Happy Presidents’ Day!  And we hope that you and yours were able to find passion, romance or maybe just a bit of sentimentality on Valentine’s Day yesterday.  And if you were one of those who forgot – there are some sales going on at the local Mall that may allow you to make up for it all.

The holiday weekend made for scant video watching.  but we caught a handful of interesting executive interviews along with some current and coming video reports on biotech agriculture.  Although the pickings on the video front are few, there are some other interesting posts and upcoming events (like the AAAS) that we highlight below.  More, later.

VIDEO FROM ONEMEDFORUM -  Were you part of the OneMedForum in San Francisco?  How was it?  We ask because there are a lot of reports out there that the investment climate for emerging biotech companies is actually looking up.  Here is an interview with Anna Gluskin, President and CEO of Generex Biotechnology, at the 2010 OneMedForum in San Francisco.  A couple of things we liked about this interview.  First, we always laud the biotech industry’s ability to attract top women executives.  And as you’ll see, Anna Gluskin is no slouch.  But beyond the initial discussions listen to how Generex took some winning bets on antigens and immunotherapy.

BRAZIL AND BIOTECH – There were many videos floating around the last week on the area of biotech, biofuels and Brazil.  One of the better produced pieces come from our friends over at ProduceConserve.  They have a nice video of Brazilian farmer Armindo Mugnol citing benefits for the soil and surrounding wildlife.  Then there is the ‘teaser’ from FarmersWeekly. Ian Ashbridge gives us a heads up about his travels through Brazil to learn more about how biofuels from farmers’ crops are already part of everyday life.  Just when it gets interesting … he leaves!

UPDATE ON EVERYTHING BIO – The audio isnt’ the best but in this piece you can watch (and almost hear) Patrick Kelly, vice president for state government relations and alliance development for the Biotechnology Industry Association, talk about  industry legislation at the federal level. The presentation was at the Colorado State Capitol building in January 27, 2010.

BIOTECH INCREASES THE ODDS OF HEALING – Biotechnology is often used to increase the odds that you’ll get exactly the medicine that will suit your particularly blood and body type.  That is the story from this video from Florida High Tech Corridor Council’s Faces of Technology.   Dr. Bill Warren, President and CEO of Orlando-based VaxDesign talks about how his company develops a surrogate human immune system for multi-dimensional analysis of blood that makes predictions about how certain populations would respond to a particular drug or vaccine.  Now … can we take that to Atlantic City or Vegas.

Nor for a couple of news notes for the upcoming week …

LOOK FOR BIOTECH @ THE AMERICAN ASSOC. FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE – According to a story in the San Diego Tribune, agriculture biotech will be all over this week’s meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in San Diego.  According to the paper about 8,000 people from more than 50 countries are expected for the five-day affair, making it the largest general-science conference in the nation.  The story notes that Monsanto scientists will be giving key note presentations on the next generation of biotech agriculture.  And here’s the novel idea — they’re now for the first time producing biotech agriculture products for the consumer — not just the producer.  What a concept!  According to the piece:

Monsanto is seeking regulatory approval for what may be the first genetically engineered crops developed directly for the consumer. The company’s scientists in California have manipulated the soybean genome to produce omega-3 fatty acids, the kind that nutritionists tout as heart-healthy.

It could be pivotal in generating public acceptance of biotech, or “transgenic,” crops. To date, farmers and seed companies have reaped benefits from biotechnology while consumers have been left to wonder what’s in it for them and whether genetic engineering has really made the world a better place.

SCIENTISTS TO ANTI-BIOTECH FOOD PEOPLE … GET OVER IT! According to this summary from the local Woodland, California paper, that is pretty much the message from a group of scientists including Pamela Ronald of University of California, Davis.  The message from these scientists to folks still having anxiety attacks about biotechnology engineered food:  “deal with it.”  The thrust of their article, “Radically Rethinking Agriculture for the 21st Century” in the Feb. 12 issue of the journal Science is that society needs biotech if we’re ever going to address issues of nutrition and ecology at the same time.  According to the piece:

UC Davis plant pathologist Pamela Ronald, a co-author on the perspective piece, noted that her research collaborators recently released a new rice variety for Bangladesh and India that can better withstand flooding, an environmental stress that reduces yearly yields by 4 million tons – enough to feed 30 million people in these two countries.

