Category Archives: Biotechnology

Biotechnology and technology stocks are dominating our charts to watch this week, because they are displaying strong technical momentum.

Esperion Therapeutics Inc. ESPR, +0.54% is absolutely rocketing. The clinical-stage biopharma, which is focused on developing drugs that treat cardiovascular disease, popped 29% on Friday in response to good clinical news from Amgen AMGN, -0.10% regarding its own cardiovascular drug. The stock followed through on Monday and then again Tuesday, up $2.48, or 14%, to $20.14 on nearly 3.4 million shares traded. The stock pulled back toward the close, testing the bottom of its rising channel and resting in a tight wedge formation. This formation looks poised to break to the upside, with the next target at the channel top near $22.

Exelixis Inc. EXEL, -1.69% also had a strong session on Tuesday, up 54 cents, or 2.7%, to $20.57, on nearly 6.7 million shares traded. The cancer-drug companys stock needs to get through the rising trendline, near $21, connecting the most recent tops from September, December and January. The challenge beyond that would be the mid-channel line at around $22.75, a break through that could accelerate the stock into the high $20s.

Finisar Corp. FNSR, +2.37% edged above resistance on Tuesday, though closed slightly below it, up 76 cents, or 2.5%, to $30.89, on 2.7 million shares. The provider of optical subsystems for data communications recently traversed from the top of its price channel at around $37 in December to the bottom just above $27 on January 23, before rallying in the last two weeks. The stock did close above its 50-day moving average at $30.77 on Tuesday, and a break above current levels could get it to $33.25 next, followed by $35.50.

KEMET Corp. KEM, +3.40% has been in a steady rising channel since its breakout in November. The stock last week bounced off the channel bottom and rallied after the electronic-capacitor maker beat Wall Streets third-quarter earnings and revenue forecasts. The stock popped on Thursday and Friday, had an inside day on Monday (remaining inside the price range from Friday), and on Tuesday it had another solid day, up 17 cents, or 2.2%, to 7.81, on 652,900 shares traded. The stock looks like its about to take out the $7.90 area, and run up toward the channel top in the $9-$9.75 area.

See Harrys video chart analysis on these and other stocks.

The writer has no investments in the stocks mentioned in this column.

Harry Boxer is the founder of TheTechTrader.com, a live trading room featuring his stock picks, technical market analysis and live chart presentations.

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Harry Boxer's stocks to watch: biotechnology and technology ... - MarketWatch

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Biotechnology Considerations for the Unitary Patent System in Light of Brexit and Other Current Developments - JD Supra (press release)

What happened

Cellect Biotechnology (NASDAQ: APOP) stock is up nearly 30% at 12:06 p.m. EST after the company announced that it treated the first patient in the biotech's phase 1/2 trial, dubbed ApoGraft01, testing its stem cell technology ApoGraft in patients with blood cancer.

Treating the first patient shouldn't have come as much of a surprise to investors. In November, the company said the Israeli Ministry of Health had given its approval to begin the trial. Perhaps investors are just really happy that the trial is finally starting. Also keep in mind that Cellect Biotechnology has a fairly low market cap, so the relative increase in valuation wasn't that much.

Image source: Getty Images.

Cellect Biotechnology's ApoGraft attempts to better select stem cells to help prevent graft-versus-host disease (GvHD), which occurs in 25% to 50% of recipients of allogeneic stem cell transplantation. GvHD happens when the donated stem cells produce immune cells that start mistakenly attacking the patients' normal cells because they see it as foreign. GvHD leads to 15% of the deaths that occur after allogeneic stem cell transplantation.

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ApoGraft01 will enroll 12 patients, so it shouldn't take too long for Cellect Biotechnology to fully enroll the trial. Before data from that trial reads out, investors will get results from a trial testing ApoGraft in healthy volunteers by the end of the first quarter.

