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University of Toronto student gets financial boost for top spot in a national automotive R&D competition utilizing marine-derived Chitin
Posted On: February 3, 2012A new biodegradable material made from shrimp and crab shells that can replace petroleum-based plastics used in auto components helped a University of Toronto student win a national automotive competition. Aaron Guan, a master of science student, won the AUTO21 TestDRIVE competition, receiving a $10,000 scholarship for his work on recyclable, lightweight, polymeric nanocomposites.
Shrimp and crab shell fibres called chitin nanowhiskers form the base of this new material, which would allow automotive components to meet strict environmental standards without compromising vehicle safety. This material has a much higher strength-to-weight ratio compared to conventional plastics used in most automotive components, and provides higher mechanical strength without aesthetic flaws or deformation at lower densities.
Due to the composite nature of the material, mechanical properties can easily be engineered to suit various strength, stiffness and weight requirements simply by varying the combination of chitin nanowhisker and polymer content. The material is also completely renewable and sustainable as chitin nanowhiskers are derived from the waste of the fishing industry.
AURORA ALGAE SET TO RAISE $100M
Posted On: January 31, 2012The company’s Western Australia operation in Karratha is planned to be increased from the initial 100 hectares of commercial operation to 400 hectares in the next stage, and then 1000 hectares.
Aurora Algae began operations in Karratha mid last year and now has its sights on raising $100 million after hitting the $22 million mark a few months ago.
The $22 million has left the company fully funded until its next expansion phase of harvesting algae-based biomass for products in the nutraceutical, pharmaceutical, aquaculture and renewable energy markets.
The company is looking to raise $100 million from existing and new private investors by mid-year, and is aligning at an IPO later in the year.
Scots and Nordic scientists set to explore sustainable skincare utilizing marine natural ingredients
Posted On: January 30, 2012Scottish company Aquapharm has joined forces with Norwegian firm Aqua Bio Technology (ABT) to create a new generation of sustainable ingredients for the skincare market.
Together the companies hope to identify natural marine ingredients that could replace the petroleum-based components used extensively within the skincare market.
Scientists at Aquapharm believe marine microbes are the key to finding the bio-active ingredients of the future, and have developed specialist fermentation processes to source and produce such extracts.
Now they will undertake a development program in conjunction with ABT, sharing their expertise in a bid to prove these extracts can be produced with minimal environmental impact – and successfully commercialized for the personal care market.
UC Davis and University of Tokyo collaborating on algae biofuels project
Posted On: January 22, 2012A better understanding of how algae can be used to make biofuels is the aim of a new joint project between UC Davis and the University of Tokyo, Japan. It is one of four new grants, jointly funded by the US National Science Foundation and the Japan Science and Technology Agency, to develop environment-friendly fuels and reduce pesticide use.
The four grants, totaling $12 million (¥960 million), will be divided between the Japanese and US laboratories. UC Davis’ share will be about $1.5 million over three years, with the possibility of renewal for another two years.
All four projects are based on metabolomics, an approach that uses high-tech analysis to understand all the chemicals involved in a living cell’s metabolism.
OriginOil and DOE to Develop Direct Conversion of Algae into Renewable Crude Oil Source
Posted On: January 22, 2012Good news on the algae-to-oil front has been released by Los Angeles-based OriginOil, Inc., in conjunction with the US Department of Energy. The company will work in partnership with Idaho National Laboratory (INL) to help algae growers to enter the global crude oil market.
OriginOil, a developer of a technology platform to extract oil from algae, reports that it plans to co-develop an integrated system with the DOE’s INL for direct conversion of raw algae into a renewable crude oil that can be used by existing petroleum refineries.
GlycoMar awarded grant for collaboration with MicroA of Norway
Posted On: January 5, 2012The UK Technology Strategy Board today announced funding of a collaboration between GlycoMar and MicroA of Norway for the pilot scale production of one of GlycoMar’s biologically active polysaccharides from a marine microalga using MicroA’s patented photobioreactor technology.
The project will use MicroA’s recently patented PBR technology as the scale-up platform for GlycoMar’s microalgal polysaccharide product development. MicroA will use their pilot scale system to optimise growth conditions for maximum algal polysaccharide production. GlycoMar will optimise downstream processing to maximise recovery of the target product. The project will establish the commercial viability of full-scale production. Success of the project will be an important milestone for both partner companies and the wider biotechnology and microalgae industries, and will lead to commercialisation as a high value natural skin care ingredient within 3 years.