With pop culture often offering negative portrayals of scientists (see: Eleventh Hour or District 9), author Dennis Meredith gives us a whole new perspective in his soon-to-be-released book Explaining Research. Namely, Meredith postulates that the situation isn’t all bad after all. Pairing up public support for scientists with his own statistical analysis of scientists in popular culture, Meredith concludes that scientists end up as heroes more often than not… and even when they are not the good guys, fictional scientists tend to become the ultimate hero in a story. One example Meredith cited in a recent article was Doctor Ock of Spiderman fame – where the good doctor saved the city from a fusion ball, not Spiderman.

Have you managed to sneak an advance copy? What do you think of the premise? We would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

Following on the heels of today’s Now Serving 9 Billion panel discussion, we present to you some other interesting biotech stories in the news:

MARRYING BIOTECH CROPS WITH THE ORGANIC MOVEMENT – Forbes examines the intersection of agricultural biotech research and the organic movement, profiling the odd-couple authors of the 2009 breakout book Tomorrow’s Table. From the article:

…“They are leading a chorus of young scientists and forward thinkers who see genetic modification not as a threat to sustainable farming but as a new way to make it better. They are not fans of corporate agriculture but think genetically modified organisms represent a missed opportunity to make things better.”

The article continues by examining figures on food availability, agricultural sustainability, and a number of other factors that should give hunger activists pause for thought. At one point in the piece, Dr. Ronald points out one of the most glaring obstacles to feeding our world:

…“A genetically engineered rice that contains vitamin A was created by academic researchers and the seed company Syngenta. It could save the lives of 40,000 children a year–more, if people don’t reject it just because it’s genetically modified. ‘Greenpeace is against that,’ she says. Why? ‘People just really cannot imagine their child dying from any kind of vitamin deficiency.’”

GREENING PAPER PRODUCTION THROUGH BIOTECH – Spanish biotech researchers have released a paper outlining how a simple enzyme could remove 20-25% of chlorine from paper production through its unique interaction with xylan. While this enzyme’s minimal environmental impact could be game-changing for the industrial biotechnology sector, the technology involved in this research could lead to many more biotech applications:

“Modern enzyme technology is largely geared towards use in biorefineries, with the aim of creating an integrated process enabling plant waste and other biomass components to be reused in new applications. This technology can also be used to obtain new added-value products from xylan, ranging from prebiotic ingredients for functional foods to bioethanol, which can be obtained by depolymerization of the xylan.”

PROMISING RESULTS FROM OPKO’S ALZHEIMER’S BLOOD TEST – Miami-based Opko is excited by initial results from its experimental Alzheimer’s blood test. Although the company has yet to even discuss clinical trials with the FDA, its experimental blood test detected antibodies uniquely linked to the presence of Alzheimer’s with 95% accuracy. Opko’s Chairman and CEO Dr. Phillip Frost said in a news release:

…”There are new drugs coming along that may slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease, so if you could make the diagnosis early, it would be a great advantage … A lot of people suffer from forgetfulness as a normal part of aging and you’d like to separate them from people who have Alzheimer’s.”

While much of the Eastern Seaboard continues to shovel its way out of snowpocalypse 2010, we found some interesting biotech stories to keep you occupied…

POLITICO QUESTIONS USDA’S FUTURE – Politico’s Marian Burros questions whether the USDA has a coherent agricultural policy in her most recent piece. While the author displays a clear preference for the slow food movement, she does eventually throw in a few interesting quotes from those defending the merit of biotech crops. One of our favorites was this one where Roger Beachy, Director of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, spoke up in favor of sustainability through biotechnology:

…“The science of biotech is extremely important in feeding an ever-growing population around the world… I don’t think sustainability should be limited to organic and local.”

Unfortunately, Beachy’s assessment was drowned out in the article by multiple quotes from opposition groups with the exception of this great quote from a real friend to America’s farmers, Sen. Mike Johanns (R-Neb.):

…“There seems to be, from the current administration, an idyllic vision of the countryside, without much of a realistic understanding of how modern-day agriculture feeds an ever-growing population.”

Clearly the sensible notion of asking those who grow our food their opinion on these kinds of matters hasn’t escaped Sen. Johanns’ office. Which happens to be a recurring theme, especially when you look at the next story…

IS INDIA STARVING ITS OWN PEOPLE – An Indian farmer pens a letter in the WSJ today, blasting India’s environmental minister for blocking much-needed crop technology from the nation. In his letter, Mr. Kumar blasts so-called environmental groups for their misinformation campaigns, and calls on the Indian government to re-examine its position on modern agricultural techniques:

“India has a desperate need for agricultural biotechnology. If we are going to produce enough food for our people, farmers must have access to the same tools as growers in the developed world. We must participate in the Gene Revolution.”