While Cellect Biotechnology is progressing, investors should proceed with caution given the biotech's precarious capital situation. At the end of September, Cellect Biotechnology had just $9.4 million in cash and cash equivalents on the books. The company may be able to raise additional capital, but most biotechs raise capital through secondary offerings, diluting shareholders' equity in the process.

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Why Cellect Biotechnology Ltd Shares Skyrocketed Higher Today - Fox Business

Progressing at breakneck speed, genetic engineering has seen significant advancements since the first time Jamie Metzl addressed the topic at the Vail Symposium in 2015 to a sold-out audience. Metzl will return today, offering the latest update on the science and implications of this world-changing technology.

Metzl, an annual speaker at the Symposium, is a senior fellow of the Atlantic Council and an expert on Asian affairs and biotechnology policy. He previously served as executive vice president of the Asia Society, deputy staff director of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, senior coordinator for International Public Information at the U.S. State Department, director for multilateral affairs on the National Security Council and as a human-rights officer for the United Nations in Cambodia.

Also a novelist, Metzl explores the challenging issues raised by new technologies and revolutionary science in his science fiction writing. His latest novel, Eternal Sonata, imagines a future global struggle to control the science of extreme human life extension. This world, according to Metzl, is not far off.

Jamie Metzl is a brilliant thinker and eloquent speaker who will be discussing a captivating subject based very much in reality, said Kris Sabel, Vail Symposium executive director. His background in biotechnology allows him to understand this complex science, his experience with international affairs lets him place science in a geopolitical context and his dynamic and creative mind can break it all down into digestible information for everyone

Here, Metzl elaborates on the progress of the genetics revolution, his new book, how this unique science fits into the landscape of technological breakthroughs and how the new administration may impact scientific progress.

VAIL SYMPOSIUM: What sort of progress has the genetics revolution made since you first addressed the issue in front of the Vail Symposium audience two years ago?

METZL: The genetics revolution is charging forward at a blistering, exponentially accelerating pace. Virtually every day, major progress is being made deciphering the genome; describing gene-editing tools to alter the genetic makeup of plants, animals or even humans; and outlining how gene drives can be used to push genetic changes across populations. Even if this rate of change slows, then its absolutely clear to me that these new technologies will transform health care in the short to medium term and alter our evolution as a species in the medium to long term.

VS: Despite your scholarly background on the topic, youve again chosen to use science fiction writing as a way to encompass real issues surrounding the progress in genetics science. How does your new book, Eternal Sonata, based in 2025, two years after the setting of your first genetics thriller, Genesis Code, reflect the true pace, opportunities and consequences of genetic science?

METZL: The genetic revolution is too important to be left only or even primarily to the experts. I write nonfiction articles and spend a lot of time with expert groups, but the general public must be an equal stakeholder in the dialogue about our genetic future. I aspire for my novels to be fun and exciting, but also to help people who might be a little afraid of science find a more accessible on-ramp to thinking about the many complex, challenging human issues associated with technological innovation.

I fully believe well be seeing significant growth in human health and lifespans throughout the coming decades, but this progress will also raise some thorny questions well need to address. Like Genesis Code, its based on real science and tries to explore what it will mean on a human level when new technologies begin to transform our understanding of our own mortality.

VS: How much weight should society put on concerns and opportunities of genetics science, or actually making conscious alterations to humans as a species?

METZL: Advances in genetic technologies will help us live longer, healthier, more robust lives, and we should all be very, very excited about that. Like all technologies, however, there will also be new opportunities for abuse. Thats why we need to have the broadest, most inclusive global dialogue possible to help us develop new norms and standards that can guide our actions going forward. The technologies are new, but the best values we will need to deploy to use them wisely are old.

VS: Has there, then, been any progress in policy to regulate genetics science or legal framework created to limit the radical changes this could have on society?

METZL: There is a real mismatch between the rapid pace of scientific advancement and the glacial pace of regulation. On the one hand, we dont want over-regulation killing this very promising field in its relative infancy. On the other, it is clear that all aspects of altering the human genome must be regulated. This challenge is all the greater because different countries have different belief systems and ethical traditions, so there is a deep need for a global norm-creation and then regulatory harmonization process.

