This afternoon the White House honored nine individuals as Champions of Change who are making a difference advancing new ideas that are leading the way to a clean energy future and an economy that’s built to last.
“This event will highlight individuals who are demonstrating how environmental leadership contributes not just to the well-being of our planet, but to our economic growth and our public health. Every day, these Champions rise to meet some of the most significant environmental challenges of the 21st century,” according to a White House blog post.
“Supporting homegrown sources of renewable energy is a key part of the president’s all-of-the-above energy strategy to create jobs, reduce our dependence on foreign oil and strengthen national security,” said Nancy Sutley, chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality. “The leaders we’ve selected as Champions of Change are helping to grow our economy, reduce pollution in our communities and position America as a world leader in clean energy,” she noted in an OPIS news report.
Honorees include James Liao, Parsons Foundation Professor of the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Department, at the University of California, Los Angeles. Liao has played a significant role as a leader in metabolic engineering and synthetic biology creating microbial technologies for production of fuel and chemicals. He has a proven track record for commercializing innovative biofuels processes to create advanced biofuels such as biobutanol. Currently he is researching electrofuels and him and his team has created a process to convert electricity and carbon dioxide to be used as a gasoline substitute.
Jerome Taylor, a 30-year employee and CEO of MFA Oil, was honored as well. MFA Oil is a farmer-owned cooperative that also distributes ethanol and biodiesel blends. In the 1960s, MFA Oil first entered the renewable fuels markets with its purchase of an ethanol plant. Now the company invests in oil refining and biodiesel production. In 2011, MFA Oil entered into a partnership with Aloterra Energy, to capitalize on the unique qualities of miscanthus giganteous as an energy crop. This non-invasive perennial does not require significant inputs, can grow on marginal ground, is carbon neutral, and produces significant tonnage per acre. The company also sponsors three Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP) areas, covering eight counties in Arkansas and 16 counties in Missouri. The BCAP provides financial assistance to owners and operators of agricultural and non-industrial private forest land who wish to establish, produce, and deliver biomass feedstocks.
Also honored as Champions of Change were Alan Samuels, Erin Geegan, Kevin Frank, Vernice Creese, Ed O’Rourke, Erik Ingersoll and Jan Blittersdorf for their roles in leading the way to a clean energy future.
The Woodrow Wilson Synthetic Biology Project has released a public survey soliciting opinions on synthetic biology. It is a follow up to a recent paper on synthetic biology released in Nature, and it is filled with biased questions that revive some of the oldest misconceptions about the biotechnology industry. The results of the survey are expected to be released in May 2012.
BIO is encouraging members of the industry to participate in the survey and use the opportunity to address some of the biases and misconceptions.
Some of the loaded questions survey takers are asked to rate the relative importance of include:
Ensure that the negative consequences of synthetic biology applications with long-term effects, such as changing the human microbiome or the production of synbio-based fuel, are benign (or limited).
Ban certain applications that pose a significant threat (deadly viruses, re-engineered human stem cells).
Tag or label products to indicate that synthetic biology was used in their manufacture
Identify intellectual property-related (IP) issues specific to synthetic biology and consider changes to the current patent and copyright systems.
Engage communities most likely to be disproportionately affected by increased use of the synthetic biology.
Among these questions, ironically, is an admission that there currently is no widely agreed upon definition of “synthetic biotechnology”:
Develop a clear definition of what synthetic biology is, including how it differs from past and ongoing genetic engineering.
As members of the biotechnology industry, this survey presents an opportunity to get engaged and help fight misconceptions that have existed since the start of the biotech industry. Broad industry participation in filling out this survey and encouraging others to do so can help ensure the results, which will be released in May, will present a balanced view of synthetic biology and the biotechnology industry. We would hope the results rank developing a clear definition of synthetic biology as a higher priority than banning or labeling it.
You can also vote against a moratorium on synthetic biology in this poll in a Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News article that looks at how fear has influenced public perception of most novel scientific endeavors like synthetic biology.
J. Craig Venter Founder, chairman and president J. Craig Venter Institute
Craig Venter has been accused of arrogance, hubris, and being difficult to work with. But what's a little criticism to a scientist with his accomplishments?
The synthetic biotechnology businessman and life sciences pioneer has reached higher than most in the life sciences world. He's one of the first people to sequence the human genome (and have his genome sequenced). His team at his eponymously-named J. Craig Venter Institute also made history, and then sparked plenty of controversy, by successfully building the first self-replicating synthetic bacterial cell. Time magazine cited him as one of the "people who mattered" in its 2010 "Person of the Year" issue.
Venter's boldness and imagination makes him someone who rightfully commands attention in the life sciences world. He thinks big, and likely kick-started a genetic engineering industry with his creation of a synthetic bacterial cell. While it has no commercial application yet, he has argued that the finding could help create fuels or other necessary resources. But a synthetic biological entity also raises plenty of ethical and environmental concerns. The impact of a synthetic biological life form on the environment, for example, is something that remains fiercely argued and debated globally among scientists and environmentalists alike.
Also, controversy keeps following him. Venter dubbed his 2010 finding "an important step" after 15 years of research. But top U.K. scientist John Sulston expressed concern that Venter and his team would seek a patent over their new life form, creating a genetic engineering monopoly. (Venter and his team wrote their names into the DNA of the new cell, essentially signing their work.)
An interviewer with Der Spiegel in July 2010 asked Venter why his peers were so hostile toward him. Venter brushed off the question, citing his "superior intelligence, planning and technology." Unlike some rivals, he could have also cited his business acumen. Before the J. Craig Venter Institute, he launched Celera Genomics in the late 1990s to sequence the human genome, using tools he and his colleagues developed.
Venter, meanwhile, is building a new, $35 million home in San Diego for his institute's ongoing synthetic biology research.
Gene sequencing/synthetic biology pioneer