GROUPS SLAM NEW FDA BUDGET – The LA Times’ Andrew Zajac tracks reaction to the increased FDA budget. Namely, no one feels it’s enough of an increase. Groups across the aisle point to lost opportunities, safety concerns and a whole host of issues resulting from the agency’s chronic underfunding. From the article:

“…the FDA’s role in ensuring the safety of food, drugs and medical devices influences everything from the price of produce to the marketability of high-tech medical goods, said Grossman, a healthcare consultant and lobbyist … “If there’s a problem, or a perception of a problem, everybody suffers — not just the company with the problem,” he said.

A blizzard is shutting down the nation’s capital, but that won’t stop biotechnology from changing the world! Now, on to the roundup…

FDA AND TRANSPARENCY, FOR INVESTORS SAKE – Forbes journalist Matthew Herper is calling for more transparency from the FDA in order to provide investors with the information they need. Shares from Seattle based Cell Therapeutics fell 40% to 60 cents after a briefing document prepared by the FDA raised problems with the quality of the clinical trials for their non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma drug. Specifically, they violated their Special Protocol Assessment, which are…

…agreements between a company and the FDA that a clinical trial, if conducted as planned and successful, should produce enough data for a drug to be approved. This reassures companies that they are not going to pour $40 million into a late-stage study only to have the FDA say it did the wrong trial. SPAs also ease investor fears, helping smaller companies raise money.

Unfortunately, these assessments are considered by the FDA to be a form of confidential communications between the agency and companies, leaving the investors out of the loop:

What is said to investors about the SPA is entirely up the company. Between March 28, 2008, and September 16 2009, CTI reference the SPA in five press releases. But in the briefing documents released yesterday, the FDA stated: “On March 28, 2008, CTI notified the FDA of an early halt to enrollment for PIX301. The study was not stopped at a planned interim analysis and early study stopping invalidated the applicant’s Special Protocol Assessment.” A CTI spokesman did not comment when asked why investors were not informed of this change.

ADVANCEMENTS IN TARGETED CANCER TREATMENT – Duke University researchers have conducted a study on lung cancer patients and how different treatments are affected by an individual’s DNA. Lead researcher Dr. Anil Potti outlined the results:

“Our study supports two key findings: First, the biology of lung cancer in women is dramatically different from what we see in men. Women, in general, have a less complex disease, at least in terms of the numbers of molecular pathways involved. We also discovered that there is a subset of elderly patients would probably benefit from treatments that we’ve normally reserved for younger patients.”

Duke’s Dr. Jeffrey Crawford added: “So being able to better understand the disease and stratify patients by their individual molecular profiles means we can do a much better job pairing the right drug with the right patient.”

TRUCKERS GO GREEN – According to DomesticFuel.com, Evolution Fuels, Inc., a company that converts regular gas stations into renewable fuel stations, has confirmed an agreement with J&J Developments, Inc. to put in a truck stop featuring biodiesel in Mountainburg, Arkansas. From the release:

The truck stop, which will be operated under the Company’s subsidiary, Legends Travel Centers, is located at 901 Highway 282 SW in Mountainburg, which is just off of Interstate 540, approximately 20 miles south of Fayetteville, AR. Under the terms of the lease, Evolution Fuels will assume operations of the truck stop on February 15, 2010. The Company plans to re-image the truck stop over the course of the next 30 days, and to offer a blend of biodiesel at the truck fuel pumps as soon as possible.

How will we feed 9 billion people in 2050?
Will there be enough water for a thirsty world?
How can we improve the livelihood of our world’s 2.5 billion farmers?

For decades, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Norman Borlaug worked tirelessly to answer these questions and provide resource-poor farmers with the tools needed to improve farming techniques and feed billions.

How can we continue his legacy and ensure food security for a growing world population?

Join leading agricultural experts in an international, “Town Hall 2.0” discussion on how to address challenges farmers and nations will face in the next century. Panelists will comment on Dr. Borlaug’s last published statement – featured in a new Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST) report.

Join the discussion and make your voice heard on how agricultural policies can make a difference for the future.

Participate in-person or online via Webcast, Twitter, Facebook, and e-mail.

The challenges are daunting. We need solutions now. We need your support.