VS: Do you have any insight on how changes in the administration will affect progress in this field of science?

METZL: Many people are worried about how the new administration will deal with these very complex scientific issues. Viewing genetic technologies in the context of the abortion debate would be a significant blow to this work in the United States. But the science is global, and even if the U.S. shuts down all of its labs for ideological or other reasons, then the science will advance elsewhere. Well lose our lead building the future as we wait forever for the coal mining and low-end manufacturing jobs to come back.

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Biotechnology xpert Jamie Metzl addresses realities of genetics revolution, Feb. 9 - Vail Daily News

Market Summary Follow

Puma Biotechnology Inc is a A biopharmaceutical company

PBYI - Market Data & News

PBYI - Stock Valuation Report

Puma Biotechnology Inc (PBYI) had a good day on the market for Wednesday February 08 as shares jumped 10.04% to close at $37.25. About 1.21 million shares traded hands on 9,871 trades for the day, compared with an average daily volume of 966,951 shares out of a total float of 36.82 million. After opening the trading day at $33.85, shares of Puma Biotechnology Inc stayed within a range of $38.85 to $33.65.

With today's gains, Puma Biotechnology Inc now has a market cap of $1.37 billion. Shares of Puma Biotechnology Inc have been trading within a range of $73.27 and $19.74 over the last year, and it had a 50-day SMA of $35.29 and a 200-day SMA of $41.41.

Puma Biotechnology Inc is a biopharmaceutical company. It is engaged in the acquisition, development and commercialization of products to enhance cancer care.

Puma Biotechnology Inc is based out of Los Angeles, CA and has some 156 employees. Its CEO is Alan H. Auerbach.

For a complete fundamental analysis of Puma Biotechnology Inc, check out Equities.coms Stock Valuation Analysis report for PBYI.

Want to invest with the experts? Subscribe to Equities Premium newsletters today! Visit http://www.equitiespremium.com/ to learn more about Guild Investments Market Commentary and Adam Sarhans Find Leading Stocks today.

Puma Biotechnology Inc is also a component of the Russell 2000. The Russell 2000 is one of the leading indices tracking small-cap companies in the United States. It's maintained by Russell Investments, an industry leader in creating and maintaining indices, and consists of the smallest 2000 stocks from the broader Russell 3000 index.

Russell's indices differ from traditional indices like the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) or S&P 500, whose members are selected by committee, because they base membership entirely on an objective, rules based methodology. The 3,000 largest companies by market cap make up the Russell 3000, with the 2,000 smaller companies making up the Russell 2000. It's a simple approach that gives a broad, unbiased look at the small-cap market as a whole.

To get more information on Puma Biotechnology Inc and to follow the companys latest updates, you can visit the companys profile page here: PBYIs Profile. For more news on the financial markets and emerging growth companies, be sure to visit Equities.coms Newsdesk. Also, dont forget to sign-up for our daily email newsletter to ensure you dont miss out on any of our best stories.

All data provided by QuoteMedia and was accurate as of 4:30PM ET.

DISCLOSURE: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors, and do not represent the views of equities.com. Readers should not consider statements made by the author as formal recommendations and should consult their financial advisor before making any investment decisions. To read our full disclosure, please go to: http://www.equities.com/disclaimer

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Puma Biotechnology Inc (PBYI) Soars 10.04% on February 08 - Equities.com

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) announcedregistrationandhousingare now openfor the2017 World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology. The conference will be held July 23-26, 2017 at the Palais des congrs de Montral in Montral, Canada.