Mar. Drugs, Volume 9, Issue 12 (December 2011), Pages 2488-2817 Release issue
Posted On: December 27, 2011MDPI is pleased to announce the publication of the following issue:Mar. Drugs, Volume 9, Issue 12 (December 2011), Pages 2488-2817 at http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/9/12/
Table of Contents:
Jeen-Kuan Chen, Chao-Hsien Yeh, Lian-Chen Wang, Tzong-Horng Liou, Chia-Rui Shen and Chao-Lin Liu
Article: Chitosan, the Marine Functional Food, Is a Potent Adsorbent of Humic Acid
Mar. Drugs 2011, 9(12), 2488-2498; doi:10.3390/md9122488
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/9/12/2488/
Oriol Sacristan-Soriano, Bernard Banaigs and Mikel A. Becerro
Article: Relevant Spatial Scales of Chemical Variation in Aplysina aerophoba
Mar. Drugs 2011, 9(12), 2499-2513; doi:10.3390/md9122499
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/9/12/2499/
Jeannette Vera, Jorge Castro, Alberto Gonzalez and Alejandra Moenne
Review: Seaweed Polysaccharides and Derived Oligosaccharides Stimulate Defense Responses and Protection Against Pathogens in Plants
Mar. Drugs 2011, 9(12), 2514-2525; doi:10.3390/md9122514
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/9/12/2514/
Nai-Lun Lee and Jui-Hsin Su
Article: Tetrahydrofuran Cembranoids from the Cultured Soft Coral Lobophytum crassum
Mar. Drugs 2011, 9(12), 2526-2536; doi:10.3390/md9122526
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/9/12/2526/
Maria Mansson, Anita Nielsen, Louise Kjærulff, Charlotte H. Gotfredsen, Matthias Wietz, Hanne Ingmer, Lone Gram and Thomas O. Larsen
Article: Inhibition of Virulence Gene Expression in Staphylococcus aureus by Novel Depsipeptides from a Marine Photobacterium
Mar. Drugs 2011, 9(12), 2537-2552; doi:10.3390/md9122537
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/9/12/2537/
Julianne Dyble, Duane Gossiaux, Peter Landrum, Donna R. Kashian and Steven Pothoven
Article: A Kinetic Study of Accumulation and Elimination of Microcystin-LR in Yellow Perch (Perca Flavescens) Tissue and Implications for Human Fish Consumption
Mar. Drugs 2011, 9(12), 2553-2571; doi:10.3390/md9122553
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/9/12/2553/
Massimiliano Borgogna, Barbara Bellich and Attilio Cesàro
Review: Marine Polysaccharides in Microencapsulation and Application to Aquaculture: “From Sea to Sea”
Mar. Drugs 2011, 9(12), 2572-2604; doi:10.3390/md9122572
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/9/12/2572/
Marcel Tutor Ale, Hiroko Maruyama, Hidekazu Tamauchi, Jørn D. Mikkelsen and Anne S. Meyer
Article: Fucose-Containing Sulfated Polysaccharides from Brown Seaweeds Inhibit Proliferation of Melanoma Cells and Induce Apoptosis by Activation of Caspase-3 in Vitro
Mar. Drugs 2011, 9(12), 2605-2621; doi:10.3390/md9122605
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/9/12/2605/
Ching-Chyuan Su, Jui-Hsin Su, Jen-Jie Lin, Cheng-Chi Chen, Wen-Ing Hwang, Han Hsiang Huang and Yu-Jen Wu
Article: An Investigation into the Cytotoxic Effects of 13-Acetoxysarcocrassolide from the Soft Coral Sarcophyton crassocaule on Bladder Cancer Cells
Mar. Drugs 2011, 9(12), 2622-2642; doi:10.3390/md9122622
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/9/12/2622/
Priscilla L. Winder, Shirley A. Pomponi and Amy E. Wright
Review: Natural Products from the Lithistida: A Review of the Literature since 2000
Mar. Drugs 2011, 9(12), 2643-2682; doi:10.3390/md9122643
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/9/12/2643/
Asuncion Rocher, Ana Isabel Caceres, Ana Obeso and Constancio Gonzalez
Review: Tetrodotoxin as a Tool to Elucidate Sensory Transduction Mechanisms: The Case for the Arterial Chemoreceptors of the Carotid Body
Mar. Drugs 2011, 9(12), 2683-2704; doi:10.3390/md9122683
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/9/12/2683/
Shih-Tseng Lin, Shang-Kwei Wang and Chang-Yih Duh
Article: Cembranoids from the Dongsha Atoll Soft Coral Lobophytum crassum
Mar. Drugs 2011, 9(12), 2705-2716; doi:10.3390/md9122705
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/9/12/2705/
