpace that of pharmaceutical companies, with the seven largest biotechnology companies growing at rates faster than the pharmaceutical industry's 9.1 per cent average.

Wood Mackenzie's 2004 Executive Guide states the leading biotechnology companies have evolved into integrated companies, retaining ownership of their developmental compounds and substantially growing their revenue streams in the process."

People Are Human-Bacteria Hybrid

From Wired News:

"Most of the cells in your body are not your own, nor are they even human. They are bacterial. From the invisible strands of fungi waiting to sprout between our toes, to the kilogram of bacterial matter in our guts, we are best viewed as walking 'superorganisms,' highly complex conglomerations of human, fungal, bacterial and viral cells.

That's the view of scientists at Imperial College London who published a paper in Nature Biotechnology Oct. 6 describing how these microbes interact with the body. Understanding the workings of the superorganism, they say, is crucial to the development of personalized medicine and health care in the future because individuals can have very different responses to drugs, depending on their microbial fauna."

Neuroinformatics - An Enormous Market

From Brain Waves:

" While bioinformatics isn't likely to create any new software stars, neuroinformatics will. The reason is simple: complexity. As I mentioned recently, the data about a person's genome can already fit on an ipod, yet the data about one's brain will require petabytes, if not exabytes, of storage capacity.

How much is a petabyte? One example is the Internet Archive Wayback Machine that contains approximately 1 petabyte of data and it has been archiving almost every webpage created since 1993. "

Federal Program for Advanced Technology Projects

From Small Times:

"Companies developing micro and nanotechnology-related products will receive more than $20 million from the federally funded Advanced Technology Program, beginning this month. Another $5 million may lead to tools used in the small tech industry. "

It's Elemental My Dear Body

From sciencebase.com:

"Ever felt like you weren't in your element? Well...take a look at the elements in you!
Ca - Calcium, C - Carbon, Cl - Chlorine, H - Hydrogen, I - Iodine, Fe - Iron, Mg - Magnesium, Mn - Manganese, N - Nitrogen, O - Oxygen, P - Phosphorus, K - Potassium, Na - Sodium, S - Sulphur, Zn - Zinc and trace amounts of cobalt, chromium, copper and selenium, and a few others."

Increasing Use of Nanobiotechnology by the Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology Industries Anticipated

From nanotechwire.com:

"An increasing use of nanobiotechnology by the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries is anticipated. Nanotechnology will be applied at all stages of drug development -- from formulations for optimal delivery to diagnostic applications in clinical trials. Many of the assays based on nanobiotechnology will enable high- throughput screening. Some of nanostructures such as fullerenes are themselves drug candidates as they allow precise grafting of active chemical groups in three-dimensional orientations. The most important pharmaceutical applications are in drug delivery. Apart from offering a solution to solubility problems, nanobiotechnology provides and intracellular delivery possibilities. Skin penetration is improved in transdermal drug delivery.

A particularly effective application is as nonviral gene therapy vectors. Nanotechnology has the potential to provide controlled release devices with autonomous operation guided by the needs. "

Best Uses for Adipose-Derived Stem Cells Agreed Upon

From sciencedaily.com:

"While questions still remain about the nature and function of stem cells found in fat, a group of researchers and clinicians convened today in Pittsburgh at the Second Annual Meeting of the International Fat Applied Technology Society (IFATS) agreed that research should move forward with the ultimate goal of performing human clinical trials to test the cells' therapeutic potential for specific indications...

There are currently no human trials in the United States evaluating the potential of stem cells derived from fat, but in reaching consensus on the most promising clinical applications, those attending the IFATS meeting believe the first clinical attempts in patients should be for repairing or healing bone defects, promoting growth of blood vessels in tissues not receiving sufficient blood supply, and for treating acute or chronic cardiac and peripheral vascular diseases.

Moreover, the group felt the best use of the technology should be to develop therapies using patients' own cells, as opposed to cells that might be donated by other individuals. Because adipose is both abundantly available and easily accessible, it offers a practical source of stem cells."

