Hope you had a wonderful Flag Day.  What?  You forgot?  No worries.  We flew one for you here at IAmBiotech.

That said, it was a light weekend in biotech.   There was continued rumbling over the patent debate on biotechnology in Congress along with the all too familiar rumblings surrounding biotech agriculture.   But amidst it all there were a few pearls and nuggets we found interesting.

MONSANTO PROFILE – The Monsanto company has had its share of fans and critics.  Given recent publicity and Europe’s continued cold feet over agricultural biotech, the Financial Times recently did a corporate profile.  What caught our eye was the following, about Monsanto’s Chairman, President and CEO, Hugh Grant:

Mr Grant’s most ambitious goal is for Monsanto to double yields of its core crops – corn, soyabean and cotton – by 2030, while using a third less water and energy.

BIO ON BIOSIMILARS – Looking for a simple frame for the biosimilars debate?  Something that you can send to non-scientists?  Then we encourage you to send around the Oklamhoma News piece by BIO CEO Jim Greenwood.  In promoting the “pathway to biosimilars act” Mr. Greenwood writes:

This bill does more to promote continued biotech research than do the other measures. It would allow the biologic’s inventor to protect the proprietary data used in developing a biologic for 12 years. After that period, they’d have to share it with competitors.

BIOTECH 30 YEARS FROM NOW – Into biotech geek language framed in a bit of biotech Madame Soleil?  We’d call your attention to an ambitious blog entitled biotechnology 2050.  Some good reporting and resources ranging from the basic to the advanced.

BIOTECH BENEFITS – We continually stumble upon blogs that do a pretty good job of identifying and outlining many of the positive things biotechnology is doing for others.  Check out biological information.

USDA COMMENT PERIOD – Interested in commenting on the USDA’s standard for biotech quality assessment.  All the information you need is at The GMO Pundit.

ENVIROPIG AND OTHER GREAT THINGS BIOTECH IS DOING – One of my favorited biotech developments lies in the area of transgenic animals.  One success story is something called “enviropig” — a swine that is less harmful to the environment.   And there is Aqua Bounty that has developed salmon that breed more efficiently.  A good summary is found in Atomic News Review.

THE PROMISE OF INDUSTRIAL BIOTECH – Thank you Aaron.  For those interested in a read on industrial biotechnology take a look at Aaron’s World .  You may not agree with all of it but an interesing view on biotech’s “third wave”.