Energy

Can you make fuel out of tobacco? Apparently you can if they’re genetically engineered tobacco plants.

According to Alternative Energy,

“Researchers from the Biotechnology Foundation Laboratories at Thomas Jefferson University have developed a new method to increase the quantity of oil in tobacco leaves. So that oil in tobacco leaves can be utilized as biofuels in future.

Biotechnology is all around us - especially in our homes.  From new household cleaners and detergents made with biotech enzymes, to our contact solution and the paper we write on, advances in biotechnology are helping to make our lives easier, cleaner, and greener.

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Yes, you heard it right. The FDA is contemplating the use of social media. One attendee,Porter Novelli's Peter Pitts, dubbed it,"Super Bowl of Part 15 Hearings.”

The hearing got,

"under way yesterday in a near-capacity federal conference hall.

This week, Farmer Gene blogs on biotechnology for sustainability, writing,

“On the Tomorrow’s Table blog, Kent J.

Dr. Targan explains how biotechnology is helping to reduce our carbon footprint through the production of biofuels, which are  manufactured from various renewable resources found  naturally in our environment.

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This week BIO’s own Farmer Gene writes about a Marketplace interview with Stuart Brand, original founder of the Whole Earth Catalogue, which offered readers a vision of returning to the land in order to live sustainably.

Farmer Gene writes,
“Brand has recently published a new book, The Whole Earth Discipline, which tackles climate change using a somewhat different tone, and gives eloquent praise to biotech agriculture.

Take a tour of Metabolix, a Cambridge, Mass. based company that specializes in the production of bioplastics.  Metabolix staff will explain how the bioplastics are created and utilized, particularly their Mirel ™ Bioplastics, a sustainable and biodegradable alternative to petroleum-based plastics.

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This week Farmer Gene talks about World Food Day 2009.

This week Health Reform Watch wonders if the biosimilars debate is over.

"Two months ago, I discussed possible federal legislation intended to balance the competing need for scientific and medical innovation with the costs to patients for biosimilars.

Last week I made my first visit to our South Dakota affiliate.