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Solazyme and Bunge Sign JDA Partnership for Production of Renewable Triglyceride Oils
Posted On: May 6, 2011Solazyme, Inc., a leading renewable oils and bioproducts company, today announced a two-year joint development agreement (JDA) with Bunge Limited (NYSE: BG) to develop microbe-derived oils utilizing Brazilian sugar cane feedstock. The agreement builds on Bunge’s earlier equity investment in Solazyme, and the letter of intent signed by both firms in December 2010 that contemplates a manufacturing joint venture for the production of tailored oils at Bunge’s sugar cane mills in Brazil.
Under the terms of the agreement, Solazyme will leverage its algal fermentation technology in combination with Bunge’s oil processing and milling capabilities to cost-effectively produce targeted triglyceride oils. Development will take place at Bunge’s facility in Moema, Brazil, and at Solazyme’s laboratories in South San Francisco and Campinas, Brazil.
To further align the incentives of both parties, the two companies also entered into a Warrant Agreement. This agreement issues a warrant to Bunge for shares of Solazyme that vests upon the successful completion of key milestones, ultimately targeting the construction of a commercial facility with 100,000 metric tons of output oil coming online in 2013.
New Marine Drugs Issue Available
Posted On: March 4, 2011MDPI AG Announces the new issue of Marine Drugs is now avaiable.
Mar. Drugs, Volume 9, Issue 2 (February 2011), Pages 154-293 http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/9/2/
Table of Contents:
Dexin Kong, Takao Yamori, Motomasa Kobayashi and Hongquan Duan
Article: Antiproliferative and Antiangiogenic Activities of Smenospongine, a Marine Sponge Sesquiterpene Aminoquinone Mar. Drugs 2011, 9(2), 154-161; doi:10.3390/md9020154
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/9/2/154
Xiang-Rong Tian, Hai-Feng Tang, Yu-Shan Li, Hou-Wen Lin, Xiao-Li Chen, Ning Ma, Min-Na Yao and Ping-Hu Zhang
Article: New Cytotoxic Oxygenated Sterols from the Marine Bryozoan Cryptosula pallasiana Mar. Drugs 2011, 9(2), 162-183; doi:10.3390/md9020162
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/9/2/162
Yong Yu, Hui-Rong Li, Yin-Xin Zeng and Bo Chen
Article: Bacterial Diversity and Bioprospecting for Cold-Active Hydrolytic Enzymes from Culturable Bacteria Associated with Sediment from Nella Fjord, Eastern Antarctica Mar. Drugs 2011, 9(2), 184-195; doi:10.3390/md9020184
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/9/2/184
Guangling Jiao, Guangli Yu, Junzeng Zhang and H. S. Ewart
Review: Chemical Structures and Bioactivities of Sulfated Polysaccharides from Marine Algae Mar. Drugs 2011, 9(2), 196-223; doi:10.3390/md9020196
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/9/2/196
Emilie Rederstorff, Ahmed Fatimi, Corinne Sinquin, Jacqueline Ratiskol, Christophe Merceron, Claire Vinatier, Pierre Weiss and Sylvia Colliec-Jouault
Article: Sterilization of Exopolysaccharides Produced by Deep-Sea Bacteria: Impact on Their Stability and Degradation Mar. Drugs 2011, 9(2), 224-241; doi:10.3390/md9020224
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/9/2/224
Olga Mangoni, Concetta Imperatore, Carmelo R. Tomas, Valeria Costantino, Vincenzo Saggiomo and Alfonso Mangoni
Article: The New Carotenoid Pigment Moraxanthin Is Associated with Toxic Microalgae Mar. Drugs 2011, 9(2), 242-255; doi:10.3390/md9020242
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/9/2/242
Ya-Ching Shen, Yao-To Chang, Chun-Ling Lin, Chia-Ching Liaw, Yao Haur Kuo, Lan-Chun Tu, Sheau Farn Yeh and Ji-Wang Chern
Article: Synthesis of 1-Substituted Carbazolyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro- and Carbazolyl-3,4-dihydro-N2-carboline Analogs as Potential Antitumor Agents Mar. Drugs 2011, 9(2), 256-277; doi:10.3390/md9020256
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/9/2/256
Takashi Maoka
Review: Carotenoids in Marine Animals
Mar. Drugs 2011, 9(2), 278-293; doi:10.3390/md9020278
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/9/2/278
SAMS and Aquapharm sign marine products agreement
Posted On: November 30, 2010AQUAPHARM Biodiscovery, a leading marine biotechnology company, has announced it has signed a long-term agreement with the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) to discover, develop and launch new marine products derived from marine micro-organisms.
