Happy Tuesday everyone, let’s dive right into the biotech news of the day:

SENATE COMMITTEE CONFIRMS KAPPOS AS DIRECTOR OF US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE – The US Senate Judiciary Committee voted unanimously to confirm David Kappos as the new Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the US Patent and Trademark Office, Genomeweb reports. The confirmation has been applauded by those in the biotech industry, with BIO issuing a statement saying “As a prominent and respected member of the patent community, Mr. Kappos brings much goodwill to this position”.

The organization said that Kappos would bring “a thoughtful perspective to the Department of Commerce and the USPTO. He has a long history of industry experience, providing a point of view and insights we have always thought to be highly valuable in this position. He also has a demonstrated track record of managing a large organization, and a true appreciation for industrial innovation.”

U.S. BIOFUEL MAKERS WANT CO2 CREDITS IN CLIMATE BILL – Makers of biofuels and plastics and chemicals made from crops are urging Senators to change the climate bill, giving them a share of the emissions permits in a cap and trade program outlined in the bill. Under the version passed by the House, the industry would receive none while oil refineries would be allotted a share. Reuters reports:

Brent Erickson, an executive vice president at the Biotechnology Industry Organization, said makers of biofuels and plastics made from plants should get a share of the permits because their products are renewable.

“No offense to refiners, but they’re taking carbon that’s been buried in the ground for millions of years and releasing it into the atmosphere,” he said. “And we’re taking carbon that’s in the atmosphere and recycling it through plants, and it ought to be treated differently.”

In addition, a study in Yale University’s Journal of Industrial Ecology [PDF link] published this year found that ethanol made from corn had lifecycle carbon dioxide emissions about 50 percent lower than gasoline, and ethanol producers say a second generation fuel is even cleaner.

STANFORD PROFESSOR SEQUENCES HIS OWN DNA – Today, bioengineer Stephen Quake of Stanford University reports online in the journal Nature Biotechnology that he has sequenced his own genome at a cost of less than $50,000 and with the help of only two people. Twenty years ago when the government began the Human Genome Initiative, researchers 10 years, $3 billion, and thousands of scientists to achieve the same thing.

“This is the first demonstration that you don’t need a genome center to sequence a human genome,” he said in the Los Angeles Times. “It’s really democratizing the fruits of the genome revolution and saying that anybody can play in this game.”

PELOSI SAYS STIMULUS A BIG BOOST FOR SCIENCE – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told a San Francisco audience that the federal stimulus package showed that a renewed emphasis on scientific research has taken hold in Washington, D.C., the San Francisco Business Times reports.

The stimulus act “was the largest increase in funding for basic scientific research in the history of our nation.” Billions of dollars have become available for health care IT, NASA and many other areas of medical or biotech research, she said.