Happy Friday everyone! Congratulations, you made it through a rough work week! So go out and celebrate tonight! But first, let’s see how biotechnology is HEALING, FUELING and FEEDING your world today!

HEAL: MAYO CLINIC MAKES PANCREATIC CANCER BREAKTHROUGH – Scientists at the Mayo Clinic have discovered an oncogene that is already important cases of colon and lung cancer is also linked with poor pancreatic cancer survival. The researchers said they determined the oncogene PKC-iota is over-produced in pancreatic cancer and that genetically inhibiting it in laboratory animals led to a significant decrease in pancreatic tumor growth and spread:

The drug, aurothiomalate, is being tested in a phase I clinical trial in patients with lung cancer at Mayo Clinic’s sites in Minnesota and Arizona. Based on findings to date, a phase II clinical trial is being planned to combine aurothiomalate with agents targeted at other molecules involved in cancer growth.

FUEL: COMPANY IS “WASTING” FUEL- Waste company giant, Waste Management, has invested a cool $51.5 million in Enerkem, a Quebec-based company that turns municipal solid waste, construction wood and agricultural residue into a gas that can be refined into ethanol. This is just one step in a greater goal of reaching sustainability:

Waste Management operates 115 landfill gas-to-energy facilities that use methane from decomposing organic material to generate electricity, according to the company. It also has 16 waste-to-energy facilities that use mixed municipal sold waste to generate electricity and reduce its need for fossil fuels. In all, Waste Management generates enough electricity to power 700,000 homes every day.

FEED: THE STATE OF BIOTECH CROPS – In the wake of the recent ISSAAA report that revealed a record 14 million farmers in 25 countries are using agricultural biotechnology, The Economist profiled the current state of biotech crops, including the growth potential in China:

The greatest potential for growth is probably in China. In late November the government gave its blessing to GM varieties of rice and maize. Both were developed by local researchers, without funding or other help from Western firms. As rice is the most important food crop in the world and maize is the main form of animal feed, these decisions could have a big impact. Clive James of ISAAA calculates that the GM rice alone could deliver benefits (in the form of higher yields, greater productivity, savings on pesticides and fertilisers, and so on) of $4 billion a year to China’s 100m-odd rice-growing households.