Carousel of books I enjoyed reading

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

DIYBio meet-up - Folk Microbiology

It was a night of culture - yoghurt cultures. Vaughn Tan shared his passion for yoghurt with about two dozen captivated future yoghurt makers. He spoke about the biochemistry and microbial ecology of the process - ways to optimize the proteins in the milk, effects of inoculation temperatures, the activities of the different bacterial populations in the culture.

read more : DIYBio meet-up - Folk Microbiology

Responsible Science for Do-It-Yourself Biologists

..... The Synthetic Biology Project at the Woodrow Wilson Center is partnering with DIYbio.org, on a project to ensure safety within the rapidly expanding community of amateur biologists.....

Read more : http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/press/responsible-science-do-it-yourself-biologists,1363363.html

Friday, June 18, 2010

Synthetic Biology Curriculum Expands with New Courses

The NSF-funded Synthetic Biology Engineering Research Center (SynBERC) has made exceptional inroads this year in the effort to train a new generation of synthetic biologists by developing and launching a series of courses at the graduate, undergraduate, and high school levels. The courses reflect not just the scientific and engineering goals of the field, but also its social and ethical dimensions. Some of these courses are available outside the host university through online modules at openwetware.org, and a course on the Fundamentals of Synthetic Biology was taught at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) in Daejeon, Korea. SynBERC is headquartered at the University of California, Berkeley.

Read more : http://showcase.erc-assoc.org/accomplishments/2010/2010-SynBERC10-L-curriculum_BH.html

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Wired :U.S. Leading Charge on Synthetic Biology Funding

Synthetic biology received about $430 million in U.S. government funding from 2005 to 2010, far outpacing European governments, which gave their synthetic biologists $160 million over the same period. The emerging field received nearly no funding before 2005, according to a new Woodrow Wilson Center report.

Read More hhttp://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/06/synthetic-biology-money/#ixzz0qLLf8UWs

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Government funding for synthetic biology on the rise

New report compares US and European funding

WASHINGTON, DC — A new analysis by the Synthetic Biology Project at the Woodrow Wilson Center found that the U.S. government has spent around $430 million on research related to synthetic biology since 2005, with the Department of Energy funding a majority of the research. By comparison, the analysis indicated that the European Union and three individual European countries – the Netherlands, United Kingdom, and Germany – had spent approximately $160 million during that same period.


The reoprt can be found here : http://www.synbioproject.org/

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Ginkgo selected for $6M ARPA-E grant from DOE


..... A Boston company selected to receive $6 million is Ginkgo BioWorks, which seeks to engineer the E. coli bacterium to harness electric current to convert carbon dioxide and water into isooctane, a component of gasoline, the department said......

http://www.boston.com/business/ticker/2010/04/feds_earmark_22.html

Friday, June 4, 2010

Synthetic life is a noble cause - Synthetisch leven is een nobele zaak


The creation of a new life form is the highest for humans. That he went level with the many gods that human culture is rich. Nothing wrong with that so. Or right? As sensational stories prevail in the discussion on synthetic life is becoming louder the call for control and risk mitigation of a research field with many fantastic potential.

Google translate : Volkskrant article