Once again, IAmBiotech.org is taking a look at how biotechnology is HEALING, FUELING and FEEDING the world today:

GENE DISCOVERY COULD LEAD TO ISOLATION OF RARE DISEASES – Based on two family-based studies, U.S. researchers found that fewer genetic mutations are inherited than previously thought, a development that could speed up the discovery of so-called “disease genes”. The approach is being used to find genes that may mitigate inherited disorders and offer hope for people with conditions such as Huntington’s disease.

Comparing the genetic blueprint of parents and their children can narrow the hunt for disease-causing genes to a handful of candidates rather than the thousands that are identified when a genome is analyzed in isolation, said Leroy Hood, a researcher who helped sequence the first family genome at Seattle’s Institute for Systems Biology.

“There will be an explosion of family sequencing that will identify disease genes,” Hood, 71, said in a telephone interview yesterday. “My prediction is that in 10 years or so, most of us will have our genome sequences done as part of our medical records and it will be an important part of predictive medicine.”

BIOFUEL FROM TEA LEAVES – This innovative story comes to us from Biofuels Digest:

In Pakistan, researchers are reporting that are used tea leaves — of which there are several million tons consumed annually, are a potentially viable cellulosic feedstock for ethanol, biodiesel as well as drop-in fuels. A group at the Nano Science and Catalysis Division at Quaid-i-Azam University have pioneered the use of a nanocatalyst to accelerate reaction times to viably extract energy from the spent leaves.

CHINA RECOGNIZES POTENTIAL OF BIOTECH CROPS – According to China’s Ministry of Agriculture, the country will accelerate development of its own genetically modified crops in order to establish food security and international competitiveness. According to one official:

“Accelerating technical research on GMO crops and their application and healthy development will provide a vigorous scientific support for the sustainable development of China’s agriculture”