Under the terms of this agreement, SAMS will provide Aquapharm with privileged access to the vast array of marine samples that it has collected from diverse marine habitats around the globe. Aquapharm will then apply its extensive culturing and marine fermentation know-how to these samples to capture and harness the full microbial biodiversity that they contain, further expanding the scope of its collection of marine micro-organisms.
Once Aquapharm has cultured and identified the range of novel microbial species present in these samples, it will draw out their unique biochemistry through the application of its suite of screening technologies, including SeaRch™, in some cases activating otherwise inaccessible, dormant biosynthetic pathways to produce a cocktail of chemical diversity that Aquapharm will convert into candidate functional ingredients or pharmaceuticals.
US: Newsweek Magazine showcases hunt for medical cures underwater
Posted On: November 24, 2010Advances in technology are making it easier and increasingly profitable to hunt for drugs in the ocean. Marine bioprospectors, as they’re known, are scouring coral reefs, deep-sea trenches, and everything in between. David Newman, chief of the natural products branch at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), estimates that at least 30 research teams are experimenting with marine-derived compounds for treating cancer, neural degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, malaria, diabetes, depression, asthma, and other ailments.
Joint investigation by Aquapharm and Leatherhead seeks to uncover new natural preservatives from marine bacteria and fungi
Posted On: October 21, 2010A new joint investigation by Aquapharm and Leatherhead is seeking to uncover new natural preservatives from marine bacteria and fungi.
Aquapharm Biodiscovery believes its substantial collection of marine bacteria and fungi from a variety of diverse sources could offer some solutions. It has teamed up with Leatherhead Food International to develop a source of naturally-derived anti-microbial compounds.
Based at the European Centre for Marine Biotechnology in Oban on Scotland’s West coast, Aquapharm uses it epigenetics platform to expose these microorganisms to stresses that they would not normally be exposed to, which allows conformational changes in the DNA structure and wakes up silent genetic pathways.
In this way the microorganisms can be stimulated to produce novel, biologically active compounds.
AquaPharm is drawn up its shortlist, Leatherhead Food Research – which has experience in the identification, evaluation and application of new preservatives for foods – will screen it against its collection of food spoilage organism to measure the preservative performance.
The results of the collaboration will be made available to industry via Leatherhead’s membership network and an industry partner or partners may further develop and commercialise them.
Biological Materials of Marine Origin Publication Now Available
Posted On: October 10, 2010Dr. Hermann Ehrlich, Dresden University of Technology, Dresden, Germany, has published “Biological Materials of Marine Origin”, available now via Springer.
This text is the first ever to offer a coherent analysis of the nature, origin and evolution of biocomposites and biopolymers found within the broad variety of marine invertebrate organisms and their unusual structural formations. It is an interdisciplinary look at the biomineralization, biomimetics and materials science unique to marine invertebrates. In this seminal work, Hermann Ehrlich, for the first time, proposes the classification, “biological materials of marine origin”.
MDPI Office of the Publisher announces new issue of Marine Drugs
Posted On: October 10, 2010MDPI is pleased to announce the publication of the following issue: Mar.
Drugs, Volume 8, Issue 9 (September 2010), Pages 2435-2545 at
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/9/
Table of Contents:
Paola Laurienzo
Review: Marine Polysaccharides in Pharmaceutical Applications: An Overview
Mar. Drugs 2010, 8(9), 2435-2465; doi:10.3390/md8092435
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/9/2435
Till F. Schäberle, Emilie Goralski, Edith Neu, Özlem Erol, Georg Hölzl,
Peter Dörmann, Gabriele Bierbaum and Gabriele M. König
Article: Marine Myxobacteria as a Source of Antibiotics—Comparison of
Physiology, Polyketide-Type Genes and Antibiotic Production of Three New
Isolates of Enhygromyxa salina
Mar. Drugs 2010, 8(9), 2466-2479; doi:10.3390/md8092466
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/9/2466
Jadran Faganeli, Bojana Mohar, Romina Kofol, Vesna Pavlica, Tjaša
Marinšek, Ajda Rozman, Nives Kovač and Angela Šurca Vuk
Article: Nature and Lability of Northern Adriatic Macroaggregates
Mar. Drugs 2010, 8(9), 2480-2492; doi:10.3390/md8092480
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/9/2480
Jeen-Kuan Chen, Chia-Rui Shen and Chao-Lin Liu
Review: N-Acetylglucosamine: Production and Applications
Mar. Drugs 2010, 8(9), 2493-2516; doi:10.3390/md8092493
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/9/2493
Noldy Gustaf F. Mamangkey, Snezana Agatonovic and Paul C. Southgate
Article: Assessing Pearl Quality Using Reflectance UV-Vis Spectroscopy:
Does the Same Donor Produce Consistent Pearl Quality?
