Archive for Biotechnology
Biotech creates artificial forests of the future
Some engineers think that a catastrophic climate event is coming, and they are pointing to giant fly-swatters and freight containers as a solution. The Institution of Mechanical Engineers has designed “artificial forests,” with technologies that absorb CO2, in a similar way to trees. Below is a photo of what this could look like in the future. The objects would use natural processes or carbon chemical sponges (such as algae) to soak in carbon and transform it into other materials that could be useful somewhere else.
The shapes resemble fly swatters or in some cases boxes, all designed to cut the amount of greenhouse gas emissions in the environment. The technology to make these objects already exist, and researchers are exploring new ways to develop this innovative idea.
Nanotechnology and the future of medicine
It seems every day I’m hearing more and more about the hopes for nanotechnology and the role it could potentially play in our economic future. We all know that these are white-knuckle times for many investors, but it appears that nanotechnology is an area that will boost our economy, especially in the areas of energy, electronics and biomedical innovation.
Our scientific knowledge of this fascinating field is increasing, and the more I look at it the more hopeful I am that we are on the brink of change. We can now engineer and control the tiniest applications and machines that, until a few years ago sounded like science fiction. I recently came across an article over at FutureMedica.com about some of the ways nanotechnology is advancing the world of medicine, and I thought I would share it with you. I’ll bet you can think of a few reasons to keep an eye on companies investing in nanotechnology!
25 Ways Nanotechnology is Revolutionizing Medicine
- Nanobots: These devices have great potential for medical uses. These smallest of robots could be used to perform a number of functions inside the body, and out. They could even be programmed to build other nanobots, increasing cost efficiency.
- Nanocomputers: In order to direct nanobots in their work, special computers will need to be built. Efforts to create nanocomputers, as well as the movement toward quantum computing, are likely to continue to provide new processes and possibilities for the science of medicine.
- Cell repair: Damage to the cells of the body can be very difficult to repair. Cells are so incredibly small. But nanotechnology could provide a way to get around this. Small nanobots or other devices could be used to manipulate molecules and atoms on an individual level, repairing cells.
- Cancer treatment: There are hopes that the use of nanotechnology could help in cancer treatment. This is because the small,
specialized functions of some nano devices could be directed more precisely at cancer cells. Current technology damages the healthy cells surrounding cancer cells, as well as destroying the undesirables. With nanotechnology, it is possible that cancer cells could be targeted and destroyed with almost no damage to surrounding healthy tissue.
- Aging: Nano devices could be used to erase some of the signs of aging. Already, laser technology can reduce the appearance of age lines, spots and wrinkles. With the help of powerful nanotechnology, it is possible that these signs could be done away with completely.
- Heart disease: There is a possibility that nanobots could perform a number of heart related functions in the body. The repair of damaged heart tissue is only one possibility. Another option is to use nano devices to clean out arteries, helping unclog those that have buildup due to cholesterol and other problems.
- Implanting devices: Instead of implanting devices as we have seen in some cases, it might be possible to send a nanobot to build the necessary structures inside the body,
- Virtual reality: Doctors could explore the body more readily with the help of a nanobot injection. Creating a virtual reality that would help medical professionals and others learn could help make some operations more “real” and provide practice ahead of time.
- Gene therapy: Nanotechnology would be small enough to enter the body and even redesign the genome. This would be a way to alter a number of conditions and diseases. However, the human genome would need to be understood a little better for truly advanced gene therapy. However, nanobots would be qualified for swapping abnormal genes with normal genes and performing other functions.
- Drug delivery: Systems that automate drug delivery can help increase the consistency associated with providing medication to those who need it. Drug delivery systems can be regulated using nanotechnology to ensure that certain types of medications are released at the proper time, and without the human error that comes with forgetting to take something.
Image via Wikipedia
- Nanotweezers: These devices are designed to manipulate nanostructures. These can be used to move nano devices around in the body, or position them prior to insertion. Nanotweezers are usually constructed using nanotubes.
- Stem cells: Nanotechnology can actually help adult stem cells morph into the types of cells that are actually needed. Studies showing how nanotubes can help adult stem cells turn into function neurons in brain damaged rats.
