Scientists Have Developed a Way to Make Wood as Strong as Steel

And it can stop bullets, too.

Scientists have developed a new type of "super wood" that is more than 10 times stronger and tougher than normal wood - and this innovation could potentially become a natural and inexpensive substitute for steel and other materials.

Key to the new wood's superpowers is a special chemical treatment followed by a heated compression process. The resulting chemical bonds make the wood strong enough to one day be used in buildings and vehicles.

It could even take a turn in new armour plating – the researchers fired bullet-like projectiles at their new super wood and found they got lodged in the material rather than blasting their way through, as they did with standard-strength wood.

(University of Maryland)

"This new way to treat wood makes it 12 times stronger than natural wood and 10 times tougher," says senior researcher Liangbing Hu, from the University of Maryland.

"This could be a competitor to steel or even titanium alloys, it is so strong and durable. It's also comparable to carbon fibre, but much less expensive."

"It is both strong and tough, which is a combination not usually found in nature," adds another of the team, Teng Li from the University of Maryland.

"It is as strong as steel, but six times lighter. It takes 10 times more energy to fracture than natural wood. It can even be bent and moulded at the beginning of the process."

The new process used here has two steps. First, natural wood is boiled in a mix of sodium hydroxide and sodium sulphite, which is actually similar to the process made to create wood pulp for paper.

Next, the wood goes through a compression phase to collapse the walls between individual cells. Heat is added to encourage new chemical bonds while the wood continues to be compressed.

Those processes are able to strip out certain polymers to allow the new wood to reform while also keeping other polymers essential to the wood's strength.

The strengthening ultimately comes from large numbers of hydrogen atoms bonding to nanofibres of cellulose, already naturally in the structure of the wood.

The chemical reactions are quite complex, but the procedure itself is actually pretty simple and inexpensive – and because wood literally grows on trees, it's a promising option for replacing steel, titanium alloys, and other materials in certain situations.

The process has been shown to work on several different varieties of wood as well.

The finished super wood is strong, tough, and light, as we've already mentioned, but it's also impressively dense, resistant to compression, hard and scratch-resistant, and even inherently protected against moisture.

As well as fitting it to aircraft and cars, the new super wood could also be used in furniture, allowing fast-growing woods like balsa or pine to replace denser but slower-growing options such as teak.

There's a lot more work to do before you'll see a wooden jumbo jet rolling down the runway though.

One of the next steps is to scale up and speed up the process of producing this new wood – though the researchers say that shouldn't pose too much of a problem.

"It is particularly exciting to note that the method is versatile for various species of wood and fairly easy to implement," says engineering scientist Huajian Gao from Brown University in Rhode Island, who wasn't involved in the study.

"The [published] paper provides a highly promising route to the design of lightweight, high performance structural materials, with tremendous potential for a broad range of applications where high strength, large toughness and superior ballistic resistance are desired."

The research has been published in Nature.

DAVID NIELD
sciencealert.com

inngeniar

$100-Million Federal Lab Will Bring More Science to Bear on Global Poverty and Development

Rajiv Shah, director of the Agency for International Development, is increasing science funding at his agency. 
Credit: US Government (Shah) and (USAID Emblem)

By Virginia Gewin and Nature magazine

The USAID's Global Development Lab will fund research into technological solutions for target problems

The Agency for International Development (USAID) today announced the launch of its $100-million Global Development Lab in Washington DC — a move that will elevate the role of science at the agency.

USAID says that it will put in place a research-and-development pipeline for food security and nutrition, maternal and child survival, energy access and sustainable water solutions.

The announcement marks a shift in USAID’s approach to global development, from funding organizations to meet specific goals with existing technologies to instead identifying problems and funding research into new technological interventions to solve them.

USAID director Rajiv Shah describes the lab as “DARPA for development”, referring to the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA), which takes a high-risk, purpose-driven approach to developing military technology.

“At DARPA, they define needs they are trying to meet — and find partners best suited to help find solutions, test them and scale them,” he says.

That means that instead of equipping 100 hospitals with a certain type of respirator for infants, for example, the Global Development Lab would support research into innovations that might improve child survival within 48 hours of birth. Working with partners from industry and academia, the lab may fund several pilot projects, then evaluate the results and choose the most promising approaches for further investment.

