We’re taking a break from reading all the great responses on our social media survey to catch up on the biotech news of the day. Here are the highlights…

BIOTECH AND CARBON CAPTURE AND STORAGE – Reuters reported this week that biotech startup Codexis is moving into the carbon capture and storage market. They’re looking for a partner to help them market an enzyme that helps capture carbon dioxide from smokestacks and coal-fired power plants. According to Codexis President and CEO Alan Shaw:

[Codexis] has successfully completed testing its product in the last couple of months and is looking to commercialize the technology.

“We need a partner and are actively talking” to companies, he said, citing a huge interest in the market for such a technology. “The market is meeting us more than halfway.”

BIOSIMILARS DISCUSSION CONTINUES THROUGH RECESS – Think the biosimilars discussion has died down? Think again. With all the focus on healthcare reform over recess, the issue continues to draw attention. An op-ed in the San Francisco Examiner yesterday explains the stakes:

The biotechnology industry was born in Northern California. The world’s first two biotech companies, Cetus and Genentech, were founded near San Francisco more than 30 years ago. Since then, the life-sciences industry has grown into a vital part of our state economy, and will be a key driver of California’s economic recovery — provided Congress doesn’t get in the way.

CONFERENCE TAKES ON LATEST TRENDS IN SCIENCE ONLINE – Later this month, the conference Science Online London 2009 will take on the latest trends in communicating science online:

This is the follow-up conference to last year’s Science Blogging 2008: London conference. The name of the event was changed to reflect the variety of science-related activities happening online today. Topics include blogging and microblogging, online communities, open access and open data, new teaching and research tools, author identifiers and measuring the impact of research.

Can’t afford to cross the Atlantic for the conference? No worries. You can sign up to attend in Second Life HERE.

ETHANOL RESEARCH CENTER RECEIVES FEDERAL GRANT – An ethanol research center at the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville is receiving a $360,000 grant from the USDA to fund work force training opportunities in the biofuels industry. More from AP:

The 6-year-old research center was built in part with $14 million in federal money. Public and private groups use the center to test ethanol technology.

HEALTHCARE MARKETING ON TWITTER – Are you new to healthcare social media? Here’s a great roundup of “tweetchats” for healthcare and social media to get you started in the discussion.

The two most popular tweetchats in the healthcare space are: #hcmktg and #hcsm:

#hcmktg: Fridays 12 – 1pm CST Website: http://hcmktg.com

• Described as chat related to healthcare marketing.

• Leading the show: @hcmktg @IntervalChris @TalstoneDJ @reedsmith

#hcsm: Sundays 8 -9 pm CST Website: http://healthsocmed.com

• Communication and marketing practices by healthcare organizations, including use of social media.

• Leading the show: @HealthSocMed @danamlewis