Now in its 14th year, BIO continues to bring new and exciting features to its annual World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology, stated Brent Erickson, Executive Vice President, Industrial and Environmental at BIO.Two new tracks-Flavors, Fragrances and Food Ingredients and Agricultural Crop Technologies and Biomass Supply-have been added to this years programming to represent the extended value chain of industrial biotechnology. Additionally, BIO brought The World Congress back to Montral so attendees from all over the world can gather and meet in one international location to make those important industry connections.

BIOs World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology is the worlds largest industrial biotechnology conference that brings together from across the globe business leaders, investors, academics and policymakers in the biofuels, biobased products, renewable chemicals, synthetic biology, food ingredients and biomass sectors. Industrial and environmental biotechnology is at the forefront of the biobased economy, generating good-paying jobs and making cleaner products and processes.

In 2016, the BIOWorld Congress on Industrial Biotechnologydrew around 907 industry leaders from 529 companies, 32 countries and 31 states, as well as the District of Columbia and hosted a record1,961 partnering meetings.

All programs at the World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology are open to attendance by members of the media. Complimentary media registration is available to editors and reporters working full time for print, broadcast or web publications with valid press credentials. For more information and to register, please visithttps://www.bio.org/events/conferences/world-congress-media

For more information on the conference please visithttp://www.bio.org/worldcongress. For assistance, please contactworldcongress@bio.org.

About BIO

BIO is the world's largest trade association representing biotechnology companies, academic institutions, state biotechnology centers and related organizations across the United States and in more than 30 other nations. BIO members are involved in the research and development of innovative healthcare, agricultural, industrial and environmental biotechnology products. BIO also produces theBIO International Convention, the worlds largest gathering of the biotechnology industry, along with industry-leading investor and partnering meetings held around the world.BIOtechNOWis BIO's blog chronicling innovations transforming our world and the BIO Newsletter is the organizations bi-weekly email newsletter.Subscribe to the BIO Newsletter.

Upcoming BIO Events

BIO CEO & Investor Conference February 13-14, 2017 New York, NY

BIO Asia International Conference March 14-15, 2017 Tokyo, Japan

BIO-Europe Spring Conference March 20-22, 2017 Barcelona, Spain

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Registration Now Open for the 14th Annual BIO World Congress on ... - Business Wire (press release)

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Research and Markets has announced the addition of Jain PharmaBiotech's new report "Animal Biotechnology - Technologies, Markets and Companies" to their offering.

This report describes and evaluates animal biotechnology and its application in veterinary medicine and pharmaceuticals as well as improvement in food production. Knowledge of animal genetics is important in the application of biotechnology to manage genetic disorders and improve animal breeding. Genomics, proteomics and bioinformatics are also being applied to animal biotechnology.

Transgenic technologies are used for improving milk production and the meat in farm animals as well as for creating models of human diseases. Transgenic animals are used for the production of proteins for human medical use. Biotechnology is applied to facilitate xenotransplantation from animals to humans. Genetic engineering is done in farm animals and nuclear transfer technology has become an important and preferred method for cloning animals. There is discussion of in vitro meat production by culture.

Biotechnology has potential applications in the management of several animal diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease, classical swine fever, avian flu and bovine spongiform encephalopathy. The most important biotechnology-based products consist of vaccines, particularly genetically engineered or DNA vaccines. Gene therapy for diseases of pet animals is a fast developing area because many of the technologies used in clinical trials humans were developed in animals and many of the diseases of cats and dogs are similar to those in humans.RNA interference technology is now being applied for research in veterinary medicine.

Molecular diagnosis is assuming an important place in veterinary practice. Polymerase chain reaction and its modifications are considered to be important. Fluorescent in situ hybridization and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays are also widely used. Newer biochip-based technologies and biosensors are also finding their way in veterinary diagnostics.

Biotechnology products are approved by the Center for Veterinary Medicine of the FDA. Regulatory issues relevant to animal biotechnology are described.

Approximately 124 companies have been identified to be involved in animal biotechnology and are profiled in the report. These are a mix of animal healthcare companies and biotechnology companies. Top companies in this area are identified and ranked. Information is given about the research activities of 11 veterinary and livestock research institutes. Important 108 collaborations in this area are shown.

