Genomics guru Craig Venter and his startup Synthetic Genomics might be hitting some hurdles with their partnership with Exxon, but on Monday the company announced that it will create a joint venture with Mexican investing group Plenus to use genomics to create more sustainable crop production. Read More »
Cleantech
Joule Unlimited, a startup that promises to genetically engineer an organism that eats CO2 and produces a drop-in diesel fuel, has landed a patent on its “recombinant biosynthesis” technology. Read More »
Aurora Biofuels announced Monday that it has changed its name to Aurora Algae, in hopes of finding commercial markets today in turning algae into nutrients and protein products. It’s not exactly a vote of confidence for the idea of turning algae into biofuel. Read More »
Dutch oil giant Shell and Brazilian ethanol giant Cosan sealed the deal Wednesday on a $12 billion joint venture to turn sugarcane into pump-ready fuel. How will the massive partnership affect Codexis, Shell’s biocatalyst partner and recent entrant to the public markets? Read More »
Investors are still pumping money into algae fuel, despite the lack of commercial availability of the green gas. This morning seven-year-old Solazyme announced that it has raised $52 million in a Series D financing from investors including Chevron Technology Ventures. Read More »
The billion-dollar balance sheet of Exxon and the brain of genomics guru Craig Venter have led to one of algae fuel’s biggest market breakthroughs. Now Exxon and Venter’s Synthetic Genomics have opened their first greenhouse test facility. Read More »
The father of genomics and the founder of synthetic biology startup Synthetic Genomics, Craig Venter, is now officially god. Well, he and a team of researchers at the J Craig Venter institute have successfully created the first synthetic bacterial cell. Read More »
As Synthetic Genomics founder and geneticist guru Craig Venter said recently, if biofuel companies don’t generate billions of gallons of fuel then they’re just playing and wasting investors money (he said that specifically about algae fuel). And so the race continues for next-gen biofuel players… Read More »
Craig Venter, considered to be the father of genomics and the founder of synthetic biology startup Synthetic Genomics, said there’s a fundamental problem with algae fuel at the Wall Street Journal’s Eco:nomics conference on Thursday: in his view if algae fuel companies can’t generate billions… Read More »
Judging from the flurry of venture-capital deals, big oil company investments, and attention from politicians on startups creating biofuels from algae, it might seem like the world has fallen in love with the technology to power vehicles with pond scum. But after… Read More »
In the rush to grow energy crops for producing alternative fuels, jatropha has often been heralded as the most promising because it can be grown on marginal land. But so far jatropha hasn’t lived up to the hype — requiring too much water and producing… Read More »
In the world of big oil balance sheets, Exxon’s decision to invest $600 million into an algae fuel deal with startup Synthetic Genomics is kind of like oil finally agreeing to take algae out on a date. While it’s definitely a first step in a… Read More »
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