- Bone repair: It is possible to accelerate bone repair using nanotechnology. Nanoparticles made up of different chemical compositions can help knit bones back together, and can even help in some cases of spinal cord injury.
- Imaging: Nanotechnology can provide advancements in medical imaging by allowing a very specific and intimate peek into the body. Nano devices result in molecular imaging that can lead to better diagnosis of a variety of diseases and conditions.
- Diabetes: Instead of having to draw blood to test blood sugar level, nanotechnology is providing a way for diabetics to use lenses to check their blood sugar. These nanocomposite contact lenses actually change color to indicate blood sugar level.
- Surgery: We already have robotic surgeons in some cases, but nanosurgery is possible using some lasers, as well as nano devices that can be programmed to perform some surgical functions. Being able to perform surgery at the smallest level can have a number of benefits for long term medicine.
- Seizures: There are nanochips being developed to help control seizures. These chips are meant to analyze brain signals, and then do what is needed to adjust the brain so that epilepsy could be better controlled.
- Sensory feedback: For those who have lost feeling in their body, it is possible to use nanotechnology to increase sensory feedback. Nanochips provide the opportunity for electrical impulses to be intercepted and interpreted.
- Limb control: Prosthetics continue to advance, and nanotechnology is likely to help revolutionize the way paralysis is handled. There are some attempts to use nanochips that can help those who have lost limb control use their minds to send signals to provide a certain amount of motion.
- Medical monitoring: You might be able to increase your ability to monitor your own body systems with the help of nanotechnology. Small nanochips implanted in your body could monitor your health and systems, and then send you feedback to your computer or other device.
- Medical records: In addition to monitoring your own body systems, nanotech can be used to send information to your health care providers, and increase the efficiency of electronic medical records.
- Disease prevention: Having a nano device in your body could actually help prevent diseases. With proper programming, it should be possible to help you avoid some diseases, repairing problems before they become serious issues. They may even be able to help prevent chronic diseases.
- Prenatal: There are a number of ways that nanotechnology can help in terms of prenatal diagnosis. Being able to get inside the uterus and even inside the fetus without causing trauma can be beneficial to prenatal health, and nanotechnology can also help potentially repair problems in the womb.
- Individual medicine: Nanotechnology is moving toward making medicine more personal. Being able to accurately work up your genome can help health providers more precisely pinpoint the proper treatments and tweak a treatment plan according to your individual needs and responses.
- Research: Nanotechnology is advancing medical research, providing the tools that can help us learn more about the body and how it functions, as well as providing insight into chemistry and physics, which provide the building blocks for the body.
Via FutureMedica.com
Related articles
- What Is Nanotechnology? (time.com)
- Difference Between Nanotechnology and Molecular Nanotechnology … (differencebetween.com)
- Nanotechnology – Emerging trend in Remedies | Heart Disease Prevention (heartdisease8.com)
- Nanotechnology offers hope for cancer cure – Mesothelioma (mesotheliome.net)
Groasis is greening up dry climates one tree at a time
Photo courtesy www.groasis.com
Imagine being able to grow trees anywhere in the world–including the desert. The AquaPro company developed the Groasis waterboxx, and it has indeed turned out to be one of the most innovative system of 2010. The waterboxx allows trees to grow in dry lands by providing a reservoir for roots with a sustainable water system that can last decades. Popular Science Magazine just named the waterboxx No. 1 in its Best of What’s New in 2010, and it’s no wonder.
With just a one-time fill of four gallons of water, the system surrounds a newly-planted sapling and prevents against evaporation, pests and other elements that can kill saplings before they’ve had a chance to mature.
The system was tested in the Sahara Desert and costs only a dollar per tree, making it affordable enough for those in poor nations. Check out this video on the Groasis waterbozz:
A Hotbed for Biotechnology Innovation
Today I am over at San Diego State University where I’m teaching executive MBA classes. Along with cities like Madison, Austin, Raleigh Durham and Boston, San Diego is a key player in a field that may be more of a hotbed for innovation than any other: biotechnology. Genetic engineering, genomics, and molecular drug development are just a few of the industry terms that we are all becoming familiar with.
