Science and Enterprise

Month: November 2010

  • Agricultural Gene Technology Licensed to Dow Chemical

    The John Innes Centre (JIC), a plant biology research institute in Norwich, U.K., announced today an exclusive licensing agreement with Dow AgroSciences, a subsidiary of Dow Chemical Company, for technology that enhances the root systems of plants. The technology was developed at JIC by Dr. Liam Dolan and his colleagues. JIC says the team cloned…

  • Four Biotechs Land Affordable Care Act Grants

    Four biotechnology companies reported the awarding of grants under a provision in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, known popularly as the Affordable Care Act. The Act adds to Section 48D of the Internal Revenue Code a provision called the Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Project Credit. This credit funds projects that show potential…

  • Nanotech Initiative Seeks Comments on Strategy

    The National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) has drafted a new strategic plan and seeks comments on the draft from the nanotech community. The comment period ends on 30 November 2010. The National Nanotechnology Initiative Strategic Plan, according to NNI, is the framework that guides the nanotechnology work of the 25 NNI member agencies. Its purpose is…

  • Biotech Company Gets Affordable Care Act Grant

    Cancer diagnostics company Biomoda Inc. in Albuquerque, New Mexico says it received a grant of more than $244,000 under a provision in Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, known popularly as the Affordable Care Act. The grant will fund pilot and later-stage clinical trials of the company’s CyPath diagnostic assay for the detection…

  • Macular Degeneration Test Company Gets Investment

    The Ontario Genomics Institute (OGI) in Toronto said today it has made an investment in molecular diagnostics company, ArcticDx Inc., also in Toronto. ArcticDx has developed Macula Risk, a test designed to determine one’s inherited risk for age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the most common form of acquired blindness in the developed world, affecting over 10%…

  • Chip Sales Continue Gains in September

    The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) reports today (1 November) that semiconductor companies booked worldwide sales of $26.5 billion in September 2010, a gain of 2.9 percent from August when sales were $25.8 billion. Sales for the third quarter of 2010 came to $79.4 billion, a 6.1 percent increase compared to the second quarter when sales…

  • New Process Accelerates Nanoparticle Production

    Engineering researchers at Oregon State University in Corvallis have discovered a new method to speed the production rate of nanoparticles by 500 times. The researchers say this advance — for which a patent has been applied — can help make products from nanotechnology more commercially practical. Nanoparticles are extraordinarily tiny groups of atoms and compounds…

  • Real-Time Coastal Monitoring System in Development

    Researchers from North Carolina State University (NCSU) in Raleigh are developing an electronic monitoring system to help advance understanding of coastal ecosystems by allowing users to track water-quality data from these waters in real time. The project was funded by National Science Foundation and National Security Agency. The NCSU team is working on the project…

  • New Initiative to Speed Pain Treatments

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) selected University of Rochester Medical Center in Rochester, New York to lead a new initiative — Analgesic Clinical Trial Innovations, Opportunities, and Networks (ACTION) — to identify better pain treatments more quickly. FDA awarded Rochester a $1 million contract to launch the program that brings together professional societies,…