Share of biotechnology-based products and services in 2015 is analyzed and the market is projected to 2025.

The text is supplemented with 35 tables and 5 figures.Selected 260 references from the literature are appended.

Key Topics Covered:

Executive Summary

1. Introduction to Animal Biotechnology

2. Application of Biotechnology in Animals

3. A Biotechnology Perspective of Animals Diseases

4. Molecular Diagnostics in Animals

5. Biotechnology-based Veterinary Medicine

6. Research in Animal Biotechnology

7. Animal Biotechnology Markets

8. Regulatory issues

9. Companies Involved in Animal Biotechnology

10. References

For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/b9fmth/animal

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170203005322/en/

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Animal Biotechnology Technologies, Markets and Companies 2017 - Research and Markets - Yahoo Finance

HAYWARD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aradigm Corporation (Nasdaq:ARDM) (the "Company") today announced that President and Chief Executive Officer, Igor Gonda, Ph.D., will present at the 19th Annual BIO CEO & Investor Conference 2017 on Monday, February 13, 2017, at 1:30 p.m. ET. The event will be held at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York, New York.

Interested parties can access a live audio webcast and slide presentation at http://www.aradigm.com. An archived presentation will be available on the Company's Web site for 30 days.

About Aradigm

Aradigm is an emerging specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of drugs for the prevention and treatment of severe respiratory diseases. Aradigm is completing Phase 3 development of Pulmaquin (an investigational proprietary formulation of ciprofloxacin for inhalation) for the treatment of non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis. Aradigms inhaled ciprofloxacin formulations including Pulmaquin are also product candidates for treatment of patients with cystic fibrosis and non-tuberculous mycobacteria, and for the prevention and treatment of high threat and bioterrorism infections, such as inhaled tularemia, pneumonic plague, melioidosis, Q fever and inhaled anthrax. In addition, Aradigm has a pipeline composed of programs to prevent diseases in tobacco smokers through smoking cessation and a diagnostic program to detect aspirations of gastrointestinal fluid into the respiratory tract.

More information about Aradigm can be found at http://www.aradigm.com.

Aradigm and the Aradigm Logo are registered trademarks of Aradigm Corporation.

Originally posted here:
Aradigm to Present at the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) CEO & Investor Conference 2017 on February 13 - Business Wire (press release)

Insider Selling: Puma Biotechnology Inc (PBYI) Insider Sells ... Sports Perspectives Puma Biotechnology Inc (NYSE:PBYI) insider Robert Charnas sold 3008 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 1st. Puma Biotechnology Inc Risk Points versus Health Care - CMLvizCML News The Puma Biotechnology Inc (PBYI) Insider Sells $95744.64 in StockDailyQuint Robert Charnas Sells 3008 Shares of Puma Biotechnology Inc (PBYI) StockCommunity Financial News Fiscal Standard all 8 news articles »

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Insider Selling: Puma Biotechnology Inc (PBYI) Insider Sells ... - Sports Perspectives

Jon Entine, Executive Director, Genetic Literacy Project,oversaw the assignments and the editing of this series

INTRODUCTION:

Genetically engineered crops and animals (GMOs) have been a controversial public issue since the first products were introduced in the 1990s. They have posed unique challenges for governments to regulate. Although most working scientists in the field hold the opinion that genetic engineering, for the most part, is part of a continuum of the human manipulation of our food supply thats gone on for thousands of years, critics contend differently.

Many crop biotechnology skeptics frame their concerns in quasi-religious terms, as a violation of nature or fears that the increased use of GE foods will lead to a corporate takeover of our seed and food systems, and the adoption of an ecologically destructive industrialized agriculture system. GMOs have become a symbol of the battle over what our global, regional and local food systems should look like going forward.