It’s an exciting environment here in San Diego. We’re anchored by research institutions and universities such the Salk Institute, Scripps Research Institute, University of California-San Diego, and hundreds of biotechnology firms, this could be the biological Silicon Valley for the 21st century.
With unequaled potential, the industry is still trying to prove it’s financial viability. This is because of many factors, but mostly it’s because it is researching the unknown and results can’t be predicted.
For example, in biopharmaceuticals, research for a new drug can take 10 years or more and cost more than $1 billion before any revenue is realized. On top of that it only takes one adverse study or regulation problem along the way to tip the scales between incredible income and huge losses. (more…)
Chemical Engineers Interested in Innovation, Startups, and Intellectual Property? Join Us at the 2010 AIChE Annual Meeting
Innovationedge is pleased to be playing a role in advancing innovation and entrepreneurship for chemical engineers at the AIChE 2010 Annual Meeting in Salt Lake City. On Wednesday, Nov. 10, Innovationedge’s Jeff Lindsay will chair a session featuring four outstanding speakers on topics that should be of interest to many chemical engineers. If you are conducting research that could lead to a new business, if you are involved in leading or managing R&D, if you are part of an effort where intellectual property could make a difference, then you should attend our session, “Intellectual Assets in the Digital Era.” You need to register for this conference through AIChE.
Time: Wednesday, November 10, 2010: 8:30 AM-11:00 AM
Location: Salt Palace Convention Center, Grand Ballroom G, Salt Lake City, UT
Chair: Jeff Lindsay, Director of Solution Development, Innovationedge, Neenah, WI
Co-Chair: Ken Horton, Gore School of Business, Westminster College, Salt Lake City, UT
Schedule of Papers and Abstracts:
8:30 AM, Paper #406A, “Business Development, IP, and Manufacturing Success: Perspectives From Utah’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership” by David Sorensen, Executive Director of Utah’s Manufacturing Extension Program. (See biographical information below.)
Abstract: The Manufacturing Extension Partnership of Utah has assisted many companies in strengthening their strategy for success and continued growth. We will discuss what it takes to advance your business, including lessons relative to leadership, vision, intellectual property, and coping with changing regulations and policies.
9:10 AM, Paper #406b, “The Role of IP in Successful Startups,” Mike Alder, Director of Technology Transfer, Brigham Young University.
Abstract: Many AIChE members will be involved with a startup at some point in their career. While the capabilities of the management team is of utmost importance, in numerous cases, the success of the startup also depends on the quality of its intellectual property. In this era, an IP-savvy team can take several steps to secure competitive advantage and realize greater value from the technology, products, or services the company offers. This presentation will draw upon experience with many startups and startup teams and will provide guidance to researchers, business leaders, and future entrepreneurs on how to better prepare for success.
9:45 AM, Paper #406c, “An Introduction to IP Law: The Underpinnings of Intellectual Assets,” Ken Horton, Kirton & McConkie, Salt Lake City, UT
Abstract: An understanding of the basics of intellectual property law can help chemical engineers in advancing their own research, in evaluating competitive efforts, in building their own business, or in general advancing their career. This presentation will cover some of the key concepts that engineers should know, including the nature of patents, the different kinds of patents (provisional, utility, design), the role of trademarks and copyrights, what it takes to be patentable, and how changes in patent law may affect your career and business.
10:20 AM, Paper #406d, “Cost-Effective Pursuit of IP in a Down Economy,” by Jonathan Lee
Abstract: How does one get the most protection and benefit from intellectual property when the economy is down? How can patents and other forms of intellectual property be obtained in a cost effective manner when budgets are tight? In this presentation, an experienced patent attorney shares insights into cost effective IP with guidance directed to managers, research leaders, inventors, and entrepreneurs.
Biographical information:
David Sorensen
Mr. Sorensen has over 35 years of experience in a wide variety of technical and managerial assignments requiring comprehensive knowledge in several disciplines relating to engineering, manufacturing, information technology and business systems. He has been directly responsible for major contracts with industry and government agencies and has a proven record of technical competence, customer relations, and business planning in rapidly expanding technical companies. Mr. Sorensen has held increasingly responsible positions in product and service organizations. He is innovative, resourceful, and aggressive in accomplishing assigned responsibilities with major strengths in strategic planning, marketing and management. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering Science and a Masters in Manufacturing Engineering Technology from Brigham Young University.