What: Now Serving: 9 Billion: Global Dialogue on Meeting Food Needs for the Next Generation
When: Friday, Feb. 12, 2010 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon EST
Where: The Newseum, Knight Broadcast Studio, 555 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C.
Live-streamed via Webcast at www.CropNewsNetwork.com
Who: Moderated by: Frank Sesno, George Washington University
Register: Please register online for free at: http://newseumcast.eventbrite.com/

Panelists will include:

Robert Paarlberg, Professor at Wellesley College and author of Starved for Science: How Biotechnology is Being Kept Out of Africa

Nina Fedoroff, Science and Technology Advisor to the U.S. Secretary of State and to the Administrator of USAID, author of Mendel in the Kitchen

Mark Cantley, former head of the European Commission’s “Concertation Unit for Biotechnology in Europe” and of OECD’s Biotechnology Unit

Calestous Juma, Pew award winner and Professor of Practice at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government

Gale Buchanan, lead author of the CAST report and former USDA Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics

To attend the event in-person or submit discussion questions, please contact
Event Coordinator Alexander Rinkus at arinkus[at]CropLifeFoundation.org
Follow the event online at www.CropNewsNetwork.com or on Twitter @CropLifeFdn and @AgBiotech
Or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/CropLife-Foundation/255237947060

This event is hosted by CropLife International, the Biotechnology Industry Organization, and CAST.

Good morning biotech buffs! Let’s take a look and see how biotechnology is HEALING, FEEDING, and FUELING the world today!

HEAL: RESEARCHERS DISCOVER ‘BIOLOGICAL CLOCK’ – A team of British scientists may have discovered a literal genetic “fountain of youth”. Researchers from the University of Leicester and Kings College London say they’ve pinpointed gene variants that could potentially reveal how fast people’s bodies are actually ageing, helping scientists to identify patients with a higher risk of age-related illnesses. The theory suggests that biological timers called “telomeres” (part of the chromosomes in every cell that carry genetic code) may have something to do with it:

The researchers say in the journal, Nature Genetics, that they looked at more than 500,000 genetic variations across the entire human genome to see which variants cropped up more frequently in people known to have shorter telomeres. They eventually located a number of variants located near a gene called TERC which, in people carrying them, seemed to be equivalent to an extra three or four years of “biological ageing”.

But don’t just sit there and think that your genes are solely to blame. Professor Tim Spector of King’s College suggests that these genetically susceptible people may age even faster when they expose the telomeres to “bad environments” such as smoking, obesity or lack of exercise.

FEED: MEXICO APPROVES SYNGENTA PEST-CONTROLLING CROP: In yesterday’s roundup, we showed you a Bloomberg report featuring Syngenta AG chief executive officer, Michael Mack. This morning, Syngenta announced the approval from the National Commission for Sanitary Risks of the Mexican Ministry of Health (COFEPRIS) for their genetically modified corn MIR162, also known as the Agrisure Viptera trait:

The Agrisure Viptera trait has been shown to control damaging insects which make-up the multi-pest complex, including corn earworm, fall armyworm, Western bean cutworm, black cutworm, dingy cutworm, stalk borer and sugarcane borer. Collectively, the multi-pest complex damages 238 million bushels of corn each year and costs U.S. corn growers $1.1 billion annually in lost yield and grain quality.

FUEL: TAX CREDIT FOR BIODIESEL TIED TO JOBS BILL, DISCUSSIONS DELAYED DUE TO BLIZZARD – The elements have kept the government away from discussing a crucial step in the commercialization of biofuels. The Des Moines Register’s alternative energy blog stated that Senator Chuck Grassley (senior Republican for the Senate Finance Committee) “has insisted that the biodiesel tax credit be a part of any discussions” on any jobs bill and that the $1-a-gallon tax credit for biodiesel “remains a top priority for to extend the credit at the first available opportunity”. Democrats had hoped to get a bill to the Senate floor yesterday, but the blizzard that shut down the federal government (and the entire District, for that matter) delayed any potential decision.

IAMBIOTECH’S DEAL OF THE DAY – Targacept announced yesterday that it received a $304,000 grant from the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, it’s second within the past year. The grant will assist in financing a project aimed at discovering a Parkinson’s disease biomarker using Targacept’s neuronal nicotinic-receptor research:

Disease biomarkers are distinctive biological features or changes that are consistently different in people with Parkinson’s disease as compared with people without Parkinson’s disease. Identifying one or more disease biomarkers could allow researchers to diagnose earlier, track disease progression and identify appropriate subjects for clinical trials.

I don’t know about you, but we’re pretty excited about the event on February 12th –
Now Serving: 9 Billion: Global Dialogue on Meeting Food Needs for the Next Generation.

If you’re as excited as we are to get answers to some of the most critical questions we face in meeting a growing global population’s food and water needs, here’s a site badge you can place on your blog, website, facebook page… just about anywhere. Click the “Get Widget” button to get started.