Top Ten BioTechnologies

From eurekalert:

"The 10 most promising cutting-edge technologies for health in developing countries:

1. Easy-to-use molecular diagnostic tests for TB, hepatitis C, HIV-AIDS, malaria and other diseases, which detect the presence or absence of pathogen-associated molecules, such as DNA or protein, in a patient's blood or tissues;

2. Recombinant vaccines against infectious diseases, produced through genetic engineering, which promise to be safer, cheaper and possibly easier to store and transport than traditional vaccines;

3. Reducing pollution and making water safe to drink through bioremediation -- the potential exploitation of micro-organisms with remarkable biochemical properties;

4. Creating microbicides for female-controlled protection against sexually transmitted disease like HIV, both with and without contraceptive effect;

5. Better drug and vaccine delivery methods that avoid the use of needles and reduce cross contamination;

6. Bioinformatics to identify drug targets and to examine pathogen-host interactions;

7. Nutrition-enriched crops to counter specific deficiencies, such as vitamin A-rich 'Golden Rice' to improve health for millions without a balanced diet;

8. Sequencing pathogen genomes to understand their biology and identify new antimicrobials;

9. Recombinant technology to make therapeutic products (e.g. insulin, interferons) more affordable to help fight such diseases as diabetes, now emerging as a major public health problem throughout the world;

10. Combinatorial chemistry for drug discovery. "

NIH Bans Collaboration With Outside Companies

From the Washington Post (free registration required):

"All scientists at the National Institutes of Health will be banned from any new outside collaborations with pharmaceutical or biotechnology companies for at least one year -- and all existing collaborations will have to be discontinued -- under a surprise shift in policy released...by agency officials.

The blanket moratorium represents a much more radical policy change than NIH officials recently said they would invoke, and one that could shake already flagging morale at the beleaguered agency. But its need became apparent after the agency's own conflict-of-interest investigation turned up more problems than had been anticipated, said Raynard S. Kington, NIH's deputy director and ethics chief. "

Public Policy Deters Vaccine Research

From cantonrep.com (free registration required):

"American drug and biotech companies should be burning the midnight oil working on vaccines to prevent ... diseases, but flawed public policy has discouraged vaccine development to the point that supplies of lifesaving vaccines are in jeopardy.

The fundamental problem is that government policies discourage companies from investing aggressively to develop new vaccines. Producers have abandoned the field in droves, leaving only four major producers and a few dozen products.

As a result, the United States has experienced dangerous shortages of several essential vaccines, and some school systems have been forced to waive immunization requirements."

Will Drug Imports Lead to Job Losses?

From Boston.com:

"Opponents of importing prescription drugs from Canada are introducing a new argument to the debate with studies that say it would wipe out thousands of jobs in states like Massachusetts that depend on pharmaceutical and biotechnology research."

Of Lice And Men

From sciencedaily.com:

"Parasite Genes Reveal Modern & Archaic Humans Made Contact

A University of Utah study showing how lice evolved with the people they infested reveals that a now-extinct species of early human came into direct contact with our species about 25,000 years ago and spread the parasites to our ancestors.

The study found modern humans have two genetically distinct types of head lice. One type is found worldwide and evolved on the ancestors of our species, Homo sapiens. The second type is found only in the Americas, evolved on another early human species (possibly Homo erectus) and jumped to Homo sapiens during fights, sex, sharing of clothes or perhaps cannibalism.

“We’ve discovered the ‘smoking louse’ that reveals direct contact between two early species of humans,” probably in Asia about 25,000 to 30,000 years ago, says study leader Dale Clayton, a professor of biology at the University of Utah. “Kids today have head lice that evolved on two species of cavemen. One species led to us. The other species went extinct.”

Bovine genome sequence available

From eurekalert:

"The first draft of the bovine genome sequence is now freely available to biomedical and agricultural researchers around the world. "

High-tech tweezers enable nano-assembly lines

From NanoTechWire.com: "'This technique makes possible nano-assembly lines,' said Chicago entrepreneur Lewis Gruber. 'You can use it to put things together, twist them, rotate them, fix things in locations at the microscopic or atomic level. It makes possible, for the first time, a factory floor under the microscope capable of manufacturing components and assembling them into products at high throughput, just as is done in the industrial world.'