“We are changing the way we work,” says Shah.

Merging interests

The emphasis on research has not been seen at the agency for several decades, says Molly Elgin-Cossart, a senior fellow in global development at the Center for American Progress in Washington DC.

In the 1970s, for example, USAID funded efforts such as the Cholera Research Laboratory in Bangladesh, which developed oral rehydration salts for the treatment of diarrhoea.

But in the late 1990s, the agency was downsized under pressure from Congress to reduce foreign aid.

Research is on the rise again, says Elgin-Cossart. Shah says that investments in science and technology across the agency have increased from $127 million in 2008 to $611 million today.

The lab now employs 26 scientists, with expertise ranging from bioengineering to tropical ecology. The lab is hiring more scientists and searching for a new chief scientist to replace Alex Dehgan, who in 2010 became the first chief scientist in two decades.

He left in December. The lab is also launching a 4-year fellowship program that, like DARPA, aims to rotate mid-career scientists through the agency.

Dehgan says that the agency needs scientific leadership at all levels of the organization, not only to generate ideas but also to recognize successes.

Elgin-Cossart says that the shift makes sense, given that development is no longer just a matter of donation from foreign governments.

Private investment and public spending by domestic governments now have much larger roles. With more organizations acting independently, development is also more complex than it used to be, she says.

To that end, the lab has already enlisted 32 organizations as ‘cornerstone’ partners to help to develop and scale up innovations the lab funds.

Together, these partners — which include companies, non-profit organizations and universities — spend roughly $30 billion on research and development for emerging markets.

One partner is Coca-Cola, based in Atlanta, Georgia, which has a vested interest in water supplies. And so, for example, USAID could encourage the company to support clean-water innovations.

Some observers are worried that the pendulum at USAID may be swinging too quickly in the direction of research.

Casey Dunning, a senior policy analyst at the Center for Global Development, a think tank in Washington DC, says that the wider development community may not have the scientific expertise to hold USAID to account for its spending.

And Amanda Glassman, director of global health policy at the Center for Global Development, says that USAID has limited experience in identifying promising technologies.

“I’m sceptical of a government agency’s capacity to pick a winner from a portfolio,” she says.

Dehgan, one of the architects behind the lab, acknowledges that development depends on more than just science and technology.

But he says that they are increasingly important, given the technical nature of current challenges such as food security, climate change and energy.

While others view the shift toward research as a gamble, Deghan says that it's a move that USAID has to make, he says.

“If the initiative fails, we will see an agency that risks its very relevancy in the next decade.”

This article is reproduced with permission from the magazine Nature.
The article was first published on April 3, 2014.

scientificamerican.com

innova healt - food biotechnology - forum innovation - innovation of the future

environmental forum - scientific forum - bio-economy

Indian biotech aiming to be $100 billion sector by 2025: Shaw

Indian biotechnology sector is looking to be a $100 billion sector by 2025, Biocon chief Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw said here on Saturday. 

"We want to make Indian biotechnology a $100 billion sector by 2025. 

I really believe this can be done if we have right policies in place, right resources and right investments," Biocon chairman and managing director Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw told PTI. 

She was speaking on the sidelines of the third convocation and fifth annual lecture of NIIT University. 

Taking this road map is about delivering security like food security, health security and energy security and environment security, she added. 

"Agri bio can itself provide a $40 billion sector, Already BT Cotton is a $7.5 billion sector for the country. If you allow other genetically modified crops it could be much bigger," Shaw said. 

The government should allow the genetically modified crops. Without that the country cannot be food sufficient, she added. 

"Moreover this would also lead to less use of pesticides which are very harmful. You need to reduce pests and pesticides and that can only be done with technology," Mazumdar-Shaw said. 

If farmers are to become prosperous you need technology, she added. 

"This can happen when you have investments in agri-bio, pharma-bio among others," Mazumdar-Shaw said, adding that "for this, we need enabling policies by the government." 

Private sector needs the ease to conduct its business, she said.

timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Caffeine-Addicted Bacteria, Created In Lab, May Help Combat Water Pollution

Echerichia Coli, or E. Coli, bacteria under a microscope.