The clout of the food movement that vocally rejects many aspects of conventional farming has exponentially increased since then, promoted by mainstream journalists, scientists and non-profit groups from Michael Pollan to Consumers Union to the Environmental Working Group. Organic leaders and lobbyists, such as Gary Hirshberg, founder of Stonyfield Organics and Just Label It, openly demonize conventional food and farming in defiance of their commitments agreed to in the 1990s that organic food would not be promoted at the expense of conventional agriculture. Attempts to reign in the unchecked influence of the conventional food critics have repeatedly failed; over much of the past decade, theyve had a sympathetic ear in Washington. Partly in response to the prevailing winds, the USDA has evolved increasingly byzantine regulatory structures when it comes to new GE products.

The Genetic Literacy Project 10-part series Beyond the Science II (Beyond the Science I can be viewed here) commences with this introductory article. Leading scientists, journalists and social scientists explore the ramifications of genetic engineering and so-called new breeding technologies (NBTs), specifically gene-editing technologies such as CRISPR. We will post two articles each week, on Tuesday and Wednesday, over the next 5 weeks.

Regulation is at the heart of this ongoing debate. Many scientists and entrepreneurs have come to view the two key agencies regulating GE in the United States the Food and Drug Administration and Department of Agriculture as places where innovation goes to die. Thats an exaggeration, but not without some truth; regulations are inherently political, and the winds have been blowing against technological breakthroughs in agriculture for much of the last decade. On average, it takes upwards of $125 million and 7-10 years for the Agriculture Department to approve a trait, exhausting almost half of a new products 20-year patent protection. No wonder the agricultural sector is consolidating, and most new products are innovated by larger corporations.

The regulatory climate may be changing, perhaps radically, in the United States and possibly in the United Kingdom, as the result of recent elections.

Many of the old rules and regulations regulating GE crops were set up in the 1980s and early 1990s. They are arguably creaky, overly-restrictive and do not account for dramatic increases in our understanding of how genetic engineering works and the now clear consensus on their safety.

Now with NBTs, which are largely unregulated since the techniques were not foreseen 30 years ago when regulations were first formulated, agricultural genetic research is at an inflection point: Will governments make the same mistake that they did previously and regulate innovation almost out of existence, or will they incorporate reasonable risk-risk and risk-benefit calculations in evaluating which technological advances should proceed with limited regulations?

Decisions on these issues will shape not only food and farming in Europe, North America and the industrialized nations, but the food insecure developing world, which looks to the West for regulatory guidance.

Gene Editing and Animals

The second article in our series, by University of California animal geneticist Alison Van Eenennaam, addresses the challenges of regulating genetically engineered animals. She focuses on dehorned cows, which have been developed without gene editing over many years with, at times, less than optimal results. Should gene editing be evaluated on a case-by-case basis triggered by the novelty of the traits, or should the entire process be heavily regulated the general approach favored by the European Union in regulating more conventional genetic engineering?

Pesticide Debate: How Should Agricultural Chemicals Be Regulated to Encourage Sustainability?

Dave Walton, an Iowa farmer, discusses the brouhaha that has erupted in recent years over the use of glyphosate, the active ingredient in the weed killer originally developed under patent by Monsanto. Many GMO critics are now expressing concerns over pesticide use in conventional agriculture, using glyphosate as a proxy for attacking the technology. Are their concerns appropriate? Walton, who grows both GE and non-GE crops and is director of the Iowa Soybean Association, has used glyphosate on his farm since the introduction of herbicide resistant crops in 1996. He uses on average a soda-sized cup of glyphosate per acre, and the use of the herbicide has allowed him to switch from more toxic chemicals. Most strikingly he discusses the sustainability impact if a glyphosate ban is imposed, as many activists are calling for.

Plant pathologist Steve Savage challenges us to think in a more nuanced way about a popular belief that organic farming is ecologically superior to conventional agriculture. The Agricultural Department has been a fractious mess in recent years in its efforts to oversee and encourage new breeding technologies. When the Clinton administration oversaw the founding of the National Organics Standards Board in 1995, USDA officials extracted the commitment from organic industry that the alternative farming system would not be promoted at the expense of conventional agriculture. After all, study after study, then and now, has established that organic farming offers no safety nor clear ecological benefits.