Gruber is founder, chairman and chief executive of Arryx, a Chicago start-up that is developing and commercializing Grier's holographic laser steering technology, branding it the BioRyx Platform."

The No. 1 Challenge: Managing Expectations - Business Relationships - CIO Magazine Oct 1,2004

The No. 1 Challenge: Managing Expectations - Business Relationships - CIO Magazine Oct 1,2004: "The biggest challenge for CIOs is business executives' unrealistic expectations of what IT can do. Here's how to lead business to a more realistic understanding of IT's role.
BY THOMAS WAILGUM"

$25M Grant Creates Pittsburgh Science of Learning Center

The Pittsburgh Business Times reports:

"The National Science Foundation awarded Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh a five-year, $25 million grant to establish the Pittsburgh Science of Learning Center, which will sponsor research into how people learn and, based on what they find, develop technologies and approaches to teaching that will foster consistently high achievement in the nation's classrooms.

The center will create a research facility called LearnLab, where education researchers can create, run and analyze experiments on how people learn."

Drugs delivered by robots in the blood

From NanoTechWire.com:

"A microscopic swimming robot unveiled by Chinese scientists could eventually be used for drug delivery or to clear arteries in humans, say researchers.

The 3 millimetre-long triangular machine was constructed by Tao Mei of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, and colleagues from the University of Science and Technology of China.

The craft is propelled using an external magnetic field which controls its microscopic fins. The fins are made from an alloy that contracts in response to application of the field. Applying the field quickly makes the tiny submersible paddle forwards and gradually switching the field off slowly moves the fins back to their original position.

It is possible to control the speed of the craft by altering the resonant frequency of the magnetic field. The next stage is to build a robot with fins that respond to different magnetic field resonances. This would enable an operator to control the fin separately and steer the robot around."

Out of the Laboratory, Into the Marketplace

From NanoTechWire.com:

"Miniature medical machines that can bring sight to the blind and computers that work at the speed of light are no longer the stuff of futuristic novels. Argonne National Laboratory researchers are creating nanomaterials and nanotechnology to make these and other innovations possible, and collaborating with industry to bring new technologies to the marketplace."

Harsh BioTech Lesson in New Zealand

This story from STUFF explains:

"Players in New Zealand's fledgling biotechnology industry - a key pillar of the government's economic development strategy - have learned a harsh lesson."

And the lesson is one that many companies may want to heed: "Focus on the 'Do-able.'"

Small Biz News Nuggets - 10/1/04

From Just For Small Business:

"Small business news from around the world just for small business owners.

NASA Selects Innovative Small Business Projects
US Small Business Administration Moves To Assist Victims Of Hurricane Jeanne
Small Business 'Creates The Jobs'
Oil Prices Dampen Small Business Outlook
Top Tips To Better Small Business Profit Margins (UK)
Big Lift For Small Business (AU)

This weekly post features key issues for small business owners."

Center for Responsible Nanotechnology Newsletter

C-R-Newsletter #23 September 29, 2004

CONTENTS

SAGE Crossroads Webcast Features Mike Treder
CRN Creates Wise-Nano.org Collaborative Website
Chris Phoenix Receives NIAC grant
CRN Given Consultant Status on Millennium Project
Mike to Work Full-time for CRN
CRN Speaks
Chris to address engineers at Stanford
Mike to speak at conference in Brazil
Chris to make two presentations at Foresight’s Washington DC conference
Mike invited to Italy in February for Expert Group Meeting on "North-South Dialog on Nanotechnology"
Feature Essay: Coping with Nanoscale Errors

Cousins All

From Science Daily:

'Most Recent Common Ancestor' Of All Living Humans Surprisingly Recent:

"In this week's issue of Nature, a Yale mathematician presents models showing that the most recent person who was a direct ancestor of all humans currently alive may have lived just a few thousand years ago.

'While we may not all be 'brothers,' the models suggest we are all hundredth cousins or so,' said Joseph T. Chang, professor in the Department of Statistics at Yale University and senior author on the paper."