It looks like humans aren't the only ones who need a daily caffeine fix.

A team of microbiologists at the University of Texas, Austin, has genetically engineered bacteria to live solely on caffeine, creating microbial caffeine fiends for the first time ever.

In 2011, researchers found a soil bacterium Pseudomonas putida CBB5 living in a flowerbed at the University of Iowa capable of metabolizing caffeine. Now, microbiologist Jeffrey Barrick and his colleagues have transplanted the genetic “gear” that metabolizes caffeine into E. Coli—which grows quickly and is easier to handle.

"E. coli is a very well understood microorganism and there are many genetic tools available to work with it," Dr. Barrick told The Huffington Post. "It's a workhorse of biotechnology."

And what came out was a lean, mean, caffeine-eating machine that uses specialized enzymes to break caffeine molecules down into carbon dioxide and ammonia.

But the genetically modified E. Coli may serve more purpose than just reminding us of our coffee-slurping selves. Caffeine gets into the environment from coffee, energy drinks, soda, and certain pharmaceuticals, and has become a water pollutant in highly populated areas. But microbiologists hope these caffeine-craving bacteria could get rid of this pollution—simply by feasting on it.

The researchers also say the bacteria could provide a way to detoxify the nutrient-rich but highly toxic material that is left after separating coffee beans from coffee berries. The research, published in the journal ACS Synthetic Biology, could also open the door for new medications for asthma and other lung diseases, made from the chemicals given off by these bacteria.

"The addicted E. coli could be used as a biosensor to monitor levels of caffeine in heavily polluted environments, just as it could be used to measure how much caffeine is actually in the espresso from your local coffee shop," Barrick said.

By Melissa Cronin

huffingtonpost.com

The potential of alfalfa leaf meal as a fish feed

Mrigal (Cirrhinus mrigala), a carp endemic to Indo-Gangetic river systems, is one of the three Indian major carp species cultivated widely in Southeast Asian countries.

On a global scale aquaculture is the fastest growing animal protein sector. However, many fish require fish proteins in their diets and the availability is limited. 

Nutritionists on a continuous basis are searching for alternatives to replace the animal protein with plant protein. Indian researchers investigated the possibilities of alfalfa meal in fish diets.

By S.A. Vhanalakar and D.V. Muley, Maharashtra, India

Alfalfa might be an interesting fishmeal substitute in fish feeds.

Fish meal represents an ideal nutritional source of dietary protein and lipid for fish. It is the most important protein source for the aquaculture industry because of its high biological value, but this is a limited food resource and there is serious concern about the long-term availability of this feed stuff for use in fish diets. 

The aquaculture industry depends worldwide on the availability of low cost, high quality feed. 

Over several decades, fish nutritionists have evaluated alternative sources of plant origin protein in fish diets as partial or total fishmeal replacement.

Good nutrition in animal production systems is essential to economically produce a healthy, high quality product. 

In fish farming, nutrition is critical because feed represents 40-50% of the production costs. 

Fish nutrition has advanced dramatically in recent years with the development of new, balanced commercial diets that promote optimal fish growth and health. 

The development of new species-specific diet formulations supports the fish farming industry as it expands to satisfy increasing demand for affordable, safe, and high-quality products.

For commercial culture of fish, the formulation of a low-cost balanced diet using locally available agro-industry byproducts is needed. Recently fishmeal has become the most expensive protein ingredient in aquaculture feeds. 

Many developing countries have realised that, in the long run, they will be unable to afford fishmeal as a major protein source in aquafeeds. 

Currently one of the challenges that fish nutritionist face is to partially or totally replace fishmeal with less expensive, non-traditional animal or plant protein sources. 

Many studies have shown considerable success in partially replacing fishmeal with soybean meal and other soybean products in the diet of various fish species. 

Research interest has been focused on different leaf meals as protein sources in fish feed. 

Fish nutritionists have evaluated alternative sources of plant origin protein in fish diets as partial or total fishmeal replacement.

Alfalfa meal

Alfalfa (Medicago sativa) is a flowering plant in the pea family (Fabaceae), cultivated as an important forage crop. In the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand it is known as Lucerne and as Lucerne grass in south Asia. 