Since 1995 he’s been the Director of the Utah Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP-Utah), serving primarily the 6,200 manufacturers in the state of Utah. MEP-Utah was selected to initiate and manage the NIST Information Technology Network for over 60 MEP Centers nationwide. Mr. Sorensen is also a BYU adjunct faculty member and the Associate Dean of Technology, Trades and Industry at Utah Valley State College. With a staff of 18, in one year MEP-Utah helped create or save 2,719 jobs in Utah, increased manufacturing sales by more than $121 million and increased employee payroll by more than $84 million.
He’s been the Chairman & CEO for Echo Solutions, a start-up software products and services company; Executive VP of Eyring Research Institute; General Manager of EG&G Services; Director of Engineering at EG&G Idaho Inc.; Manager of Architect Engineering and Construction at Aerojet Nuclear Company and Manager of Power Generation Equipment at Bunker Ramo. He also has experience with GE’s Nuclear Instrumentation as a Senior Applications Engineer, and in engineering positions at Kennecott Copper, Intermountain Industries, and F.C. Torkelson Engineers.
Michael Alder
Mike is Director of Technology Transfer at Brigham Young University, where his work has been nationally recognized by BusinessWeek and others for their success. Mike is also Chair of the Board for WestCAMP Inc. where he has also chaired the National Centers of Excellence (NCOE), a division of WestCAMP. Mike is formerly the CEO of the Biotechnology Association of Alabama. He was also a Venture Partner with Redmont Venture Partners, Inc. He has been heavily involved in the founding of Tranzyme, Inc.; Vaxin, Inc.; Folia, Inc.; Chlorogen, Inc.; Allvivo, Inc. and Cr3, Inc. All but one of these are biotechnology companies (Folia produces specialty biopolymers).
Mr. Alder has 30 years of experience in leading technology-based startup companies. He was previously CEO of Emerging Technology Partners in Birmingham, Alabama from 1997 to 2003. Prior to coming to Alabama in 1994 he co-founded the Grow Utah Fund that focused on creating technology-based businesses. In 1989 he was asked by the Utah Governor to head the State’s Office of Technology Development, which he did for 5 years as its Executive Director, helping bring Utah’s Centers of Excellence programs to national prominence. In 1973 he founded NPI, a plant biotechnology company in Salt Lake City, Utah and served as President, COO and Vice Chairman of that company for 15 years as it grew to over 700 employees.
Ken Horton
Ken Horton is a member of Kirton & McConkie‘s Intellectual Property Practice Section in Salt Lake City. His practice includes domestic and foreign patent prosecution, patent opinions, intellectual property litigation (including both state and federal court actions), domestic and foreign trademark prosecution, trademark opinions, copyrights, trade secrets, intellectual property evaluations and due diligence, as well as technology and intellectual property agreements. Mr. Horton has extensive experience in both pharmaceutical and semiconductor technologies. He is a frequent speaker on the topic of intellectual property law and strategy, speaking both at the 2007 and 2010 A.I.C.H.E. annual conferences and the 2009 A.C.S. annual conference. Additionally, Mr. Horton is an Associate Professor in these topics in the MBA Technology Management Program at the Gore School of Business of Westminster College.
Jonathan Lee
Jonathan Lee is a registered patent attorney and a member of the Utah State Bar practicing at ALG (AdvantEdge Law Group). His practice focuses on adding real-world value to companies, both large and small, by acquiring, securing, and protecting intellectual property rights.
Mr. Lee has prepared and successfully prosecuted hundreds of patent applications throughout his career, primarily in the electrical, electro-mechanical, and computer engineering fields. He currently helps a number of Fortune 1000 companies manage and develop their domestic and worldwide patent portfolios. He also regularly counsels clients in other aspects of intellectual property law, including litigation, licensing, and opinion work, as well as due diligence examinations, copyrights and trademarks, and patent reexamination proceedings.
Prior to joining ALG, Mr. Lee worked for nationally recognized law firms in Washington, D.C. and Salt Lake City, Utah.