Mar. Drugs 2010, 8(9), 2517-2525; doi:10.3390/md8092517
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/9/2517
Maren Hoffmann, Kai Marxen, Rüdiger Schulz and Klaus Heinrich Vanselow
Article: TFA and EPA Productivities of Nannochloropsis salina Influenced
by Temperature and Nitrate Stimuli in Turbidostatic Controlled Experiments
Mar. Drugs 2010, 8(9), 2526-2545; doi:10.3390/md8092526
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/9/2526
Aquapharm and Dundee University Sign Research Collaboration to find Marine Compounds to target Alzheimer’s
Posted On: September 26, 2010Aquapharm Biodiscovery, a leading marine biotechnology company, recently announced it has signed a research agreement with Dundee University to help it develop new drugs based on marine natural products that may help in the fight against Alzheimer’s.
Alzheimer’s is a disease marked by the formation of insoluble protein aggregates in the brain with associated progressive degeneration of the neurons. The collaboration is aimed at O-GIcNAcase, a well-documented target for Alzheimer’s, that modulates the solubility of the protein in these aggregates but that has been difficult to target with conventional small-molecule libraries. It therefore forms an ideal opportunity to demonstrate that Aquapharm’s growing collection of novel and diverse marine-derived compounds and scaffolds can modulate a clinically attractive but pharmacologically challenging target for a disease for which new solutions are urgently required.
Aquapharm will be working with Professor Daan van Aalten, Professor of Biological Chemistry at the University, who brings to the collaboration expertise in studying the structural aspects and mechanism of protein-carbohydrate interactions, and applies this knowledge to design molecules that modulate these interactions in biological systems as research tools or leads for the development of chemotherapeutics.
5th International Conference on Marine Bioprospecting in Tromso; 23-25th February 2011
Posted On: August 4, 2010BIOPROSP is a leading international biennial conference series on bioprospecting from cold marine environments. These conferences aim to present explorative research and its industrial applications in an integrated fashion.
The focus in the 2011 conference will be industrial biotech and bioprospecting as a stepping stone towards the bioeconomy.
Target group: Academic and industry researchers, decision makers, regulatory experts, investors and public facilitators.
A number of interesting speakers from the USA, Russia, UK, Denmark, Switzerland and Norway have been invited. In addition there will be a half day pre-conference workshop: ‘Addressing industrial applications’ on 23 February 2011
Delegates are invited to participate with poster presentations, and a number of posters will be selected for oral presentation.
Trius Therapeutics Awarded U.S. Department of Defense Contract to Develop Novel Antibiotics from Marine Natural Product Libraries
Posted On: May 21, 2010Trius Therapeutics, Inc. today that it has been awarded a new four and a half year contract from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), an agency within the U.S. Department of Defense, for the development of novel antibiotics directed against gram-negative bacterial pathogens. Trius may receive up to $29.5 million in support of development efforts under the new DTRA contract, which is funded as part of DTRA’s Transformational Medical Technologies Initiative (TMTI). Pursuant to the contract, Trius will apply its proprietary Focused Antisense Screening Technology (FAST) discovery platform to identify the targets of antibacterial compounds from marine natural product libraries developed in the laboratory of Dr. William Fenical, Distinguished Professor of Oceanography at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego.
Trius will then apply its structure-based drug design and development capabilities in an effort to optimize promising antibacterial compounds for activity against gram-negative biodefense pathogens such as Yersinia pestis, Francisella tularensis and Burkholderia pseudomallei. Trius believes that these compounds will also be active against gram-negative pathogens involved in common hospital acquired infections.
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