Alfalfa is widely grown throughout the world as forage for cattle due to its high protein content. 

In early Chinese medicines, physicians used young alfalfa leaves to treat disorders related to the digestive tract and the kidneys. 

Ayurvedic physicians used the leaves for treating poor digestion. In an experiment, fresh leaves of alfalfa plant were used in the formulation of fish feed. 

Dried leaves of alfafa in powder form were used for preparing fish feed. It was tested in the diet of a freshwater fish, Cirrhinus mrigala (Mrigal carp) under laboratory conditions. 

The feeding experiment was carried out for three months. 

The various experimental diets contained different combinations of dry alfalfa leaf meal, mixed with groundnut oil cake, rice bran, guar gum binder and a mineral vitamin mixture (Table 1). 

Ingredients were mixed thoroughly in a kitchen mixer till a homogenous mass was obtained. 

With the help of a mincer, pellets were prepared, which were immediately sun dried. 

After drying, the pellets were hand broken up into convenient pellet sizes and frozen until before feeding. 

In this experiment the alfalfa was incorporated at various percentage levels to check the effectiveness as a fish feed ingredient. Medcago sativa solely does not have the capacity to replace the traditional fish meal. 

Therefore it is used as a supplementary fish feed ingredient along with the traditional ingredients; but the incorporation level of traditional ingredients like groundnut oilcake, rice bran etc. was kept at a lower inclusion level.

Growth performance on alfalfa diet

The growth performance of Mrigal carp on the alfalfa diet is presented in Figure 1. 

The present study confirmed that Mrigal carp is able to utilise the plant based formulated diet. 

An inclusion level of up to 30% in the practical diet for Mrigal carp fingerlings had no adverse effects on growth, feed utilisation efficiencies or body composition of the fish. 

From the present work it is concluded that, Medicago sativa may be a promising source of plant protein; used for partial replacement of fishmeal in the formulated fish feed. 

It will definitely help small scale fish farmers to cut costs on traditional fish feed.

S.A. Vhanalakar works at the Department of Zoology, Karmaveer Hire Arts, Science, Commerce and Education College. D.V. Muley works at the Department of Zoology of the Shivaji University, both located in Maharashtra, India.

allaboutfeed.net

Farmed insects could provide feed for livestock

The common house fly may provide an excellent source of protein for farming

Flickr/Eran Finkle

Common house flies (Musca domestica) may be a cheap and sustainable source of feed for farm animals, according to a scientist and an entrepreneur.

The flies, whose larvae can be bred, nurtured and ground into granules, provide roughly the same amount of edible protein as fish meal and other widely used protein sources, said entrepreneur Jason Drew.  

Drew's book, The Story of the Fly and How it Could Save the World, launched in London, United Kingdom, last week, argues that the insect's larvae should be farmed commercially to provide protein for farmed fish and animals to feed the world's growing population.  

Commercially bred flies can live on slaughterhouse or distillery waste, rather than on foods that could be processed and sold to humans, which also makes them environmentaly  sound, he said.

Drew and his brother David are breeding M. domestica to use in fish farms in their Cape Town business, AgriProtein.

Jason Drew told SciDev.Net that AgriProtein feeds its breeding stock waste human food, while the larvae produced consume slaughterhouse blood. It has taken five years to develop the larvae farming process. 

Around one million flies are kept in a cage of about 100 cubic metres producing about 1,000 eggs each.  

The larvae are hatched and harvested within 17 days, which is how long they live before they turn into flies. They are then dried, flaked and sold as meal. 

Last month, the company produced 100 tonnes of wet larvae and 24.5 tonnes of feed, Drew told SciDev.Net.

AgriProtein is one of the first companies to produce high quantities of fly meal for commercial use, said Paul Vantomme, senior forestry officer for the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, in Rome.

Vantomme added that using flies as animal feeds will be "a major benefit to developing countries".  

"Insect raising or gathering can be done without major cash [investments]," he told SciDev.Net. "You don't need land."  

The challenges, he added, include maintaining sanitary conditions, monitoring quality, and maximising larvae production.