Mr. Lee was recently selected as a Mountain States Rising Star by Super Lawyers, a peer-reviewed publication.
Amyris: A Partner in Open Innovation for Sustainable Consumer Products and Biofuels
In our ongoing work on analyzing the intellectual property landscape in biofuels, one interesting company we’ve encountered is Amyris, an integrated renewable products company. Amyris was founded in 2003 by Kinkead Reiling, Neil Renninger, and Jack D. Newman who met at Berkeley. The company is now located in Emeryville, California. With a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, they first developed their technology under a non-profit initiative to provide a reliable and affordable source of artemisinin, an anti-malarial therapeutic. It was viewed as a long-shot, but they found success that led to growth into other areas. They are now developing new microbial strains that can produce other molecules from renewable feedstocks. This industrial synthetic biology platform is providing alternatives to a broad range of petroleum-sourced products. he extremely useful molecule farnesene is an important part of their business. It provides a compound that can be used to produce flavors, perfumes, detergents, cosmetics, biodiesel, and other products.
This week Amyris announced a record number of deals and partnerships for a single week (a record among bioenergy companies, according to Biofuels Digest). These partnerships include P&G, Total, Soliance, Cosan, M&G Finanziaria, and Shell:
Amyris has taken it up a notch with a series of stunners surrounding its synthetic farsenene, which it has named Biofene – the first product that Amyris is seeking to produce at commercial scale.
Beyond its success this week with Biofene announcements, which are the basis for the P&G, M&G and Soliance partnerships — there are the broader arrangements with Cosan to develop a platform in renewable chemicals, and the equity agreement with Total that will provide needed capital as well as a broader platform for Amyris’s expansion into hydrocarbon fuels.
The mysterious agreement with Shell, regarding diesel, is one to watch. The decidedly vague disclosure was buried in Amyris’ amended S-1A registration statement, but not otherwise mentioned in a flurry of press releases from the company as it promotes its expansion in this pre-IPO environment. Shell Western Trading & Supply is one of 17 Shell trading companies that buy and sell to customers within and outside of Shell.
This news shows an interesting example of companies forming partnerships with an innovative start-up with great technology and apparently highly valuable IP. According to my Patbase search, Amyris has 21 patent families, quite a large number for such a young company. They clearly have been active and aggressive in pursuing patent protection, and those patents are critical for the meaningful partnerships they are now forming. It’s a great unfolding story of open innovation and technology transfer.
The story extends beyond the US. They have operations in Brazil, for example, which is one of the world’s hotbeds for bioenergy, bioproducts, and collaborative innovation.
Prize4Life Illustrates Collaborative Innovation at Its Best in the Quest to Cure ALS
In Conquering Innovation Fatigue, we emphasize that many innovators are motivated by the desire to make a difference in the world rather than merely obtain personal profit. We also discuss the concept of innovation competitions as a great way to fuel innovation success and access new talent. We also emphasize the importance of collaboration across disciplines and organizational boundaries as the future of innovation success. All these concepts are nicely illustrated by an organization seeking to cure ALS, Lou Gherig’s disease. Prize4Life, Inc. (Prize4Life.org) makes an interesting case study of what can be achieved in the realm of altruistic innovation using collaborative models and innovation competitions.
Meghan Kallman, Marketing & Communications Manager of Prize4Life, Inc. in Cambridge, Massachusetts, kindly shared some information with me about their inspiring innovation efforts. Here is the information she provided:
I would like to share with you the case of Avichai Kremer, co-founder and CEO of Prize4Life, Inc. Then a student at Harvard Business School, Kremer discovered in 2004 that he had ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s Disease).
A computer-science engineer and ex-captain in the Israeli army, he had planned to graduate, work as a manager in a hi-tech company, and raise a family. Those plans changed drastically when he was told he would have 2-5 years to live, and that the medical establishment could do nothing for him. Kremer’s business perspective sparked his interest in the economics of ALS therapies, and inspired him to use his Harvard training to work for a cure.
