I hope you all are enjoying this nice July day. Here’s what’s happening in the world of Biotech this morning.

NEW ADVANCEMENT TURNS BACTERIA INTO BIOTECH FACTORIES – FierceBiotech brings us this news from Medical News Today. It seems that a new technique is allowing researchers to “transform[] E. coli cells into factories that produced an antioxidant.”

“We initiated the project to close the gap between DNA sequencing technology and cell programming technology,” graduate student Harris Wang tells Medical News Today.

JOULE BIOTECH SQUEEZES LIQUID FUEL OUT OF SUNLIGHT – Startup Joule Biotechnology announced an exciting new breakthrough, a technology and business plan for making ethanol and other liquid fuels from genetically manipulated microorganisms that have been fed only sunlight and carbon dioxide. CNET News reports:

Joule says its HelioCulture system works without a biomass feedstock, such as algae or others plants. Instead, the company’s engineered organisms grow through photosynthesis in a brackish water solution and directly excrete fuel or commercial chemicals.

This announcement has huge implications on the biofuels industry, as Joule executives say that they have overcome some of the biggest stumbling blocks to producing biofuels at large scale by eliminating the need for plant feedstocks and freshwater. They claim the ability to make an end product with an energy equivalent of less than $50 per barrel. This is truly an exciting prospect.

HUMAN CELLS SECRETE CANCER-KILLING PROTEIN – Scientists at the University of Kentucky’s Markey Cancer Center have found that human cells are able to secrete a cancer-killing protein. ScienceDaily.com reports:

Tumor-suppressor protein Par-4, initially thought to be active only within cells expressing the Par-4 gene, is in fact secreted by most human and rodent cells and can target large numbers of cancer cells by binding to receptors on the cell surface.

This discovery, published today in the leading journal Cell, makes Par-4 a very attractive molecule for future research aimed at developing new cancer treatments.

FORGET THE SHORTCUTS: CREATING A TRULY INNOVATIVE BIOTECH CULTURE – Stewart Lyman wrote a very interesting article for Xconomy. He has been watching the acquisition of Genentech by Roche very closely, and has been pleasantly surprised by the attempts of Roche, one of the oldest and most traditional pharma companies, to embrace the different “biotech culture” of Genentech. Lyman outlines a number of different factors that be believes are important aspects of this culture that breeds innovation, concluding with some advice:

Companies that aspire to be the next Genentech have to be prepared to establish a kind of science-driven culture at their foundation, and invest in it over the long haul, however financially unpopular it may be at the moment. A solution to this dilemma will not easily be found, but is certainly worth searching for.