Drew said the company plans to design an automated process for mass production. It then plans to release technology for breeding small amounts of larvae for animal feed to help small-scale farmers in South Africa, and beyond, to develop their own livestock feed farms

Meanwhile, a US-based company, Enviroflight, is developing black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) larvae to add to fish meal for distribution to developing countries, according to Glen Courtright, chief executive officer of the company.

The larvae consume dry distillery grain solubles (DDGS) — a waste product from brewing and ethanol production — leaving a byproduct that can also be sold on as livestock feed.

Enviroflight is in negotiations with a global charity to use the technology to help develop fish farms in South America, Courtright said.

Similar research is ongoing in Thailand, too, but Yupa Hanboonsong, an associate professor in entomology at Khon Kaen University in Thailand, said that not all countries can use the same insects for feed.

For example, in Thailand "you cannot use crickets because people eat them," and it is, therefore, too expensive to use for livestock feed, Hanboonsong said. 

Also, some insects are parasites on other commercially valuable animals, such as the silk worm, so they should not be bred, he said.

"If we are not careful about which are the right species to breed, it may destroy our silk industry," Hanboonsong told SciDev.Net.

Developing an alternative source of protein would directly benefit the poor, said Monica Ayieko, associate professor at Bondo University College, in Kenya, who is researching breeding crickets.

"The problem we have in Kenya, as in many other parts of Africa, is that animal feed is competing with human feed," Ayieko told SciDev.Net.  

For example, she said, near Lake Victoria, the poorest people depend on a small fish that used to be cheaper to purchase than most other foods. 

Now that this fish is being used as feed for fish farms and for pet stores, the price has gone up so only well-off consumers can buy it, she added.

"The challenge will be mass rearing insects," she said.

Paula Park

scidev.net

Report identifies gaps in research on agriculture for nutrition

Serious knowledge gaps exist in how agricultural developments lead to people's improved nutrition, which current research is not addressing, a report has found.

The report reveals eight gaps that are currently being neglected, including specific target groups — particularly rural workers and non-rural populations — as well as a lack of methodologies to guide research in the field.

Published by the UK's Department for International Development (DFID), the report — 'Current and Planned Research on Agriculture for Improved Nutrition: A Mapping and Gap Analysis'— first identified the direct agricultural factors, such as farming practices and the food value chain, as well as indirect, including health, economic and education|al status, that feed into nutritional outcomes.

It then analysed which of these factors 151 research projects on agriculture for nutrition — mainly based in low- to middle-income countries in Sub-Saharan Africa — addressed.

Firstly, the report's authors found, not a single project considered the full range of direct and indirect factors identified by the model, leading to a poor understanding of the full 'pathway of change' — from agricultural processes to nutritional measurements in populations.

More specifically, research addressing the indirect effects of agricultural changes on wider market dynamics, such as economic growth, income and health services — which have a knock-on effect on nutrition — was particularly deficient.

Research into the effects of agricultural policy changes on nutrition levels was also found to be lacking.

At a similar macro level, there was a lack of research into governance — investigating how changing policy and institutional processes could improve the development, implementation and scaling-up of agriculture for nutrition programmes.

Specific target groups, namely rural workers and non-rural populations, also received very little attention from research.

Combined with the gap in investigating the risks to urban and rural populations to nutrition-related non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, this led authors to question whether research was being directed at the poorest, most-needy populations.

Finally, the report highlighted a lack of recognised metrics and methodologies to guide research linking agriculture to nutrition.

But the report highlighted an "enormous surge" in interest in the field, Corinna Hawkes, an affiliate of the Leverhulme Centre for Integrative Research on Agriculture and Health (LCIRAH) and an author of the report, told SciDev.Net.

"By showing what is going on at the moment, it [the report] can really engage researchers and the donor community to translate research into action", she said.

However, Kedar Rai, principal scientist at the International Crop Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) felt that it was ignorance of the link between agriculture and nutrition among policymakers, not researchers, that was the main problem.

He said a sustained advocacy campaign was essential to bring this issue to the attention of governments.

Hawkes admitted that progress would ultimately be determined by political involvement, and said that although the report may not influence policymakers, it was an important first step for invigorating the research community.