Little is known about what causes ALS and only a few companies develop ALS drugs, so Kremer and two of his Harvard colleagues queried scientists and industry executives about the gaps that have prevented researchers from finding a cure. Companies said that they needed some basic research tools to reduce the cost of the development, like a biomarker – a better way to track disease progression. So Kremer and his classmates began Prize4Life, Inc., a non-profit organization employing business theories to stimulate research, which announced in 2006 that they would give $1 million to anyone who could come up with such a biomarker. The ALS Biomarker Prize program recently awarded $100,000 in progress prizes, and the organization’s second prize, the Avi Kremer ALS Treatment Prize, hits its one-year anniversary in October 2009.
While prizes are the visible core of our results-oriented model, we are also conscious of the need to create a vibrant and supportive arena in which our participating teams can effectively compete. Prize4Life has thus created a series of innovative projects and partnerships, piggybacking on its groundbreaking prize model, to ensure that all competing teams equal opportunity to be successful.
As one example of such partnership: in June 2009, Prize4Life and the Alzheimer Research Forum announced the launch of a new ALS-focused internet portal known as the ALS Forum (http://www.researchALS.org). Initial reaction to the new web portal has been swift and positive. The site offers ALS researchers around the world a one-stop access point for cutting edge research news and unique web-based resources. We also have designed and developed a manual to help researchers design their animal trials, and are currently designing and developing a database of genes associated with ALS that we intend to make available to researchers.
About Prize4Life
Prize4Life was founded by a group of Harvard Business School students when one of them, Avi Kremer, was diagnosed with ALS at the age of 29. Prize4Life works to accelerate the discovery of a treatment and a cure for ALS by using powerful incentives to attract new people and ideas, and to leverage existing efforts and expertise in the ALS field. Among other program initiatives, the organization currently administers the ALS Biomarker Prize Challenge, the Avi Kremer ALS Treatment Prize, and the ALS Forum.THE NEXT ALS BREAKTHROUGH COULD BE YOURS
Meghan also shared with me an example of a successful outreach effort using the competition model. “We actually awarded $50,000 to a dermatologist who had never studied ALS before, and who was intrigued by the prize model, and who submitted a winning entry, which is a testament to the potential of the prize model itself.” For the complete press release with much additional information, see the press release, “Prize4Life Awards Prizes for ALS Biomarker Challenge to InnoCentive Solvers: Extends $1Million Challenge Seeking ALS Biomarker” (PDF).
Further examples of great collaboration can be seen in their press release, “Prize4Life and The Jackson Laboratory partner in fight against ALS
Non-profits join forces to provide researchers with new preclinical resources” (PDF). This describes a partnership with The Jackson Laboratory (JAX®), the world’s leading provider of mouse models, to provide preclinical resources for ALS research. Together, Prize4Life and JAX® have prepared a comprehensive training manual to enable researchers to more effectively use the SOD1 mouse model in the fight against ALS.
Their website is http://www.prize4life.org.
Want to Help?
If you would like to help, Meghan told me that there are many opportunities. “We always need donations and fundraisers (this is the link), but we also have folks who host events for us, who blog on our behalf (on their blogs or on ours), who reach out to scientists who may want to compete for our prizes, to follow us on Facebook and Twitter, to link to us on their sites, the list goes on! We have an exciting event coming up here in Boston, for those who are local–Boston’s pro lacrosse team will be featuring us at ‘Heroes Awareness Night’ at the Boston TD Garden on February 6, and donating a percentage of the proceeds to our efforts. If anyone is on the east coast and wants to attend, they should click here:http://bit.ly/512shV. Anyone interested can contact me directly, mkallman at prize4life dot org.
A great example of collaborative innovation in action, with bonus points for using innovation competitions and having altruistic goals. ALS is a terrible disease and needs more attention in the quest for cure.
Harvesting a global trend
Genetically modified crops enjoyed a bumper year in 2008, according to the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA), a biotech group.
ISAAA predicts that by the year 2015 a total of four billion acres will have been planted. Last year 26 million more acres were planted globally, and expansion will continue.
Both wealthy and emerging nations are increasingly viewing biotech-enhanced crops as a key part of the solution to critical social issues of food security and sustainability.
The largest increase in the number of biotech farmers in 2008 was in India. In Europe, while France did not plant biotech crops in 2008, seven other EU countries increased their planting 21 percent. That’s a trend worth keeping an eye on, especially in light of the global food crisis.