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Senate Passes SBIR/STTR Reauthorization in DoD Funding Bill
The U.S. Senate yesterday passed a reauthorization of the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR and STTR) programs through 2019. The reauthorization of the SBIR and STTR programs were included in the larger Department of Defense authorization for the current 2012 fiscal year that began on 1 October. The bill passed…
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Rice Growers to Develop Sustainable Farming Standards
The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines is joining a consortium of international organizations, government agencies, NGOs, and private companies in an initiative to set environmentally sustainable and socially responsible rice production management standards. The Sustainable Rice Platform, as it’s called, aims to boost growers’ rice production, keep the environment healthy, facilitate safer…
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Study Takes Down Renewable Energy Myths in the U.S. South
A study by researchers at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina and Georgia Tech in Atlanta analyzes myths propagated by both advocates and opponents of renewable energy and finds they don’t hold up to scrutiny. Their findings appear online in the journal Energy Policy (paid subscription required). Duke’s Etan Gumerman and Georgia Tech’s Marilyn Brown,…
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Lilly, Med Centers to Study Type 2 Diabetes Obstacles
Eli Lilly and Company, the Indianapolis pharmaceutical maker, is conducting a study to better understand real-world obstacles that keep people with type 2 diabetes from reaching their treatment goals. In the MOSA1c study — short for Multinational Observational Study Assessing Insulin use: Understanding the challenges associated with the progression of therapy — Lilly is partnering…
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PhRMA: 88 HIV/AIDS Meds in Development at U.S. Companies
A report by Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) says U.S. biopharmaceutical companies are testing 88 medicines and vaccines to treat or prevent HIV/AIDS and related conditions. The report, issued on World AIDS Day (1 December 2011), also lists 36 currently approved medications for HIV infection and AIDS. According to PhRMA’s report, more than…
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Research Project to Develop Salad Vegetable Safety Science
A new research initiative aims to provide U.S. growers and industry with the scientific basis to answer questions about the safety of salad vegetables. The research, led by University of Maryland food science professor Robert Buchanan, will conduct tests and collect data to develop safe and hygienic practices in farming, packing, transporting, and storing fresh…
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Trial Shows Safety of Engineered Gene Therapy
In an early-stage clinical trial, researchers at University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill have demonstrated the safety of creating a genetically-engineered virus to treat a form of muscular dystrophy. The findings of pharmacologist Jude Samulski (pictured left) and colleagues are reported online in the journal Molecular Therapy; paid subscription required. With gene therapy, a…
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U.S., China Patent Offices to Begin Reciprocity Tests
The patent offices of the U.S. and China are set to begin today pilot programs of reciprocity agreements to reduce the duplication of patent examinations between the two countries. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and China’s State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) agreed last month to hold these one-year pilot tests. Under the agreement…
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Algorithm Predicts Auto Traffic Intersection Violators
Aerospace engineers at MIT have developed an algorithm tested on real-life traffic data that predicts when an oncoming car is likely to run a red light at an intersection. The team’s research is expected to appear in an upcoming issue of the journal IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems. Researchers from MIT’s Aerospace Controls Laboratory,…
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Biotech, Energy Company Partner on Renewable Fuel, Chemicals
The synthetic biology company Amyris Inc. in Emeryville, California and the French oil and gas company Total have agreed to collaborate on research and production of renewable fuels and chemicals. The agreement expands on an existing R&D relationship between the two companies. Amyris and Total agreed to accelerate the pace of their current partnership to…