Link to full report  [1.08MB]

Jan Piotrowski

scidev.net

New World Bank Push to Tackle Drought in the Horn of Africa and Sahel

The World Bank said today that nine million people are currently facing food shortages in the Horn of Africa (down from a high of 13.3 million in September 2011 when the drought was at its peak), and nearly 14 million people in the Sahel region, which mainly includes Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger are at risk of hunger because of drought, limited food, political instability, and periods of conflict.

In an update briefing to its Executive Directors, the Bank said it was working to alleviate the development impact of two simultaneous droughts in the Horn of Africa and the Sahel. It said a $1.8 billion Drought Response Plan for the Horn of Africa is underway to meet immediate food needs while looking at a broad, longer-term approach that combines investments in health and nutrition, with better weather forecasting, early warning systems, drought resilience, and other risk management measures.

To date, $147 million has been disbursed and $944 million has been committed for fast-tracking drought prevention projects and programs.

In addition to the above, the regional Horn of Africa Emergency Health and Nutrition project has helped treat over 35,000 malnourished children under age five living in refugee camps, with $30 million in funding from IDA’s Crisis Response Window.

“Our strategy focuses on meeting immediate needs through ongoing development projects in the worst-hit countries and helping lay the foundations for long-term drought resilience.” said Makhtar Diop, World Bank Vice President for the Africa Region.  “We are working closely with our countries and partners alike to deliver positive development results that improve poor people’s lives.”

With a changing climate likely to intensify extreme weather events, the World Bank’s Africa teams are committed to help drought-affected countries in both regions to boost economic growth and alleviate people’s suffering.

How the Bank is helping people in the Horn of Africa and Sahel

World Bank assessments show that the drought is having a significant, adverse impact on the region’s economic development. Financial losses for Djibouti, Kenya and Uganda alone could amount to as much as $13.6 billion.  The outlook is sobering. Below average rainfall is predicted for the Horn of Africa throughout 2012.

·         Ethiopia: A new safety net program is supporting three million transitory, food-insecure people, and work is underway to strengthen social safety nets as well as to increase investments for boosting production and improving rural infrastructure to enable poor people to have better access to food.
·         Somalia:  A $9 million Grant from Global Fund for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) is providing 97,000 people with temporary employment through a ‘Cash for Work’ program and supporting the recovery of food production through rehabilitation of productive assets such as land, livestock and water.

“The drought in Horn of Africa and the unfolding events in the Sahel are having an enormous impact on the poor and those made homeless by conflict. Communities are simply unable to find food because it’s either too expensive, or they are forced to live on the run after being forced out of their refugee camps because of violence,” says Jamal Saghir, World Bank Director for Sustainable Development in the Africa Region.  “Droughts always affect poor people the most.”

Drought in the Sahel is steadily worsening after less rainfall in 2011.

Large-scale refugee migrations are also worsening the drought’s toll as in the case of Mali where a recent coup resulted in over 320,000 people being displaced.  Other examples of the World Bank’s support to drought-hit countries in the Sahel:

Niger: $15 million in supplemental budget support was provided to the Government to address the fiscal shortfall caused by the food crisis and the Libyan crisis, also four active investment lending operation were retrofitted to provide cash transfer, micro-projects and cash-for-work opportunities to the repatriates.
Chad:  The Agriculture Production Support Project (PAPA) pipeline project is being reviewed to help improve the food security situation through accelerated financing of small-scale infrastructure.
Working in partnership is vital

The World Bank is working closely with the UN system, the European Union, and regional institutions such as the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), Permanent Interstate Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS) and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to foster cooperation across all sectors.

The work is benefiting from cutting-edge satellite surveillance and data-intensive efforts by leading organizations such as National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the new Information Technology for Humanitarian Assistance, Cooperation and Action (ITHACA) program which mobilizes ICT technology to tackle climatic problem

Contacts: 

In Washington:  Sarwat Hussain, (202) 473-4967, shussain@worldbank.org;

                        Aby K. Toure, (202) 473-8302, akonate@worldbank.org

To see more on the World Bank’s work in alleviating hunger and the effects of drought, please visit: http://go.worldbank.org/ES5VW6H4W0  

Visit us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/worldbankafrica

Be updated via Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/worldbankafrica

For our YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/worldbank

worldbank.org

Brussels plans 'bio-economy' strategy

The European Commission is working on a new strategy to help industry tap into the so-called 'bio-economy' – a fast-growing business that already provides 22 million jobs.