Charles B. Berde, Umeshkumar Athiraman, Barak Yahalom, David Zurakowski, Gabriel Corfas and Christina Bognet
Article: Tetrodotoxin-Bupivacaine-Epinephrine Combinations for Prolonged Local Anesthesia
Mar. Drugs 2011, 9(12), 2717-2728; doi:10.3390/md9122717
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/9/12/2717/
Aloysio da S. Ferrão-Filho and Betina Kozlowsky-Suzuki
Review: Cyanotoxins: Bioaccumulation and Effects on Aquatic Animals
Mar. Drugs 2011, 9(12), 2729-2772; doi:10.3390/md9122729
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/9/12/2729/
Yang-Chang Wu, Jui-Hsin Su, Tai-Ting Chou, Yin-Pin Cheng, Ching-Feng Weng, Chia-Hung Lee, Lee-Shing Fang, Wei-Hsien Wang, Jan-Jung Li, Mei-Chin Lu, Jimmy Kuo, Jyh-Horng Sheu and Ping-Jyun Sung
Review: Natural Product Chemistry of Gorgonian Corals of Genus Junceella—Part II
Mar. Drugs 2011, 9(12), 2773-2792; doi:10.3390/md9122773
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/9/12/2773/
Kumiko Yokogawa, Isao Matsui-Yuasa, Akiko Tamura, Masaki Terada and Akiko Kojima-Yuasa
Article: Inhibitory Effects of Ecklonia cava Extract on High Glucose-Induced Hepatic Stellate Cell Activation
Mar. Drugs 2011, 9(12), 2793-2808; doi:10.3390/md9122793
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/9/12/2793/
Rihab F. Angawi, Giorgio Bavestrello, Barbara Calcinai, Henny Adeleida Dien, Giovanna Donnarumma, Maria Antonietta Tufano, Iole Paoletti, Elena Grimaldi, Giuseppina Chianese, Ernesto Fattorusso and Orazio Taglialatela-Scafati
Article: Aurantoside J: a New Tetramic Acid Glycoside from Theonella swinhoei. Insights into the Antifungal Potential of Aurantosides
Mar. Drugs 2011, 9(12), 2809-2817; doi:10.3390/md9122809
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/9/12/2809/
Algae biofuel pilot plant construction starts
Posted On: December 27, 2011The Biotechnology Consortium (Bal Biofuels) began the construction of the Experimental Centre of Algae (CEA) in Puerto Montt Campus of the University of Los Lagos. The plant is expected to be operational from August next year.
The proponents of the initiative plan to develop technology to produce advanced biofuels and high added value chemicals with low emissions of carbon dioxide and low cost, using native giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) farmed in a sustainable manner.
Algae Biodiesel Company World Health Energy Holdings Inc. Announces Letter of Intent to Develop Up to 250 Acre Algae Farm With Prime Inc. India
Posted On: December 27, 2011$100 Million Project Envisioned for Production of Biodiesel and Commercial Fish Food
World Health Energy Holdings, Inc. , a public holding company developing joint venture partnerships for algae production for biodiesel and commercial fish food, announced today the signing of Letter of Intent with Prime Inc., an India Industrial and transport Company, to develop a biodiesel production facility ramping up to 250 acres with a budget of up to 100 million dollars.
The proposed sites for development are in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, India and will utilize an Algae Enhancement Technology, known as the GB3000 system, used for growing algae for the production of Fish Feed, Proteins and Bio-fuel in the Territory of India. Prime Inc. India’s current clients include: Exon, Shell, General Electric (GE) and Siemens.
Maersk Tests Algae-Based Biofuel in Cargo Voyage to India
Posted On: December 27, 2011Maersk is testing a range of algae-based biofuel blends aboard a container ship headed to India as part of a project with the U.S. Navy.
Maersk, based in Denmark, has worked with the Navy for about 30 years. However, the biofuels testing program is the first partnership between the world’s largest commercial container carrier and the Navy’s Naval Sea Systems Command.
Both the Navy and the Maersk Line, which is part of the A.P. Moller – Maersk Group, are on a mission to reduce the environmental impacts of their operations at sea and on land.
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