Let me be clear about one thing, said former Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman in December 2000. The organic label is not a statement about food safety, nor is organic a value judgment about nutrition or quality.

But thats not whats happened.

Regulations and the NGO Problem in Africa and Asia

While GE crops were pioneered in the United States and embraced in other western coun- tries outside of Europe, there has been resistance in regions of the world where these innovations could arguably bring the most impact: Africa and poorer sections of Asia. Ma- haletchumy Arujanan, executive director of Malaysian Biotechnology Information Centre and editor-in-chief of The Petri Dish, the first science newspaper in Malaysia, takes on the emerging Asian food security crisis posed by a parallel rise in population and living (and food consumption) standards. She reviews the successes and failures in various countries, and the effective campaigns by anti-GMO NGOs, mostly European funded, to block further biotech innovation.

Margaret Karembu, director of International Service for the Acquisition of Agribiotech Applications, Africa regional office (ISSSA) AfriCenter based in Nairobi, has found a similar pattern of mostly European-funded NGOs attempting to sabotage research and spread misinformation about the basic science of crop biotechnology. Africa is the ultimate organic experiment, and farmers have failed miserably using family agro-ecology techniques for decades. Cracks are beginning to form in the anti-GMO wall erected across the continent and there are hopes that young people will be attracted to farming, lured by the introduction of GE crops and other innovations.

Public Opinion and GMOs

Brandon McFadden, assistant professor in the Food and Resource Economics Department, University of Florida, addresses the complex views of consumers regarding innovation and GE foods. The public has a widely distorted perception of what genetic engineering entails, which helps explain why consumers remain so skeptical about technological innovation in farming.

Julie Kelly, a contributing writer to numerous publications including the Wall Street Journal, National Review and the GLP, takes on Hollywood in her analysis of the celebrity embrace of the anti-GMO movement. Who are the movers and shakers manipulating public opinion in favor of the organic movement and against conventional agriculture? Is the celebrity-backed science misinformation campaign working?

Future of GM Research and How the Public Debate May Evolve

Paul Vincelli, extension professor and Provosts Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Kentucky, has been perturbed about the attack on independent university researchers for working with the biotechnology industry over the years. By law, land grant university scientists are required to work with all stakeholders, particularly corporations who are developing the products used by farmers, including organic farmers. No, scientists who partner with corporations in research and product development are not shills. He rejects the knee jerk belief, advanced by many activist critics of GE crops, that corporate funding necessarily corruptsscience and should be banned.

Finally, risk expert David Ropeik has an optimistic take on the future. He believes 2016 may have been a turning point in the debate over GE foods. Technology rejectionists, from Greenpeace to labeling activists, are sounding increasingly shrill and less scientific. Gene editing, he believes, could undercut claims that GE foods are unsafe because they are unnatural. He is convinced, perhaps optimistically, that GE opponents will soon be viewed as science denialists.

We will see.

Anti-GMO critics cite opinion polls and the votes of anti-GMO legislators in Europe and elsewhere as proof that genetic engineering should be curtailed and more heavily regulated. Thats a rickety platform if one believes in science, however; science is not a popularity contest.

The Genetic Literacy Project is a 501(c)(3) non profit dedicated to helping the public, journalists, policy makers and scientists better communicate the advances and ethical and technological challenges ushered in by the biotechnology and genetics revolution, addressing both human genetics and food and farming. We are one of two websites overseen by the Science Literacy Project; our sister site, the Epigenetics Literacy Project, addresses the challenges surrounding emerging data-rich technologies.Jon Entineis the founder of the Science Literacy Project.

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Will Biotechnology Regulations Squelch Food and Farming Innovation? - Genetic Literacy Project