The two trillion euro sector, which covers everything from agriculture, forestry and fisheries to food, chemicals and biofuels, is an area where Europe must invest, according to Innovation Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn.

Speaking at a conference in Brussels, the commissioner said the bio-economy has a key role in promoting innovation issues that address major societal challenges such as pressure on natural resources.

"The time is right to launch a European strategy on the development of a bio-economy.

The bio-economy strategy will aim to reinforce European leadership in the biosciences," Geoghegan-Quinn said, promising investment in education, research and innovation.

She said the Commission would begin a consultation process by the end of the year, before adopting a communication in the autumn of 2011.

The commissioner said the strategy would be on the agenda of the Council of Ministers by spring 2012.

The EU will today (15 September) launch a new International Bio-Economy Forum in collaboration with Australia, New Zealand and Canada to promote collaboration.

Europeto launch 'innovation partnerships'

Geoghegan-Quinn also revealed that the Commission will launch a small number of targeted 'innovation partnerships' in areas with a direct link to societal change.

"These partnerships will provide a framework for pooling resources and bringing together key actors and relevant policies and instruments, simultaneously unblocking bottlenecks and building bridges.

They will not be a brand-new instrument as such: rather they will weave together in a new way the many existing instruments already in play," she said.

The commissioner also pledged to ensure that the next Framework Programme for Research (FP8) will continue to provide investment in research from which innovation can flow.

EurActiv

Ag-Energy: biodiesel, harina y pellets de soja

Una inversión de U$S 90 millones en Santiago para agregarle valor a la oleaginosa.
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El establecimiento está instalado en el parque industrial de Frías, a la vera de la ruta nacional 157, unos 150 kilómetros al oeste de la capital santiagueña.
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La empresa Ag-Energy de Viluco SA, firma de capitales tucumanos de la familia Lucci, tuvo una inversión total de U$S 90 millones.
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La planta industrial producirá biodiesel, harina de alta calidad proteica y pellet de soja.
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La fábrica de combustible ecológico y derivados de soja cuenta con 9 silos con una capacidad total de 450.000 toneladas de almacenamiento.
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Para el acopio de los productos, Ag-Energy dispondrá de 5 plantas satélites, 2 de ellas instaladas en los departamentos santiagueños de Moreno y Jiménez, 2 en Salta (Orán y Anta) y la restante en Cruz Alta (Tucumán).
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El objetivo de la planta es captar buena parte de los 5 millones de toneladas de soja que se producen en el norte del país.
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El arquitecto Daniel Lucci comentó que eligieron la provincia y la localidad de Frías por su ubicación estratégica, pero además porque “fuimos muy bien recibidos” por el gobierno provincial a partir de la inclusión del proyecto en la Ley de Promoción Industrial 6750.
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El proyecto se inició a fines de 2007.
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¿Por qué la ciudad de Frías?
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“Elegimos Santiago porque consideramos que tenía sentido poner una planta de extracción de soja y producción de biodiésel en el vértice sur de la zona tributaria norte del país de soja, que produce 5 millones de toneladas de soja por año, equivalentes al 10% de la producción nacional y desde ese vértice, poder abastecer parte de la demanda regional que hoy es abastecida desde el sur.
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Hoy, la materia prima baja hacia Rosario, ahí se procesa y luego vuelve a subir, y no necesariamente en su estadio primario como harina de soja sino como producción de huevo, pollo, cerdo, carne, entonces indudablemente hay un camino de ida y vuelta y una irracionalidad logística.
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Entonces toda vez que se pueda detener la materia prima antes que llegue al sur entendiendo como tal a Rosario, transformarla y aprovecharla regionalmente, hay una ganancia logística y una mayor eficiencia en la cadena de valor”, explicó Lucci.
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Fuente: José Aranda en
El Liberal, Sgo. del Estero.
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Magnate mexicano lanza proyecto genético

El empresario mexicano Carlos Slim anunció el lanzamiento de un proyecto de investigación de médicina genómica para estudiar el cáncer, la diabetes tipo 2 y la insuficiencia renal en las poblaciones de América Latina.

