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Grant Awarded for Natural Invasive Mussel Control
National Science Foundation awarded Marrone Bio Innovations Inc. of Davis, California $600,000 in grants for naturally-based biotechnologies to control invasive mussels. The funding includes a $500,000 Small Business Technology Transfer Program grant for the project Commercialization of an Innovative Green Technology for Controlling Zebra Mussels and a $100,000 Technology Enhancement for Commercial Partnerships grant. Marrone…
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Biotech Company, Universities Produce Artificial Spider Silk
A joint R&D project by University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, University of Wyoming in Laramie, and Kraig Biocraft Laboratories Inc. in Lansing, Michigan has succeeded in producing transgenic (genetically engineered) silkworms capable of spinning artificial spider silks. Natural spider silks have a number of unusual physical properties, including higher tensile strength and…
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Process Validated for Purifying Protein-Based Drugs
Scientists at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, are using nuclear magnetic resonance to understand and improve the process of purifying drugs that use proteins, which are notoriously difficult to separate from other potentially deadly impurities. A team led by Steven Cramer, professor of polymer engineering at Rensselaer studied the process of multimodal chromatography…
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Study: Wisconsin Benefits from Bioscience Industry
A study by Bioforward, an association of biotechnology companies in Wisconsin, shows a growing bioscience industry with high-paying jobs over the past few years, in contrast to other industries in the state. The analysis covers the period of 2004 through 2009. The bioscience industry, as defined by Bioforward, includes employers in four industry sub-sectors: agricultural…
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Innovation Challenge Yields Type-1 Diabetes Ideas
A collaboration between Harvard University and innovation/crowdsourcing company InnoCentive generated nearly 200 ideas for new strategies to cure Type-1 diabetes, with the 12 winners announced yesterday by Harvard. The winners each received a $2,500 prize. The program was funded by an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grant to Harvard Catalyst, the university’s cross-disciplinary clinical and…
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First Wave Energy Device Connected to Power Grid
Ocean Power Technologies (OPT) in Pennington, New Jersey, says it has completed the first-ever grid connection of a wave energy device in the United States at Marine Corps Base Hawaii on Oahu. The grid connection uses OPT’s PowerBuoy systems to produce what the company calls utility-grade, renewable energy that can be delivered compliant with national…
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Industry’s 2009 R&D Spending Rises at Universities
The National Science Foundation Survey of Research and Development Expenditures at Universities and Colleges reports that private companies significantly increased their percentage of R&D spending on science and engineering at American universities in the government’s 2009 fiscal year. R&D spending at universities from all sources increased to $54.9 billion from 2008 to 2009, an increase…
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Technique Revealed to Curb Farm Ammonia Emissions
A soil scientist and engineer team at the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) has found a way for dairy farmers to reduce ammonia emissions from their production facilities: injecting liquid manure into crop fields below the soil surface. A study conducted by soil scientist April Leytem and agricultural engineer David Bjorneberg at the ARS Northwest…
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Stem Cell Source Collection Gets Review Board OK
International Stem Cell Corporation (ISCO) in Oceanside, California, said today that its unfertilized egg collection and activation protocol have received the approval of an Institutional Review Board (IRB). IRB review and approval is a Federal requirement for studies with human subjects, and ensures to protect subjects from unnecessary medical risks. ISCO’s work has resulted in…
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Korea Boosts R&D Budget, Targets Economic Growth
The Korea Herald newspaper reports today that the Korean government plans to increase the budget for its Ministry of Knowledge Economy by 7 percent in 2011 to KRW 4.5 trillion (USD 3.9 billion), with most of the funds going to research and development that benefits sustainable economic growth. The plans released today show substantial increases…