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La iniciativa de US$65 millones será llevada a cabo por el Instituto Carlos Slim de la Salud, el Instituto Broad -organismo afiliado al Instituto Tecnológico de Massachusetts (MIT) y la Universidad de Harvard- en Estados Unidos y el Instituto Nacional de Medicina Genómica de México.

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La base del proyecto de tres años es estudiar las bases genéticas de estas enfermedades en las poblaciones latinas para acelerar el desarrollo de métodos de prevención y medicamentos para tratarlas.

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Y también incluirá el entrenamiento de científicos mexicanos en este campo.
"Estoy convencido de que sólo con la genómica

(el estudio del material genético de los organismos)

seremos capaces de enfrentar la costosa carga de enfermedades que están ejerciendo una presión en los presupuestos de incluso los países más ricos" expresó el empresario mexicano.

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Flagelos

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El cáncer se ha convertido en una de las principales causas de muerte en América Latina, en particular cáncer de pulmón, gástrico y de hígado en hombres, y de mama, cuello uterino y gástrico en mujeres.

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En niños, el cáncer es la segunda causa de muerte en México.

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En las últimas décadas se han descubierto los principales genes responsables de la enfermedad y esto ha conducido al desarrollo de terapias más efectivas.

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Gracias a estas terapias y a los mejores métodos de prevención los países desarrollados han logrado disminuir las tasas de mortalildad de muchos tipos de cáncer.

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Pero en el mundo en desarrollo, las tasas de muerte por cáncer continúan aumentando.
El cáncer es causado por defectos o mutaciones en los genes de las células que alteran la forma como éstas se reproducen.

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El nuevo proyecto creará un catálogo de estas mutaciones genéticas que ocurren en siete tipos de cáncer.

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Con esta información se intentará identificar cuáles son las "debilidades" de los genes que pueden ser explotadas con nuevos tratamientos y cuáles son los pacientes que pueden responder a fármacos anticancerosos específicos.

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Mejor control

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La diabetes tipo 2 se ha convertido en una de las enfermedades más prevalentes en América Latina y es responsable de un alto número de muertes y discapacidad.

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Los tratamientos disponibles actualmente no han logrado evitar la progresión de la enfermedad y el control de los pacientes.

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Este control, afirman los expertos, sólo puede lograrse con el conocimiento de los factores genéticos que causan la enfermedad y que hasta ahora no han logrado identificarse.

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Y ninguna de las investigaciones sobre diabetes 2 se ha enfocado hasta ahora en las poblaciones de América Latina.

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El proyecto genómico analizará más de 8.000 muestras de individuos latinos para tratar de encontrar la base genética de la diabetes en esta población.

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Se espera que conociendo los factores de riesgo de la enfermedad se pueda mejorar su prevención, tratamiento y control.

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Finalmente, el proyecto también estudiará una variante de insuficiencia renal común el región, la nefropatía quística renal tipo 1.

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Hasta ahora se desconocen las causas biológicas que provocan este padecimiento por lo cual ha sido imposible desarrollar tratamientos efectivos.

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El nuevo proyecto estudiará el ADN de familias afectadas por esta enfermedad para tratar de identificar a los genes responsables, descubrir los mecanismos que la causan y desarrollar terapias para curarla.

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"Carlos Slim está haciendo un compromiso visionario con la salud pública de las Américas -expresó el doctor Eric Lander, director y presidente del Instituto Broad del MIT y Harvard- reconociendo que el progreso de la salud pública debe construirse sobre el fundamento de entender la base genética de la enfermedad".

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bbc.co.uk

Hacia una bioeconomía latinoamericana basada en el conocimiento

El secretario de Articulación Científico Tecnológica, Dr. Alejandro Ceccatto, participó de la apertura del foro organizado para fortalecer la cooperación entre los países de América Latina, el Caribe y Europa en investigación y desarrollo (I+D) orientados a producir la bioeconomía del conocimiento.

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